Hazelnut Kiss Cookies Food

CHOCOLATE-HAZELNUT SMOOCHES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
• In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
• In another medium bowl, place the chocolate hazelnut spread, butter, and both sugars. Using a hand mixer, cream the ingredients together, about 3 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla and blend until incorporated. Stir in the dry ingredients, just until incorporated.
• Shape the cookie dough into walnut-sized balls. Rolls the balls in the orange sprinkles or orange sugar, pressing to adhere. Place the cookies on a heavy cookie sheet about 4 inches apart. Bake for 8 minutes. Remove the cookies from the oven. Quickly place a chocolate kiss in the middle of each cookie. Return the cookies to the oven and bake for another 3 minutes. Cool the cookies on a wire rack.

HAZELNUT KISSES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Toast hazelnuts in oven on a rimmed baking sheet until skins split and flesh turns deep golden brown, 10 to 12 minutes.
• When nuts are cool enough to handle, rub off as much of the skin as will come off easily. Let cool completely.
• Process nuts in a food processor with 1/4 cup sugar until very fine.
• Beat egg whites with the salt in the bowl of an electric mixer (or by hand), until soft peaks form. Add remaining 1/2 cup sugar, and beat until egg whites hold stiff (but not dry) peaks.
• Add nut mixture, flour, and vanilla to egg whites; beat until just combined. Refrigerate, covered, until cold, at least 1 hour or up to 1 day.
• Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a Silpat baking mat. With cool, dampened hands, mold heaping tablespoons of dough into pyramid shapes, each about 1 1/2 inches wide and 1 1/4 inches high. Transfer to lined sheet.
• Bake cookies until edges and bottoms begin to brown, 15 to 18 minutes.

FAIRY KISS COOKIES

Steps:

• To make the base mixture, tip the flour and icing sugar into a bowl with a pinch of salt and stir together. Add the egg yolks and butter to the bowl and mix everything together slowly to make a dough. Knead briefly until smooth on a flour-dusted worksurface. Form the dough into a roll about 2½-3cm across. Wrap in foil and chill for 1 hour.
• Heat the oven to 160C/fan 140C/gas 3. Cover 2-3 baking sheets with baking parchment. Cut the dough roll into 45 thin slices and put the slices on the sheets. Put one toffee or caramel (upside down if using cups) on each.
• For the meringue, put the 3 egg whites in a bowl and begin to beat to soft peaks. Beat in the sugar and a pinch of salt in batches and beat for 4-5 minutes until you have stiff glossy meringue peaks. Spoon into a pastry bag with plain nozzle and pipe the meringue in a spiral, starting at the base, all the way up the toffee centre until it is completely covered. Smooth over any gaps. Repeat with the remaining cookies. Bake for 18 minutes. Cool completely.