Today’s basic sweet recipe: hazelnut shortcrust pastry.
The classic shortcrust pastry for making pies and cookies but with an extra element that gives it an irresistible taste and aroma, hazelnuts. In fact, we will use whole toasted hazelnuts, the ones we buy at the supermarket, to add to a shortcrust base with butter, eggs, and sugar.
This nut-based shortcrust pastry is excellent for making addictive hazelnut cookies or mini tarts that you can fill with some Chantilly cream. It’s quickly prepared in a mixer and, after resting in the fridge, it’s ready to be rolled out and used to create whatever we want.
There are many recipes and variations of shortcrust pastry, like the egg-free and butter-free vegan version, or the olive oil shortcrust or stracciatella shortcrust. But this one firmly claims a place among my favorites along with the vegan one. I’ll let you imagine the wonderful hazelnut aroma that fills the house as soon as you start preparing the dough…
With the quantities indicated in the recipe, we can make a 9-inch pie or about thirty medium-sized cookies.
Now let’s see together, step by step, how to make this recipe.
To receive the daily recipe for free
You might also be interested in
- Difficulty: Very Easy
- Cost: Economical
- Rest time: 2 Hours
- Preparation time: 5 Minutes
- Cooking methods: No Bake
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All Seasons
Ingredients for Hazelnut Shortcrust Pastry
- 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup butter
- 1/3 cup toasted hazelnuts
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1 egg (medium)
- 1 pinch salt
Tools
- 1 Mixer
- 1 Bowl
Let’s Make Hazelnut Shortcrust Pastry Together
Place the hazelnuts and powdered sugar in the mixer bowl, which will help absorb the oil released by the hazelnuts during grinding. Turn on the machine and let it run until you’ve obtained a flour; if it heats up too much, turn it off and on again, then transfer the mixture to a bowl.
Now in the mixer bowl, add the all-purpose flour and cold butter cut into pieces, and let the machine run for 20/30 seconds until you have a loose, crumbly mixture.
Add the egg, hazelnut flour, and a pinch of salt, then turn the mixer back on and blend until you see the dough clump together on one side to form one or two balls.
Move the resulting mixture onto a lightly floured work surface and quickly work the dough to form a ball, wrap it in plastic wrap, flatten it into a rectangle, and let it rest in the fridge for at least two hours before use.
After the resting time, take the hazelnut shortcrust pastry out of the fridge and let it sit at room temperature for a couple of minutes before unleashing your creativity. In the meantime, snap a photo of your shortcrust pastry and post it on social media tagging me (a curly-haired pastry lover on Instagram and Facebook) and let me know what you decided to make.
A Curly-Haired Pastry Lover Recommends
When making cookies with hazelnut shortcrust pastry, I recommend letting them sit in the fridge for about ten minutes before baking to help them keep their shape. Try making the same recipe with pistachios, and you’ll see how wonderful it is.
