It’s hard to find excuses to bake. Don’t get me wrong, as a member of a generation destined for vague, borderless knowledge work I adore baking. There are steps to follow, finite, discrete stages, and there’s cake at the end. But I do not like the heavy, liverish feeling you get after eating too much cake, so I try to restrict my cakery to times when baked goods can be shared, such as birthdays and bank holidays.
But birthday baking isn’t so straightforward, either. It’s awkward taking a cake to a bar or someone’s house. I always forget my Tupperware, and for some reason going back to pick it up gives me a feeling of desolation. The best thing is to make something small, portable and long-lasting, that can be packed in disposable containers. Cookies are ideal. These ones are hazelnut scented and special. I made them for someone’s birthday and recommend that you do, too.
Chocolate and hazelnut cookies
Makes around two dozen
- 125g butter, softened
- 110g caster sugar
- 100g brown sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- An egg
- 110g rolled oats
- 150g plain flour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp bicarb
- 175g decent chocolate, chopped into chips
- 150g hazelnuts
Preheat your oven to 200 degrees C. Tip the hazelnuts onto a baking sheet and put them in the oven for 20-30 minutes, until the skins blacken and the kitchen smells like security, filial affection and kittens. When the nuts have had their time spread a clean tea towel over the kitchen bench and tip the hot nuts onto it. Fold the tea towel over the nuts and rub the skins off. I find there are usually a few errant hazelnuts that just don’t want to be peeled, so I pick those out and rub the skins off between my fingertips. It’s fiddly, but satisfying. Once the nuts are peeled I like to transfer them to a wire sieve over the sink to shake off the last bits of skin, but that’s just me. Either way, put your peeled nuts into a large Ziploc bag. Leave the bag open so the nuts can cool. Reduce the oven to 170 degrees.
Cream butter with sugars and vanilla until pale and thick. Beat in the egg until just combined, then fold in the oats. Sift the flour, baking powder, bicarb and a little salt over the mixture, then fold in. Your hazelnuts should be cool now, so seal the bag, fold it, then do some serious violence to those nuts with a rolling pin. For reals. It’ll make you feel better. Fold the brutalised nuts into the dough
Baking paper a couple of trays. Using a cookie scoop, or a spoon if you’re not as seduced by single use tools as I am, scoop walnut-sized balls of dough onto the trays and flatten a little. Bake in two batches for around 10 minutes until golden. They may need a little more time, but it’s best to undercook rather than overcook. Cool on a wire rack, then take to wherever they are needed.
