Gluten Free Roasted Hazelnut and Chocolate Snow Cookies

One of my dearest friends now lives a million miles away in the fairy-tale land of Vienna, Austria. Her moving was terrible news, until I considered the fact that this undisputedly meant that I had to travel to said fairy-tale land to visit her at least once a year. Not a bad deal. The first time I visited it was the second week of December, and Vienna, let alone us, was entirely frozen. Nevertheless, the city has a marvelous way of distracting you from the bone-chilling cold by decking itself in heaps of holiday lights and decorations, and by constructing myriad Christmas markets (or Adventmarkt/Weihnachtsmarkt) that seem to magically appear in every snow-lined platz. Needless to say, we drank a healthy amount of glog and ate our way through those markets with a vigor that would keep even a Floridian warm. Side note on Vienna – there are SO many gluten free desserts and cakes around the city! There are a few main bakeries, and each one has at least two naturally gluten free specialty cakes (the Viennese love their cakes) that lean on cream and sponge and marzipan and chocolate. If you have a sweet tooth, Vienna is your gluten free city.

One of the more exciting finds in Vienna was Mozartkugeln, a wonderfully cheery little chocolate candy, usually sold in gold-tied bags in any supermarket or in the Christmas markets. The classic is made from pistachio marzipan, layers of hazelnut praline cream, surrounded by the silkiest of milk chocolate. They’re a dream, and officially my favorite candy now (exhibited by the fact that I demanded that Christina, the newly-minted Viennese resident, bring me back a load of them when she visited just last month). When I’m suffering through the Mozartkugeln-lacking months, I figured that I could make something remotely resembling the treats in order to satisfy the cravings. These amazingly-hazelnutty gluten free hazelnut cookies are the result.

These are actually modeled after my pistachio snow cookies, which require a literal ton of raw pistachios to get a perfectly nut-green color (check them out), but instead use loads of freshly roasted hazelnuts (your kitchen will smell AMAZING) which results in a dizzyingly fragrant cookie that sends you into a Mozart+Nutella dreamscape. They’re small enough to make you think you can eat a dozen and it’s not that bad (it’s pretty bad) but also have a highly-pleasing chew and density to them to keep any guest satisfied after tea or dinner. Want a fancier, tea-ready Nutella-esque dessert? These gluten free hazelnut cookies could be yours in just a few hours. Go ahead and try them yourself. And do what tastes good!

Print Recipe

5 from 3 votes

Gluten Free Roasted Hazelnut and Chocolate Snow Cookies

Source: Sisters Sans Gluten

Prep Time50 minutes mins

Cook Time13 minutes mins

Chilling Time4 hours hrs

Course: Dessert, Snack

Cuisine: American

Diet: Gluten Free

Keyword: chocolate, christmas, cookies, hazelnut

Servings: 48 cookies

Calories: 100kcal

Author: Amelia Farber

Equipment

• Cookie sheet
• Blender, nutribullet, or food processor

Ingredients

• 4 large eggs
• 1 1/2 Cups white sugar 365g
• 3/4 Cup canola oil 175ml
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 Cup gluten free flour 1-1 mix 260g
• 1/2 tsp xanthan gum
• 2 3/4 Cup packed roasted hazelnut flour (instructions below) 450g
• 1 3/4 Cup cornstarch/cornflour 250g
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1-2 Cups chocolate chips 200-400g
• 2 Cups powdered sugar/icing sugar for rolling cookies

Instructions

• First, roast your hazelnuts. Preheat oven to 350° Fahrenheit. Spread whole, unsalted hazelnuts on a cookie sheet and pop in the oven for 15-20 minutes until the outer skin peels away a bit. Remove and pour into a kitchen towel. Let cool a few minutes, then vigorously rub towel so that some of the hazelnut skins are removed, then let cool completely. Once the nuts are cool, blitz up in a food processor in small batches (1/2 cup MAX per blitzing round or else you'll end up with hazelnut butter) or nutribullet until you have roasted hazelnut flour. (make sure to pick out large pieces that didn't get ground up after each batch)
• Then, make the cookie dough! In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat together the eggs, sugar, canola oil, and vanilla until thick and lighter. Then mix in the gluten free flour, xanthan gum, hazelnut flour, cornstarch/cornflour, baking powder, and salt until combined. The dough will be very thick but shouldn't be sticky to the touch (if it feels very sticky, add a bit more flour and mix). Then scoop it all into a small bowl cover and chill in fridge for at least 4 hours or overnight.
• Once the dough is chilled, preheat oven to 350° Fahrenheit/180 Celcius. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper. Using a small spoon, scoop out dough and roll into 1.5 inch balls and then press 4-5 chocolate chips into the center of each ball and re-roll so that chocolate chips are inside. Roll balls in powdered sugar and completely coat, then place 2-3 inches apart on the cookie sheets. Bake for 11-13 minutes depending on your oven (I recommend using an oven thermometer to ensure you're at the right temperature!). Do not flatten cookies, they will spread! Let cool slightly, then enjoy!

Tag @sisterssansgluten on Instagram if you snap a photo of your cookies!

Food photography and styling by Amelia Farber