Crumbly stars

Ingredients for 2 servings:

• 150 g wheat flour type 405
• 150 g sugar, fine
• 150 g butter, cold
• 150 g hazelnuts, grated
• 2 egg yolks
• 2 egg yolks
• 50 g hazelnuts, whole

Instructions

Working time approx. 40 minutes; Rest time approx. 2 hours; Cooking/baking time approx. 10 minutes; Total time approx. 2 hours 50 minutes

finest shortcrust pastry classics with hazelnut, particularly crumbly and nutty

Quickly mix flour, sugar (preferably fine-grained or powdered sugar), butter, grated hazelnuts, and two egg yolks into a dough, then wrap in cling film and chill for at least 2 hours. I prefer to prepare the dough the day before; it can be kept in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Knead the chilled dough again briefly until it’s ready to work. Roll out on a floured surface to a thickness of about 3 mm and cut out cookies using a star-shaped cutter. The surface may crack during rolling, especially with coarsely grated hazelnuts. In this case, simply change the rolling direction or push the cookies back together by hand. It’s okay if the cookies look a bit crumbly; the dough will bond during baking. If there’s too much flour in the dough later on due to rolling, you can knead in a little more butter and chill the dough briefly before using it. While the oven is preheating to 150°C (top/bottom heat), brush the stars with egg yolk and press a hazelnut into the center in a cool place (the dough shouldn’t get too warm, so not directly over the oven). If you want to decorate them with hazelnut glaze later, you can just put a drop of egg yolk in the center to stick the hazelnut in place. My grandma made the cookies with just egg yolk and they were wonderfully crumbly and nutty. I also always make some with hazelnut glaze, although they are almost too sweet for me; I prefer them with just egg yolk. Bake the cookies on the middle rack until the tips of the stars are lightly browned. Then let them sit on the baking sheet for a while to cool and harden. You can then draw fine lines over the cookies with warmed hazelnut glaze. The cookies taste best when they’ve been in the tin for a few days; then they’re wonderfully crumbly and chewy, and the hazelnuts have imparted their flavor to the dough, ensuring a not-too-firm consistency. It’s wonderful to open the cookie tin and breathe in the hazelnut scent. A little info: Shortcrust pastry must be made with cold butter and shouldn’t be kneaded for too long. To help the sugar dissolve a little, it’s recommended to use the finest-grained sugar possible. The cookie dough blanks shouldn’t get too warm before baking either; then they’ll hold their shape better during baking. The higher the butter content in shortcrust pastry, the more crumbly/brittle it will be, which is why it doesn’t need baking powder to loosen it. However, dough with a lot of fat is harder to work with. It can help to let the dough stand in the cold and only add fresh, cold dough in portions to the rolled-out dough.