recipes

Hazelnut Cookies

These are the ones grandma used to make. They’re soft on the inside and crisp around the edges with a rich egg wash on top.

Grandma’s Original Recipe

This is her recipe verbatim.

Ingredients

• 1 lb ground hazelnuts (2 cups)
• 1 lb sugar (2 cups)
• 3/4 lb butter, softened
• 1 lb flour (3.5-4 cups)
• 8 egg yolks

Egg wash

• 1 egg yolk
• A little milk

Steps

1. Blend all ingredients well. Chill for easier handling.
2. Roll out on floured board to desired thickness, usually about 1/8” thickness. Cut in desired shape.
3. Place on ungreased cookie sheet. Brush tops with an egg yolk mixed with a little milk.
4. Bake at 350°.
5. I don’t have a time written down as long to bake. I just want til done. I think about 12-14 min

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Revised Recipe (Work in Progress)

The goal with the revisions is to reduce guesswork.

Notes / Issues

• ChatGPT suggests 250g hazelnuts = 2 cups, not 1 lb / 454g so that’s something to figure out.
• 2 c of sugar is about 400g not 454g (1 lb). Probably grandma measued it by cups not weight so it’s likely that 400g is the right amount
• ChatGPT suggested adding ~2 tsp vanilla

Ingredients

Dough

• 340g unsalted butter, softened (3/4 lb or 3 sticks)
• 400g sugar (1 lb / 2 cups)
• 8 egg yolks (~144g)
• 250g ground hazelnuts or hazelnut meal (1 lb / 2 cups)
• 454g flour (1 lb / 3.5-4 cups)

Egg wash

• 1 egg yolk
• 15g milk (1 tbsp)

Steps

1. Blend all dough ingredients together until well combined.
2. Chill the dough for a while.
3. Roll out to about 1/8 inch thickness (maybe thicker to avoid burning). Cut cookies with cookie cutters.
4. Place on ungreased cookie sheet.
5. Mix egg yolk and milk to form a glaze; brush onto cookies.
6. Bake at 350°F for 12-14 minutes until the edges are just golden.

Notes

• Dec 2025:
  • I used too little flour and it was far too moist. They were hard to handle and flattened a lot. I added more flour in later batches and that was better but they were not sweet enough really, or that nutty.
  • Baking on parchment is nicer

References to check on

I haven’t read all of these, just saving them to consider for revisions later.

• Smitten Kitchen: These look visually the closest
• Essen und Trinken: These look visually close without the egg wash and a little overdone on the edges