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Nutella + Wafer Cookies = Ferrero Rocher Frozen Pie

YumSugar — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 16:15:16 -0700

After drooling over PartySugar’s mojito cakes, I wanted to experiment with my own freezer pie. When searching for a recipe, I remembered one of my favorite frozen dessert cookbooks, Icebox Pies by Lauren Chattman. Since I'm crazy for Nutella, I decided to make her Gianduia Pie. Gianduia is a type of chocolate candy made with hazelnuts or almonds.
I was unable to find chocolate wafer cookies, so I substituted Fudge Stick cookies, a wafer sandwich-cookie covered in chocolate. To my delight, the creamy, chocolately, hazelnut filling and crunchy crust reminded me of delicious Ferrero Rocher chocolates, minus the gold wrapping! Learn how to make this divine yet minimal, no-bake pie when you, read more!

Gianduia Pie
Adapted from Ice Box Pies by Lauren Chattman

Ingredients

Crust
20 Fudge Wafer Bar Cookies
1/2 cup hazelnuts, toasted and skinned
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 tablespoon sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Filling
3/4 cup hazelnuts, toasted and skinned
1 1/2 cup heavy cream, chilled
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 13 ounce jar of Nutella

Directions

Preheat the oven 350°F. Place all of hazelnuts (1 1/4 cup) on a baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes until they are fragrant.
Place the nuts on a clean kitchen towel and let cool for 10 to 15 minutes. Once cool, rub the nuts with the towel to remove the skin. A little skin won't hurt but try to remove as much as possible.
Make the crust: place the nuts and cookies in a food processor and grind finely. Combine the crumb and nut mixture, butter, sugar, salt, and vanilla in a medium size mixing bowl and stir until the crumb and nut mixture is moistened.
Press the mixture evenly across the bottom of a 9-inch pie plate and all the way up the sides of the pan, packing it tightly with your fingertips so it is even and compacted.
Bake the crust for 15-20 minutes until edges start to become firm. The crust will become more firm as it cools. Let cool completely before filling. The crust may be wrapped in plastic wrap and frozen for up to 1 month.
Make the filling: place 3/4 cup toasted and skinned hazelnuts in a food processor and process until very fine.
Combine the cream and vanilla in large mixing bowl. Using an electric mixer, whip the cream until stiff peaks form.
Place the Nutella in a medium-size mixing bowl and stir in one quarter of the whipped cream.
Gently fold the lightened Nutella mixture back into the remaining whipped cream. Fold in the chopped hazelnuts.
Scrape the filling into the prepared pie shell and smooth the top with a rubber spatula. Cover the pie with plastic wrap and refrigerate until the filling is completely set, at least 6 hours and up to 1 day.

Serves 8 or makes one 9-inch pie.

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12 Days of Edible Gifts: Hazelnut Kiss Cookies

YumSugar — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 16:00:12 -0800

Every holiday season, I love indulging in those classic peanut butter cookies dimpled with a Hershey Kiss center. For our 12 Days of Edible Gifts, I experimented with this same concept to create a Ferrero Rocher-inspired treat. The combination of hazelnuts and chocolate is always divinely delicious and these crumbly hazelnut cookies with chocolate middles are no exception. They're simple to make and easily gifted in a festive basket or decorative to-go container. To make these delectable cookies for your friends and family, read more.

Hazelnut Kiss Cookies
Adapted from The Taste of Home Cookbook

Ingredients

1 1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup Sugar
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cup ground roasted hazelnuts
48 unwrapped Hershey Kisses

Directions

Preheat oven to 350. Place whole hazelnuts on a large cookie sheet. Bake for 8-12 minutes until fragrant. Be careful to not burn the nuts. Fresh from the oven place hazelnuts in a clean dish towel, rub against the towel to remove the skin. Grind or finely chop hazelnuts.
In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Mix eggs, yolks and vanilla well. Combine flour and salt and add a third at a time to the creamed mixture, beating well after each addition. Stir in nuts.
Roll dough into 1 inch balls. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie baking sheets. Flatten each ball and place a Hershey Kiss in the center of each cookie.
Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes until cookies have set. Only the bottom of cookie will turn golden brown. Watch the cookies closely as the tip of the chocolate can burn. Remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Makes 4 dozen cookies.

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What's Yummy This Week - YumSugar Weekly Recap

YumSugar — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 09:30:31 -0700

PartySugar helps harvest San Francisco's public victory garden.
Check out our firsthand account of tasting food on the trippy new miracle berry.
Hitting bookstores soon: A Rachael Ray parody.
Can you match the Olympians to the foods they can't live without?
Throw this going away party, and people won't want to leave.
Even leftover haters will love these five dinners that improve with time.
Why you'll thank yourself for drinking organic booze.
This Ferrero Rocher frozen pie made us weak in the knees.
Try just one pisco sour, and you'll understand why it's worth fighting over.