Acorn cookies with hazelnuts and ganache frosting

June 29, 2013

Acorn cookies with hazelnuts and ganache frosting

It is such a busy time of year. Finishing getting the garden ready, weeding and mulching my paths in the veggie garden, watching over broodies in the coop, setting eggs in the incubator, processing meat chickens, cleaning out Kieran's playhouse - but there is always time to make cookies!

I wanted to make acorn cookies again - I've tried this pan once before and the cookies were divine. Then I wasn't sure which recipe I used so I tried this one that I think is it - they're very good anyhow. Here is the base recipe, which I adapted for this pan: King Arthur Flour Walnut Cookies Recipe .

I used this pan:

I bought mine at Loblaws, but it's exactly the same as the pan above.

Preheat the oven to 375 - I used convect bake and 370.
The mold does not need to be greased at all.

Beat

1/2 cup soft butter

1/3 cup light brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

until it is fluffy - only a minute or two.

I got butter from the organic local creamery that delivers my milk - it's lovely and yellow from the cows being out and eating green grass at this time of year.

Stir in

1 cup King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1/2 cup very finely chopped walnuts or whatever - I used hazelnuts I chopped in a small food processor till they looked like this:

When you mix it, it will be clumpy and crumbly like this:

Wrap the dough and refrigerate for 1/2 hour. I just dumped the lot out on a sheet of plastic wrap, then pulled up the sides and pressed it all into a nice package.

While I waited, I made double chocolate chip cookies too - back up plan in case these didn't turn out is what I told myself. Got the recipe off a package of Hershey's Special Dark chips.

Yummmm......

Take the acorn cookie dough out of the fridge and press some of the dough into each of the cavities - it won't really grow so fill up as much as you would like it to end up - I filled them most of the way. Make a depression if you want more frosting or a filling.

Here they are all filled up and ready for baking:

Bake for 10-12 minutes until browned around the edges.

You'll have to wait till they cool a bit before you can get them out without breaking them. This pan is heavy and takes a long time to cool. When they are cooled somewhat, use a toothpick to loosen them.

I let them cool flat side down on a cookie sheet for a while. Aren't they lovely? Great detail, even though this dough is coarse from the nuts.

When they cool, make the filling. I used a 1/2 recipe of the filling they list, and it was still too much, but you can always find other uses for it!

Filling recipe from King Arthur:

1/2 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
1 cup semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, melted

Heat the cream and corn syrup until steaming.; a microwave works well here.

Add the chocolate, stirring until it melts. Reheat briefly on low heat if the chocolate doesn't completely melt.

Cool until the mixture thickens somewhat, whisking often.

The recipe is for filled cookies but this mold makes pretty big cookies, so I just frost them. Put on a good thick layer on the flat side.