Cookie kisses: Yotam Ottolenghi’s recipe for hazelnut and chocolate sandwich biscuits | Christmas food gifts

i I thought homemade food gifts were a bit ostentatious. At a time when most of us are frantically writing to-do lists and just trying to get them together, anyone who had time to give gifts was just making everyone else feel bad. Nowadays though, I think homemade food gifts are the most brilliant and wonderful things. The time invested really isn’t that much to write home (or even to Santa) about, and we all need less ‘stuff’, don’t we? Sugar and kisses made from the comfort of home: how could a gift be more perfect?

Hazelnut and chocolate kisses

Forget the mistletoe – these little Italian cookies are the kiss of the year. Once assembled, they will begin to soften, which is what you want. From this point, they will keep well in a sealed container for another three days.

preparation 20 min
Cool 1 hour
Cook 40 min
It does 16

About the cookies
125 g of blanched hazelnuts
60 g plain flour
2 tablespoons of cornmeal
75 g of powdered sugar
¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
1 hour l. vanilla bean paste
65 g of unsalted buttersoftened

For the stuffing
150 g powdered sugar
20 g of cocoa powder
1 tablespoon instant coffee powder
25 g of unsalted buttersoftened

Preheat the oven to 180C (160C fan)/350F/Gas 4. Spread the hazelnuts on an oven tray, then bake for 12-15 minutes until toasted. Remove, then let cool completely for 30 minutes or up to an hour.

Place the toasted hazelnuts, plain flour and cornmeal in a food processor, then pulse a few times until the mixture resembles sand – don’t over process or you’ll end up with a paste. Add the powdered sugar, salt, vanilla paste, and butter, then mix again until the mixture comes together into a dough, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a spatula as needed.

Turn the dough out onto a sheet of greaseproof paper and reheat the oven to 180C (160C fan)/350F/Gas 4. Pinch off 10g pieces of the dough and roll them into balls; if the dough is too soft to handle, cover with parchment paper and refrigerate for 15-20 minutes to firm up. Place the dough balls in two baking trays lined with baking paper, leaving at least 3cm between each cookie to allow for spreading, then bake for 18-20 minutes until lightly golden. Remove and let cool completely.

Meanwhile, place all the filling ingredients and one and a half tablespoons of lukewarm water in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Start on low speed to combine everything, then increase the speed to high and beat for about five minutes until light and creamy. (Alternatively, use a hand whisk or wooden spoon and a little elbow grease to work the filling to a creamy, drinkable consistency.)

Scrape the filling into a piping bag, then pour (or spread with a spatula) a generous amount (about 10g, or one and a half teaspoons worth) on the flat sides of the cookie halves. Sandwich the remaining cookies flat side down, pressing down gently to squish the filling right to the edges. Arrange on a plate and serve or, if giving as a gift, store in an airtight box or bag tied with a ribbon.