Nutty Christmas Cookies

Only one day until Father Christmas visits and we can hardly wait! We love to make him feel welcome with a delicious snack for his long journey. This year we've decided to bake him some special cookies using a traditional family recipe. Why not try them out for yourself, they're surprisingly quick and easy to make!

They only take 30 mins and trust me, they're absolutely delicious. You'll be sure to impress the big guy with these and will no doubt end up straight at the top of his nice list!

Good luck, and don't forget to share your experience with us, we'd love to see what yours come out like!

• 10 mins preparation
• 10 mins baking
• 10 mins cooling down

Ingredients

• 200g Dark Chocolate
• 75g Butter
• 225g Light Muscavado Sugar
• 2 Eggs
• Vanilla Extract
• 50g Skinned Hazelnuts
• 150g Self-raising Flour

1. Break the chocolate up into pieces in a small heatproof bowl. Place the bowl over a small pan of simmering water, with the base of the bowl not quite immersed. Allow the chocolate to completely melt.

Don’t be tempted to stir it, but occasionally push any unmelted chocolate down into the liquid chocolate to encourage it to melt. Turn off the heat as soon as the chocolate has melted.

2. Cream the butter and sugar in a mixer until its smooth and creamy. Break the eggs into a bowl, whisk them lightly just enough to break them up, then add gradually to the butter and sugar with a couple of drops of vanilla extract, beating constantly. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula to ensure a thorough mixing.

3. Toast the hazelnuts in a shallow pan until golden, shake regularly so they colour evenly. Then grind the nuts to the texture of a fine gravel, remove half and continue grinding the other half until it resembles fine breadcrumbs.

4. Add the flour, melted chocolate and both textures of nut to the mixture. Stop beating as soon as everything is combined.

5. Place large, heaped tablespoons of the mixture on to a baking sheet lined with parchment. You should get 12 large biscuits. The mixture can wait for a few minutes if you are baking them in two batches. Don’t flatten the cookies, they will do so in the oven.

6. Bake for 10 minutes. The cookies will have spread and be very soft to the touch. Remove them from the oven and set aside to cool a little. As soon as they are cool enough to move without breaking, slide a palette knife underneath and carefully lift them on to a cooling rack. They will remain in good condition in a biscuit tin for a few days to come. Enjoy!