You all probably know that I love chestnuts, so much that every year I cook a little extra and put in the freezer for cravings throughout the year. Here in Bulgaria, canned chestnuts and commercial chestnut puree are very expensive, plus you can never be sure what’s in the package, right? So, my way to have budget friendly chestnut meals and desserts at home is to overload the freezer when they are in season. Not many things you can find in my freezer, but chestnuts are the sure thing.
I have another few chestnut recipes here, including a post on how to cook chestnuts and make a homemade chestnut puree. Check them out, I am sure you will find your next recipe in there.
Now, I am leaving you with this simple and delicious recipe. Happy cooking!
Ingredients (makes about 15 large double cookies):
180 grams (6 oz) all purpose flour
40 grams (1,5 oz) cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
A pinch of salt
180 grams (6 oz) butter, softened
220 grams (8 oz) sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
200 grams (7 oz) plain chestnut puree
Ingredients for the white chocolate frosting:
80 grams (3 oz) white chocolate (preferable for cooking)
80 ml. (3 fl. oz) heavy whipping creamTo make the cookies: Preheat your oven to 180 C (350 F). Line two baking sheets with baking paper.
In a large bowl, add flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and stir to combine.
In another large bowl, beat together sugar and butter until fluffy and well combined. Add egg, vanilla extract and chestnut puree and beat until combined.
Add flour mixture to the chestnut mixture and stir with a rubber spatula until nice and smooth, but don’t over mix the batter. **Batter will be a bit tough to handle and sticky, but don’t worry it’s not that hard.
Using a spoon or an ice-cream scoop form small balls out of the batter and place on the baking sheet as you leave enough room between the cookies, since they will double their size during baking. Gently wet your hands and smooth over the cookie-balls. Place the cookie sheet in the fridge for 10-15 minutes then bake for about 12-14 minutes. While one cookie sheet is the oven, work with the rest of the batter then put the second sheet in the fridge. It’s important to have the batter chilled, this will keep your cookies in good shape while cooking.
Let them cool completely on a wire rack.
***form really small balls of dough cause cookies expand significantly during the baking.
**** I use unsweetened homemade chestnut pure for this recipe but a jar of commercial one will do the job too. It is preferable to use unsweetened but in case you have only sweetened on hands, just reduce the sugar amount in the recipe (in half…more or less, depending on your. taste ) in order to avoid over-sweeten the cookies.
To make the frosting:
Place white chocolate in a large bowl. Heat the cream till hot to the touch but not boiling, then pour over the white chocolate. Let those sit for a minute then stir to combine until smooth and glossy. Put the mixture in the fridge for about 30-45 minutes, then beat with an electric mixer for about a minute or two until white and fluffy. Pour the frosting in a piping bag fitted with a large round tip or other of your choice.
Arrange cookies with the flat side up and pipe the frosting over half of them, then assemble.
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