I love hazelnuts. In the Roman area, we produce excellent quality hazelnuts.
The Nocciola Romana DOP has two varieties: the Tonda Gentile and the Nocchione. Both have a very fine aroma that sticks around.
I often buy them whole or in hazelnut paste (also perfect for making ice cream) during Coldiretti’s flea market. I like to try the products of small farmers, but above all talk to them and hear the story of their farms’ hard work and sacrifice.
These buttery and nutty shortbread biscuits are the perfect mid-morning interlude and an ideal accompaniment to a coffee.

Shortbread with hazelnuts

  • Preparation time: 60 minutes
  • Ingredients for ~64 shortbreads
  • Difficulty: Easy recipe

  • Ingredients
  • 500 g or 3 cups of pastry flour
  • 5 g or a teaspoon of baking powder
  • 250 g or 1 cup of butter
  • 200 g or 1 cup of icing sugar
  • 70 g or 3 oz of hazelnut paste
  • 100 g or 4 oz of chopped hazelnuts
  • 4 yolks
  • A pinch of salt
  • For decoration:
  • Chopped hazelnuts to taste
  • Brown sugar to taste
  1. Instructions
  2. Preheat your oven to 325°F.
  3. Cut the butter into small pieces. Sift the baking powder and flour together into a bowl. Mix the
  4. butter and flour with the baking powder, then add the other ingredients.
  5. Form two rolls with the dough and pass them through the chopped hazelnuts mixed with brown sugar. Cover them with parchment paper and leave them in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.
  6. Cut the dough with a knife, thus forming shortbread biscuits with a thickness of 0 25⁄64 inch.
  7. Place the biscuits onto a baking sheet covered with parchment paper and bake them in the preheated oven for about twenty-five minutes.

Tips to ensure the success of the dish:

  • The flour for this type of biscuit is one with low gluten. This will ensure that the gluten mesh does not develop. The dough must only be worked a little for the same reason.
  • If you want to make a precise round shape, it’s better to roll out the dough with a rolling pin and cut the biscuits with a mold. In this case it will be unnecessary to have other chopped hazelnuts and brown sugar.
  • The cooking time is indicative because each oven cooks differently. The short crust pastry should not darken.