WORLD NUTELLA DAY 2012

My love affair with Nutella continues...and in honor of World Nutella Day I found this recipe on the Food and Wine website... Hazelnut Nutella Sandwich Cookies 2/3 cup roasted hazelnuts 2-1/2 c. all purpose flour 1/2 t. baking soda1/2 t. salt 2 sticks (8 oz.) unsalted butter, softened 1-1/4 c. sugar 1 large egg yolk 1 t. vanilla extract Nutella Directions: 1. In a food processor, finely grind hazelnuts. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour with the ground nuts, baking soda and salt. In a standard electric mixer fitted with a paddle, beat the butter with the sugar at medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in the egg yolk, and vanilla, scraping the side and bottom of the bowl. Beat in the dry ingredients at medium low speed. Divide the dough in half. Pat each half into a round, wrap them in plastic and refrigerate for at least 15 minutes. 2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Position the racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven. On a lightly floured surface, roll out each piece of dough, 1/8 inch thick. Using a 2 inch biscuit cutter, stamp out rounds as close together as possible. Arrange the rounds on large baking sheets, about 1 inch apart, Gather the scraps and reroll, cutting out more cookies. 3. Bake cookies in batches for about 10 minutes, until golden, shift the pans from top to bottom and front to back halfway through baking. Let the cookies cool on the sheets for 5 minutes, and then transfer to racks to cool completely. 4. Sandwich the cooled cookies with Nutella..

They are super crunchy, light and heavenly!