Sugar + Gluten Free Hazelnut Cookies
I first made these in Italy with my mum last year. We wanted to do some family baking across three generations of women in the family – my mum, myself, and my (at the time) 3-year-old daughter. My mum has been wonderfully supportive of me as “that crazy sugar free lady”, and has embraced some of the lessons I’ve learned herself, which I find incredibly humbling and affirming.
So we set out to see if we could re-make a classic Italian cookie without all the sugar, and came out with these yummy, crumbly concoctions. They are gluten and sugar free, and still every bit as delicious.
Perfect with a cup of tea, they are a light, summery delight to eat, but a word of warning: they are crumbly! Very very crumbly. It’s what gives them their lightness and almost shortbread-like mouthfeel, but can make them tricky to transport. So they are best served straight after cooling to hungry guests – although you can definitely keep them for a few days in an airtight container (they just might not all stay 100% intact).
For a slightly less crumbly, but still just-as-yummy version, feel free to sub the gluten free flour for plain (all-purpose) flour if you are ok with gluten, as it gives them a little more structure.
Either way, the hazelnutty goodness and sweetness will come through and you are in for a lovely teatime treat everyone can enjoy. The chocolate is optional, but I highly recommend it – it takes the biscuits from yummy but simple to indulgent in just a couple of extra minutes.
Deliciously soft and crumbly Italian hazelnut cookies that also happen to be sugar and gluten free! 🙂 Easy to make and great fun for kids.
- 110 g (1 stick) softened unsalted butter
- 2-3 tablespoon xylitol
- 1 tablespoon rice syrup or organic raw honey, optional
- 115 g (3/4 cup) gluten-free flour (or 1 cup plain/all-purpose flour if you are not gluten free)
- 75 g (3/4 cup) ground hazelnuts (or 75g/3/4 cup chopped hazelnuts - blitz in a coffee grinder or food processor until ground)
- 1 egg yolk, if needed
- whole hazelnuts (18-24) for decoration
- melted 85-90% dark chocolate for drizzling, optional
- coconut flour or icing sugar for dusting, optional
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Preheat 190C/375F/gas 5. Grease/line a baking tray. Blitz butter, xylitol and rice syrup in a food processor until light and fluffy. Mix in the flour and ground hazelnuts and pulse to combine, adding a little egg yolk if needed to make a soft, slightly sticky dough.
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Roll about 1 tsp of mixture into a ball, then place on the baking tray and push down slightly, making a small indent in the middle with your finger. Place a whole hazelnut in the centre of the cookie and push it in ever so slightly. Repeat with the remaining mixture, then bake for about 15 mins, or until slightly browned and firm. Leave to cool completely before serving. Move them delicately if transferring to a cooling rack, they are very soft and crumbly! If using, drizzle over some melted chocolate and/or sprinkle over a little coconut flour or icing sugar.
