Stuffed German Chocolate Hazelnut Cookies (Nougat Balls)
These melt-in-your-mouth Hazelnut Chocolate Cookies with a creamy hazelnut centre are one of my favourite German Christmas Cookies. The secret ingredient is nougat, an easy-to-make hazelnut-chocolate-paste.
Ingredients
For the cookie dough
- 200 g Nougat , nougat chocolate or chocolate hazelnut spread see text for recipe
- 100 g soft butter
- 1 large egg
- 250 g flour
- 50 g cornstarch
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp cardamom
- 1/4 tsp chili powder optional
for the filling
- 200 g nougat or high-quality chocolate hazelnut spread
for decoration
- 50 g dark chocolate
Instructions
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Heat 200 g nougat or nougat chocolate in the microwave just until it can be stirred to a smooth paste. It should not be hot, so let it cool down if needed.
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Beat the butter for about 2 minutes, then slowly add the nougat to the butter while continuing to whisk. Add the egg and stir until combined. Add the rest of the dry ingredients and combine everything into a smooth dough. Dump the dough onto a large piece of clingfilm and shape into a 40 cm roll. Wrap tightly in clingfilm and refrigerate for 1 to 2 hours.
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Cut the nougat or nougat chocolate into 50 little pieces and refrigerate.
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Preheat the oven to 180 and prepare 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.
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Cut the cookie dough roll into 50 slices. Place a piece of nougat in the middle and shape the dough into a smooth ball, rolling it between your palm. Place on the cookie sheets and freeze for about 7 minutes. Then, bake for 14 minutes and let cool completely.
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Melt the chocolate in the microwave and spoon it into a freezer bag or a piping bag. Cut a tiny hole into the tip of the piping bag and decorate the cookies with chocolate.