Christmas and cookies – a match made in holiday heaven! This year, as in the two prior years, I'm celebrating Christmas at Keepin' It Kind's Cookie Exchange. My first year, I shared a recipe for sweet and spicy Molasses Crinkles; my recipe for year two was Sicilian Fig Cookies, and this year – gluten-free Chocolate Hazelnut Sandwich Cookies that just cry out for a tall, cold glass of your favorite non-dairy milk.
My cookie recipe is below, but I hope you'll also take some time today to visit my guest post on Keepin' It Kind – and to enjoy the other beautiful cookie creations that are part of this year's exchange. Bonus: enter to win a Vitamix high-speed blender. Yep, you read that right! Kristy has a VITAMIX to give away to one lucky-duck reader.
You can find Lily's Sweets brand stevia-sweetened, vegan semi-sweet chocolate chips at Whole Foods (sometimes…) and on Amazon here.
Preheat the oven to 375-degrees and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
In the bowl of a food processor, pulse the flour, meals, sugar, salt, and cinnamon until evenly combined. Add the hazelnut butter and coconut oil and pulse until you have a mixture that looks like coarse meal. With the processor running, add the water and stevia to the flour mixture. Process until it begins to come together in a ball. Scrape out the dough, form it into a round, flat disk and cover in plastic wrap. Chill for at least 30 minutes.
Place the unwrapped disk of dough onto a (gluten-free) floured board. Roll the dough until it is about 1/4-inch thick. Using a 2 1/2-inch round cookie cutter, cut out as many circles as you can and place them on one of the baking sheets. Scrunch up the dough scraps, knead a bit, then roll out again. Cut more circles, place them on a baking sheet. Do this one more time. You should end up with 34 cookies.
If you like, take a smaller-sized round cookie cutter and cut out circles in half of the cookies. Keep those tiny circles and bake them with the rest of the cookies – they're delicious! Or, using the tines of a fork, press small holes into half of the cookies. Now bake the cookies for 12-15 minutes, switching pans in the oven halfway through for even baking. You want the cookies to be very firm and just beginning to brown at the edges. Allow cookies to cool for a few minutes on the pans, then gently transfer them to wire cooling racks to cool completely.
When ready to assemble the cookies, carefully melt the chocolate chips and coconut oil in a double-boiler or microwave.
Place the "bottom" cookies on one wire rack and the "top" cookies on another. Working quickly, divide the melted chocolate between the "bottom" cookies and spread the chocolate almost to the edges of the cookies. Lay the "top" cookies on the "bottom" cookies. Let cookies set before storing and/or eating.
These are so gorgeous, totally bake shop material. If you need anyone to take these off your hands (though I am sure they are FAR gone down into your tummy) I VOLUNTEER!
These look amazing Annie and look at you creating 2 versions! You go girl!!
Beautiful appetizing pictures of tasty inviting looking cookies! Yum!