Chocolate Hazelnut Melting Moments

As promised from last time, here are the Chocolate Hazelnut Melting Moments.  Chocolate-hazelnut cookies sandwich a creamy chocolate-hazelnut filling.  I'm not sure how these are hazelnut variations of Melting Moments, which I made previously.  The recipes aren't similar, and this hazelnut recipe lacks the cornstarch or Bird's custard powder that you often see in Melting Moments recipes.  The taste and consistency are different, though wonderful in their own way.  They're chocolate and hazelnut, so how could they not be?  They just deserve their own name.

The dough can be a little fussy to work with.  Once the dough starts to get melty and tear, and the rounds don't hold their shape when handled, toss the remaining dough into the freezer, parchment sheets and all, to firm up before cutting again.  It's a little labor intensive, but they are well worth it.

Melting Moments tea cookies

Melting Moments: The name is corny, but the sandwiched cookie is divine.  When my friend Bryanna was clearing her apartment for her big move to New York, she offered me a book of afternoon tea recipes.  Everything looked good, but the Melting Moments caught my attention immediately.  They're crisp yet light-textured cookies filled with buttercream.  I had made them months ago with another recipe, which used Bird's custard powder and added jam on top of the buttercream.  I like this recipe better, which uses cornstarch and vanilla instead so there wasn't the subtle chalky taste or texture I got from the Bird's.  I made some other minor tweaks and added the jam to this version also. Trust me, jam plus buttercream induces satisfied groans.  Thanks, Bry!  Maybe I'll make these next time you're in town.

Also, if you're a fan of chocolate and hazelnut together, check back here in a few days for the Hazelnut Melting Moments I also made from this book!

I'm catching up on following all your posts.  It's been a busy summer, especially with the visit of family.  I had fun grilling and chilling with my dad, even if we disagree on how long it takes to cook meat on the grill and how harmful char is.  It's all good -- by a certain age and with living in different states, you overlook the little stuff and enjoy your time together.  And Sis and I had been waiting all summer for a beach outing together.  She brought her little one, who would run around yelling, "Auntie, where arrre yoou?  A-yi, where arrre yoou?"  In these pictures Audrey is hanging with Grandpa, her best friend.  In the one on the left, she's using one of her favorite expressions, "Wooo-ooow!" while she watches the waves.

And my garden has been rewarding me with tomatoes!  There's loads of these little Sun Sugar tomatoes, some big heirloom Brandywine tomatoes, cherry peppers, and the occasional strawberry.  On the right is a sauce I made from the yellow tomatoes, and a salsa behind it from the Brandywines and cherry peppers.  I've been hitting up the farmers market for blueberries, summer squash, and fragrant peaches with the fuzz still on them.  I'm trying, as usual, to milk every moment out of summer before it gets too cold for my favorite produce, beaches, and barbeques.