A holiday staple, these easy and festive Hazelnut Linzer Cookies with Date Caramel are a deliciously wonderful treat for Santa and all his crew - reindeer included!
Add water and dates to a high-powered blender and blender. This will produce a thicker consistency that the 1:1 ratio I used previously.
To make the cookies:
Place butter in the bowl of a stand mixer and beat until softened, using the paddle attachment.
Add sugar, cardamom and zest and cream together on low speed.
Add eggs, one at a time, scraping down sides after each addition.
Sift together baking powder, salt and flour and stir in hazelnuts.
Add to the butter mixture and and use the stir setting on your mixture to incorporate, or fold in by hand. Chill the dough until ready to use.
Roll out chilled dough and use a small star cookie cutter (or other shape of your choice) to cut out 30 cookies. Use a piping tip to cut a hole in the center of half the cookies - in this case 15.
Place on a parchment or silicone lined tray and bake for 10-12 minutes.
Remove from oven and allow to cool completely, then dust the cookies with the holes with icing sugar - these will become the top of the sandwiched cookies.
Prepare a cornet (paper cone), add date caramel and cut a small opening at the pointed tip. Pipe a pea-sized dot on the base of the cookie and top with sugar-dusted cookie.