12 Days of Holiday Cookies: Lonely for London Cookies (Day 4)

December 17, 2011

Lonely for London cookies was first published in Foodista Best of Food Blogs Cookbook (so you know they must be good!). These cookies mimic the flavors in the Cadbury Whole Nut Bars, a candy bar sold in London. Made with milk chocolate and whole hazelnuts, these cookies will quickly become a household favorite.

Lonely for London Cookies

Ingredients:

1/2 cup hazelnuts

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon instant espresso powder

1/2 cup good-quality unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted

2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, melted

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar, packed

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

cup all-natural, unsweetened applesauce

cup unsweetened shredded coconut

1 cup bittersweet chocolate chips (I like Ghirardelli)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375° F.

Place hazelnuts on a baking sheet and toast until you can smell them, 8-10 minutes.

Let cool, then remove the brown papery skins by rubbing the nuts in your hands or a dish towel. It’s kind of messy, so I usually do this over the sink. You need to get rid of the skins. They don’t taste good.

Chop the nuts coarsely and set aside.

In medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, espresso powder and cocoa powder.

In a large bowl, whisk together butter, sugar, brown sugar and vanilla.

Whisk in applesauce until combined.

Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and stir together until combined.

Stir in coconut, chocolate chips, and hazelnuts.

Place a piece of parchment paper onto an ungreased baking sheet. If you don’t want to use parchment, no worries, just don’t grease the baking sheet.

Drop teaspoonfuls of dough onto the baking sheet.

These spread out, so make sure you leave enough room on the baking sheet.

Bake 9 minutes.

When you remove the baking sheet from the oven, bang it against the counter to “deflate” the cookies. I usually just drop it kind of hard, and that does the trick.

Let cool on baking sheet for five minutes, then transfer to rack to cool completely.

When completely cool, transfer to an airtight container, where they’ll keep for about 3 days.