Nov 14, 2012

Nusstaler (Chocolate-Dipped Hazelnut Cookies)

The recipe for these Christmas cookies comes from the bakery Rischart in Munich. This recipe first appeared in our December 2012 issue along with Todd Coleman's story Bavarian Dream.

Credit: Todd Coleman

MAKES ABOUT 40 COOKIES

INGREDIENTS

12 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
½ cup sugar
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
1 egg
4 oz. toasted hazelnuts, very finely ground, plus whole raw hazelnuts to garnish
2 cups flour
½ cup natural cocoa powder
½ tsp. kosher salt
6 oz. semisweet chocolate, melted

INSTRUCTIONS

Heat oven to 350°. Beat butter, sugar, and vanilla with a hand mixer until fluffy. Add egg and beat until smooth. Whisk together ground hazelnuts, flour, cocoa, and salt in a bowl; add to butter mixture; beat. Portion dough into 1" balls; transfer to parchment paper-lined baking sheets, spaced 2" apart. Place a whole hazelnut on top of each. Bake until cracked on top, about 10 minutes. Let cool. Dip bottom of each cookie in chocolate; chill until set.

NOTE: This recipe has been adjusted from the version that ran in the print edition of SAVEUR. The yield has been increased, and an egg has been added to the ingredients and instructions.

This article was first published in Saveur in Issue #152

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Ratings & Reviews (18)

by BORSTEIN on 2012-12-01

There is something missing from this recipe. After combining all the ingredients, the mixture is a very loose, sandy consistency that doesn't hold together. Help!

by JOBOP88 on 2012-12-02

I would agree. The recipe needs a change in the butter to flour ratio or an egg.

by MNP@FUSE.NET on 2012-12-04

Had the same problem as the other 2 reviewers, so I creamed another 8 Tbsp butter with 1/2 cup sugar and 1 Tbsp vanilla and added the part of the recipe I had already completed to it. Baked as directed and they turned out delicious.

by 1CUP on 2012-12-06

I ran into the same problem. Why no egg? But thank you MNP. I will try your "fix." This is one of two cookie recipes I tried from this same article and neither worked as written.

by 1CUP on 2012-12-07

Update--I tried the recommended fix by MNP which made the cookies hold together. Still not "right" but at least serviceable. Very frustrating.

by PLICK on 2012-12-07

Thanks folks that commented. These were on my list to make, but now they won't be.

by MECHIE on 2012-12-08

I agree with everyone above - something is missing in the recipe. My dough mixture was also dry and would not hold together. I thought that maybe the typo was that instead of 8 TBSP they meant 8 ounces (double the butter). This ended up making the dough hold together so I could roll it into balls. One other problem I saw was that these cookies seemed to have much more chocolate than the cookies (from the Rischart bakery) pictured on page 59. Maybe I will reduce the cocoa powder by half, or eliminate altogether and see what that yields. Thanks for all the comments - I was starting to wonder about my baking ability until I was affirmed by all of your findings :)

by TAYLOR88@OPTONLINE.NET on 2012-12-09

Wow. What a disappointment. Same result...dough would not hold together...will try some of the fixes suggested.

by SAVEUR TEAM on 2012-12-11

The recipe that appeared in the print issue had an error in it, which we have now corrected in this version. The correct amount of butter is 12 tbsp. and the correct amount of chocolate is 6 oz. Thanks!

by MCO FOODIE on 2012-12-14

Zero stars is more like it. This recipe was a disaster before the correction and not much better after the correction. The cookies still barely held together at 12 tbs of butter and then completely fell apart when I put the hazelnut on the top. What a disappointment. Other cookies in the same article were just as bad if not worse. I made three different cookies in this article and every single one failed.

by 3019778670 on 2012-12-16

My first issue, my first recipe. I spent a fortune buying hazelnuts to make three batches. I'm thinking of cancelling my subscription. I have a giant bowl of brown dust.

