These amazing little cookies can be found in the coffeehouses throughout Hungary. The recipe makes two dozen cookies and the first time I made them I must have polished off half… So beware. But I will have you know I was good today, I only ate one. Still it will not last long, I filled a dozen with nutella for the grandchild, the rest I assembled as they should be, with apricot jam. Quality ingredients are important. Use butter and icing sugar and whip them up very, very fluffy. Resist the urge to add more flour even though it will look like it just begs for more flour. Also the apricot jam cannot be runny or the cookies will look like a mess. The best is to use pure baking chocolate, [Ghirardelli, Bakers or Callebaut], the one thing about that you will have to give time for the chocolate squiggles to solidify on the top. This goes faster with pure chocolate chips, but the piping is not as fine as with block chocolates. Do not omit the lemon rinds or the salt; everything works together here for a perfect little cookie.
NERO COOKIES
1/2+1/3 cup butter, soft
1 cup icing sugar
4 egg yolks
2 cups flour
rind of 1 lemon, very finely grated
1 pinch of salt
1 tsp pure vanilla
apricot jam for spreading [make sure the jam is not runny]
1 square of pure baking chocolate*
1 Tbsp butter
• Preheat oven to 350F.
• Beat the soft butter and the icing sugar until very fluffy.
• Add the egg yolks and beat some more.
• Gradually add the flour, grated lemon rind, salt and the vanilla.
• Combine to form the cookie dough. Resist the urge to add more flour.
• Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Roll the dough into 48 balls. Every so often, I flour my hands so the cookie dough won’t stick to my hands. Traditionally these cookies are piped, but I find it faster to just roll them. If you prefer to pipe the cookie dough, form the cookies into ball shapes.
• Place the little balls on the prepared baking sheet leaving some space in between. Do NOT flatten the cookie balls.
• Place in the preheated oven and bake for 12-14 minutes. Do not over bake.
• Remove cookies from the oven and let them solidify before transferring to a wire rack.
• Spread about 1 tsp of apricot jam [or nutella] on a cookie. Do not spread the filling all the way to the edge, because it will overflow and the cookies will be a mess. Place a cookie on the top and set aside. Fill the rest of the cookies.
• Melt the chocolate and butter in the top of a double boiler.
• Place a heavy zyploc bag inside a coffee mug and spoon the melted chocolate into the bag.
• Close the zyploc and cut a tiny hole into one of the corners of the bag.
• Twist the bag and squeeze squiggles on the top of the filled cookies.
*1 square =1 oz = 1/3 cup chocolate chips
1 cup icing sugar
4 egg yolks
2 cups flour
rind of 1 lemon, very finely grated
1 pinch of salt
1 tsp pure vanilla
apricot jam for spreading [make sure the jam is not runny]
1 square of pure baking chocolate*
1 Tbsp butter
• Preheat oven to 350F.
• Beat the soft butter and the icing sugar until very fluffy.
• Add the egg yolks and beat some more.
• Gradually add the flour, grated lemon rind, salt and the vanilla.
• Combine to form the cookie dough. Resist the urge to add more flour.
• Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Roll the dough into 48 balls. Every so often, I flour my hands so the cookie dough won’t stick to my hands. Traditionally these cookies are piped, but I find it faster to just roll them. If you prefer to pipe the cookie dough, form the cookies into ball shapes.
• Place the little balls on the prepared baking sheet leaving some space in between. Do NOT flatten the cookie balls.
• Place in the preheated oven and bake for 12-14 minutes. Do not over bake.
• Remove cookies from the oven and let them solidify before transferring to a wire rack.
• Spread about 1 tsp of apricot jam [or nutella] on a cookie. Do not spread the filling all the way to the edge, because it will overflow and the cookies will be a mess. Place a cookie on the top and set aside. Fill the rest of the cookies.
• Melt the chocolate and butter in the top of a double boiler.
• Place a heavy zyploc bag inside a coffee mug and spoon the melted chocolate into the bag.
• Close the zyploc and cut a tiny hole into one of the corners of the bag.
• Twist the bag and squeeze squiggles on the top of the filled cookies.
*1 square =1 oz = 1/3 cup chocolate chips
