The addition of powdered hazelnut (also known as hazelnut flour or hazelnut meal) brings a subtle nuttiness to this centrepiece-worthy cookie wreath. We opted for star-shaped cookies for this holiday-ready recipe, but feel free to play around with different cookie cutter shapes and sizes – and remember to reserve your scraps so you can get the most out of your dough.
The extra festive note comes with the subtly citrusy icing: Divide your batch into portions, then use red food colouring to bring on the merriment.
Is hazelnut flour just ground hazelnuts?
Yes, it’s a nut flour made from finely ground hazelnuts. It’s also vegan and low in carbohydrates.
Festive Shortbread Cookie Wreath
The extra festive note comes with the subtly citrusy icing: Divide your batch into portions so use red food colouring to bring on the merriment.
Ingredients
- 250 g flour
- 150 g butter cold
- 80 g icing sugar
- 50 g powdered hazelnuts
- 1 tbsp gingerbread spice
- Pinch salt
- 1 egg
Icing
- 1 egg white
- ½ lemon juiced
- 250 g icing sugar
- red food colouring
- sugar sprinkles
Instructions
- Add flour, butter, icing sugar, hazelnuts, gingerbread spice and salt in bowl of food processor and mix until sandy. Add egg and mix in spurts until dough forms a ball. Flour and refrigerate for 2 hours.
- Preheat oven to 180°C. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Roll out dough with rolling pin on floured work surface. Cut out a wreath that’s 20 cm in diameter and 5 cm wide (reserve scraps) and place it on one of the baking sheets. Make a small hole at top of wreath and bake for 15 to 20 minutes.
- Gather dough scraps into ball and roll out. Cut out as many cookies as you can using different cookie cutters. Place cut-out cookies on baking sheet and bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Let cool on rack.
Icing
- Lightly whisk egg white in saucepan with lemon juice. Add icing sugar little by little, whisking over low heat, until icing is fluid.
- Take ⅓ of icing and add few drops of red food colouring. Keep ⅔ white. Decorate cookies as you’d like and arrange them around the wreath, using icing to secure.