by msamsom on 2012-12-17

Very disappointing recipe published in what I consider to be a reputable cooking magazine. It appears no one at the magazine bothered to test this recipe. Sadly enough this is not a complicated recipe; essentially a hazelnut shortbread cookie. The fix, as previously mentioned, requires quite a bit more butter. Roughly double the amount called for. Not quite sure what to make of this gross oversight by the editorial department. An apology in the review section as well as a printed correction in a subsequent issue would go a long way towards restoring my faith in the integrity of this publication.

by ELLEN C on 2012-12-17

This recipe was disastrous. I am not going to waste more hazelnuts on the revised recipe, especially after people tried to corrected version. Your test kitchen needs to be more careful!

by NOFUNLATTE on 2012-12-18

I wish I'd checked here before making these this afternoon. Clearly a test kitchen fail. I googled this after I had a bowlful of dust that was never going to come together. I couldnt use the fix, as the only other butter I had was frozen. However, I don't think the extra 4 tbsp of butter would have done the job. I wound up adding three (!) larges eggs and I STILL needed to add a couple of splashes of heavy cream for the dough to hold together. Baked as directed (that instruction was at least correct) and dipped them in chocolate. They are a not-too-sweet cookie with a deep chocolate flavor.

The nusstaler cookie pictured in the magazine cannot possibly be the same--as a previous reviewer noted, the color is much too light, given the addition of one half cup of cocoa in the recipe. It really seems as though this recipe was not tested at all. I was very disappointed, as hazelnuts are not cheap and I went to the trouble of toasting and grinding them. This is my first Saveur recipe fail.

On the other hand, the white chocolate-cream cheese mousse in the same issue was a success.

by MKOCHANTON on 2013-01-03

I also made this reccipe in my KitchenAid mixer and ended up with a bowl full of crumbs. After spending so much money on hazelnuts, I was determined to fix this recipe. First I added one egg. Still didn't bind. Then I added 2-3T whipping cream(unwhipped), 1/4C confectioners sugar, 1/2t. baking soda and another egg. Finally it came together. I made small balls and rolled them in granulated sugar, pressed a hazelnut in the centre and baked as directed. When cooled, I dipped them in melted chocolate (Lindt) and let it set.
They were the favourite of many, and I will make them again with my changes.
Saveur magazine, if you need recipe testers.....I'm here.

by CKNY on 2013-02-24

Just landed here because I'm trying to make the cookies and found -- like so many others, it seems -- that they do not work as directed. Also that the dough is much darker than the photo. Will try the fixes and hope they work. Saveur, where are you? Don't you test your recipes? this is the first one I've tried from the magazine and it doesn't give me confidence. I don't buy your magazine just to look at the pictures!

by TRUDY7 on 2013-04-13

I have a hazelnut shortbread cookie recipe that is very similar but no cocoa IN the cookie itself. Just dipped after baking. It is piped into flat strips, baked then dipped in chocolate. Some in dark and some in white chocolate (or one end in each).
It is outstanding.
I often us the ground hazelnut "flour" from the healthfood section. Very good results and a whole lot less expensive than whole hazelnuts.

I was planning on trying this recipe today. I think that I will try it with the final corrections and leave out the cocoa.

Good luck! I am a French trained pastry chef and can tell by looking at original printed recipe that the recipe, that this not only was never test baked but who ever made the recipe adjustments did not know a thing about baking, much less baking cookies.

by TRUDY7 on 2013-04-13

Just realized one of the biggest flaws in the printed recipe.
It calls for 2 cups of flour.
In a recipe like this, usually equal amounts of ground hazelnuts (or whatever nuts are called for) and flour are used. I wonder if it should have been 1/2 cup flour and 1/2 cup hazelnuts....I may try this, adding the extra butter and omitting the cocoa to see how they turn out. Can't be any worse and I have some extra hazelnut flour on hand.

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