The Perfect Dunking Hazelnut Biscuits
- 125g unsalted butter at room temperature
- 300g light brown sugar
- 1 large free range egg
- 1tsp of vanilla essence or the seeds of one vanilla pod
- 350g plain flour
- 1tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 200g hazelnuts, lightly crushed
Preheat the oven to 180°C and line two baking trays with parchment paper or use non-stick baking trays.
Place the soft butter and sugar in a the bowl of a mixer and cream until light and fluffy with the paddle attachment. If you are using vanilla seeds cream them with the sugar and butter.
Add the egg and whip until creamy, if you are using vanilla essence add it with the egg to the butter mixture.
Sift the flour and bicarbonate of soda over the creamed butter mixture and add the lightly crushed hazelnuts, mix in gently, do not over work the biscuit dough.
Make even size balls, I use a teaspoon as a guide for the size.
Space the biscuits on the prepared baking trays leaving at least 5 cm gaps, this allows the cookies to expand and bake evenly (in the winter I press the balls down slightly as the dough will be cold and stiff this will encourage them to spread evenly), bake the biscuits in the preheated oven for 12 - 15 minutes.
Transfer them to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Store the biscuits in a air tight container for up to one week.
Makes about 50 biscuits.
Food Fanatics Tips
Add 200g milk or white chocolate chips to the biscuit dough and reduce the hazelnuts to 50g. Alternatively replace the hazelnuts with 200g dried cranberries and add the zest of one orange for a tasty twist.