Watch Your Nutella Closely.....

So for Christmas....I thought I would try a couple of new recipes from some of my favorite bloggers. One of the cookies called for Nutella. Off to the grocery store I went on Christmas Eve (read: total chaos) to pick up a jar of the good stuff. I get to the baking aisle and it's utter madness --- obviously the most crowded aisle in the store. I make my way to the Nutella to find only 2 jars remaining. One is dented severely and so I have to opt for the larger container. Fine....I grabbed it and off I go to the dairy aisle--- further chaos ensues. While checking the dates on the milk--- I turned my back on my cart for a few seconds and went I turned back around--- SOMEONE SWIPED THE NUTELLA FROM MY CART!!!! What has this world come to???
Anyways...I did eventually get a jar of the yummy hazelnut/chocolate goodness and managed to make it out of the next store without it being heisted. Whew!!! Without further ado....here are the recipes and pictures of the Nutella Pinwheels and Lemon Meltaways that I made for the festivities. Looking forward to 2010!!!

Nutella Pinwheel Cookies

Yield: 25-30 cookies

125g / 1 stick butter, softened
½ cup sugar
1 egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla
1 heaped cup sifter flour
¼ cup Nutella to spread, a little more won’t hurt, but be careful not to overdo lest it ooze!
2-3 tablespoon, toasted, chopped hazelnuts

Preheat oven to 175C/350F.
Mix the butter and sugar together till creamy.
Mix in the egg yolk and the vanilla. The mixture should be light and well combined.
Stir in the flour and refrigerate the dough for 15 minutes so that it can firm up and facilitate easy rolling.
Next, roll out the dough into a rectangle of ¼ inch thickness.
Spread the Nutella making sure to leave one finger space on all four sides. Again, we don’t want the Nutella to ooze out!
Sprinkle over the chopped hazelnuts and roll up the dough.
Refrigerate for another ten minutes before cutting the slices.
Lay the slices on a baking sheet and bake for 12-15 minutes till slightly golden at the edges. Baking time will vary depending on how thick you've cut them. Colour is a good indication.
Now there are two ways you could cut the slices - with a knife (surprise!) and a better, neater way would be with a firm thin wire. Enjoy!

Lemon Meltaways

160 grams butter, at room temperature
125 grams powdered sugar
zest of 2 lemons
2 Tbs lemon juice
1 Tbs vanilla
260 grams flour
20 grams cornstach
1/2 tsp salt
Powdered sugar for rolling

Cream together butter, sugar, zest and vanilla. Add lemon juice and mix. Add the flour, cornstarch and salt to the butter mixture and mix until combined. Form the dough into a log that is about 2 inches in diameter. Wrap it in parchment and refrigerate it overnight.
Cut the log into 1/2 inch disks and bake at 350F for about 12 minutes. Let the cookies cool slightly and roll in powdered sugar while they are still warm. Note: This recipe is set up in such a manner that you will  need to have a scale to weigh your ingredients--this is really the preferred method for professional bakers and the like. It's much more precise and provides more consistent results. I do highly recommend purchasing a simple digital kitchen scale for baking purposes --it's worth the small investment of $25 or so at a local retain chain.