February 5, 2010 is the official World Nutella Day. Nutella was created in the 1940s by Pietro Ferrero, owner of the infamous Ferrero company. During the 40’s, chocolate and cocoa were in short supply due to WWII rationing, so Ferrero ingeniously used hazelnuts instead. Thus, the scrumptious hazelnut spread was born. Even today, the spread is still so delectable that it gets its very own holiday when lovers of the stuff unite to celebrate its existence. If that isn’t evidence of how truly tantalizing Nutella is, then I don’t know what is!
In honor of this day, I’ve decided to make Shortbread Nutella Sandwiches. The recipe I used I created from several different baking recipes that I had on hand.
Ingredients:
- 1.5 C flour
- 1/4 C cornstarch
- 1/8 tsp. salt
- 3/4 C unsalted butter at room temp
- 1/3 C sugar
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1 jar of Nutella
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
- In a large bowl, add the butter and sugar and beat on medium speed for about 3 minutes or until smooth.
- Add the vanilla and mix until incorporated.
- In another bowl, mix the flour, cornstarch, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the butter mix.
- Beat on low speed until a dough forms.
- Roll out the dough onto a lightly floured work surface. Using a biscuit or cookie cutter, cut out cookies.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and bake for 12-15 minutes or until cookies are golden brown.
- Cool completely on a wire rack.
- Spread Nutella on one side of the cookie and place another cookie on top forming a sandwich
