Hazelnut Nutella Linzer Cookies are a break from a traditional Linzer cookie recipe and are sure to delight the Nutella lover in your life this Christmas!
In a medium bowl sift together the flour, cinnamon, and salt. Then whisk in the finely ground hazelnuts. Set aside.In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 1 minute.
Add the egg, vanilla, and hazelnut extract to the butter mixture and continue beating on medium-high speed until well incorporated. Add the dry ingredients and mix on low speed until just combined.
Turn dough out onto a sheet of plastic wrap and form the dough into a disc. Wrap it up and chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.
Once the dough is chilled and you are ready to roll it out, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Cut the cold dough in half. Re-wrap and place the other half of the dough back in the fridge. Roll out the remaining dough on a clean, well-floured surface to about ⅛-inch thickness. (Rolling pin spacers are a life-saver!)
Cut half the sheet of rolled dough out using the cookie cutter without an insert in the center, this will be the bottom of the cookie. Then cut the rest of the dough out with your preferred shape insert, these will be the cookie tops. Save all the scraps to chill and re-roll for more cookies. Keep count of the cutouts to make sure you have an equal number of tops and bottoms.
Place the cookies on an ungreased, parchment paper or silicone mat lined cookie sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes. Cool cookies on the pan for a few minutes. Once they are set, move them to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Repeat this process with the remaining dough and any scraps.
To assemble the cookies, separate the bottoms from the tops and dust all the tops with powdered sugar before you put the sandwich cookies together.
Turn the bottom cookie over (so the bottoms are not on top, pretty side out kids!) and spread an even layer of Nutella on each cookie bottom. Match up the sides and place a powdered sugared top cookie (sugar side up) on top of the Nutella to complete the cookie.