Chocolate Dipped Hazelnut Shortbread Dunkers – whoa, that’s a mouthful. And, it’s the best kind too—soft buttery crumbs, full of toasted hazelnuts, then dipped in dark chocolate; and of course let’s not forget the sugar rimming for some added crunch and sparkle.
Now that January is drawing to an end. Can I lure you back into the kitchen for some homemade cookies? The baking hiatus is over. Valentine’s is around the corner and sweet treats are calling.
Oh, I can’t even tell you how much I love this holiday, I don’t care that the naysayers call it a manufactured day. I love it—it is what you make of it, now what others say it is.
It’s not even that matt and I do anything in particular, but I always love that we have something planned, especially since it’s one of the last weekend’s before baseball madness starts in our house.
This year with the baby here, we are playing catch up on planning. But what I do know is I’ll have these cookies baked and ready for Matt because despite years of attempted coercion he will always reach for a cookie over cake or any other dessert first.
Chocolate-Dipped Hazelnut Shortbread Dunkers
Yield: Makes 4 dozen cookies
Ingredients:
- 2-1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon table salt
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 12 tablespoons unsalted butter, slightly softened
- 1 large egg yolk
- 4 tablespoon agave
- 2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
- 6 oz. (1 1/2 cups) toasted hazelnut, coarsely chopped
- 1 cup coarse sugar
- 8 oz. dark chocolate (65%), melted
- 1 tablespoon vegetable shortening
Directions:
Preparation: Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Line bakesheet with parchment paper.
Sift flour and salt into a bowl; set aside. Place the butter, in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and cream butter on medium-low speed until smooth, about 1-2 minutes. Add in the sugar and beat until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add in the egg and vanilla, beat until blended. Reduce the mixer speed low and in the dry ingredients in three additions. Turn off the mixer and fold in the nuts.
Portion the dough in half and shape each half into 15x3x1 inch rectangular logs. Press coarse sugar into each side. Cover with plastic wrap and push both ends with your hand toward the center to tighten the dough. Chill prepared dough for at least 3 hours. Remove chilled dough and slice cookies to ½ inch thickness. Place each cookie 1 inch apart on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake until cookies are lightly browned, about 18-20 minutes. Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.
Place chocolate and shortening in a bowl and heat in 5 seconds bursts until melted, making sure to stir between each heating. Dip one corner of cookie into melted chocolate and place on parchment paper to set.
Welcome to my cozy corner where baking meets random thoughts and musings. I’m a self-taught baker sharing all things sweet (and some savory—okay, and cocktails) with a whisk in one hand and a camera in the other. 
YES! Bring on the baking and butter!
These are gorgeous and I think you so cute you guys always plan something for V-day!
You had me at chocolate and hazelnut, love these!
I’ve been cooking with hazelnuts a lot lately. They just SCREAM love and romance to me.
And these cookies scream EAT ME, and I can definitely get back on the cookie train for them! Pinned!
Looks delicious! Perfect snack with tea or coffee, and I LOVE hazelnut.
Those look awesome! I’m sure they’d go delightfully with coffee
I LOVE shortbread. You have indeed lured me with these beautiful cookies!
From now on, I’m going to call biscotti “dunkers.” It sounds oddly British.
Love these flavors… wish I had a batch to go with my morning coffee.
What do I use instead of vegetable shortening, which I not sure I can get in England. Is butter OK? The same amount?
Cindy replied: — March 4th, 2015 @ 9:47 am
You can use paraffin wax. You should be able to find it by the canning supplies.
can we have one big giant wedding for chocolate and hazelnut?? what a couple. these look so great!!!
these are gorgeous Naomi! I am going to try to make some like these that I can eat! (GF/DF/EF)- lol! I will let you know if they work!
Definitely the perfect dunkers. Yum!
Bring on the baking recipes! Love these little dunkers.
Droooooling! These are gorgeous Naomi!
Cookies over cake must just be a guy thing because my dad and brothers are te same way. These sound like the perfect thing to cover all the chocolate bases for V-day
Yum yum yum yum yum! Hazelnut shortbread?! I’m here for it. Pinning!
YES!!! Bust out the butter and flour. I’ve spent the entire month trying to make healthy stuff…I threw in the towel last week. TOOO much! These look positively delicious. I’m gonna have to try these. xx
That’s my kind of cookie! delish!!
Okay, these for DEFINITELY getting made. Perfect for dunking into a cup of tea.
I see a latte and this cookie in my immediate future! Yum! P.S. I wish I had your dedication in always having something planned for V-Day!
Those look perfect for coffee dunking!
These cookies are perfection! I am drooling right now!!!
You sure can lure me into the kitchen with these cookies!!!!
Oh wow, these look incredible!!! Can’t wait to try this recipe!
I’m with Matt… I reach for cookies first too! And shortbread is always wonderful, but dipped in chocolate is just like taking it to a whole new level. Awesome recipe!
You have agave (nectar?) listed in the ingredients but not in the directions. Does agave het added to the batter or is that a typo?
yummy. This sounds delicious. Thanks for sharing this.
Simon
Made these for my family, they absolutely loved them! Made a second batch without the nuts, cut the time down by a few minutes and they made an awesome thin cookie. Such a good recipe!
can i use walnuts in place of hazelnuts??
Hi Naomi! This recipe includes agave in the list of ingredients but agave is not included in the instructions. Does this recipe need agave or was this just a typo? Thanks!!!
These look great. I’m attempting them now and the dough is super crumbly and dry. When I try to put them on the plastic wrap to turn them into rectangles the dough just crumbles into pieces. Do you have a suggestion?