You all know christmas time is baking time.

For most people cookies and ginger bread belong to the holiday baking session. I'm not an exception either, but for me the most christmassy baking good are "Nussecken".

Nussecken? That's a typical german triangular bakery. A shortbread bottom is covered with apricot jam and topped with a caramelized hazelnut crust. Sounds good? It is good!

However, for me, Nussecken belong to Christmas, but you can also enjoy them for New Years Eve or the rest of the year together with a nice cup of coffee - as long as you aren't allergic against hazelnuts*…

So I will share with you another recipe from my family's recipe book. I hope you enjoy it as I do.

*but then you might substitute with almonds. This is also very delicious.

Step 1: What You Need

Ingredients:

For the dough:

300 gr wheat flour
130 gr sugar
130 gr butter, room temperature
2 eggs
pinch of ground vanilla or extract
1 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt

For the topping:

5 tbs apricot jam

200g ground hazelnuts (or almonds)
200gr chopped hazelnuts (or almonds)
200 gr butter
200gr sugar
pinch of vanilla
5 tbs Water

Material:

Parchment paper
Mixer
Kitchen sieve
Teaspoon
Tablespoon
Sharp knive

Step 2: Prepare the Dough

Beat the eggs
Add on butter and mix to a plain batter.
Add ground vanilla and sugar.
Combine baking powder and flour and add to the batter through a kitchen sieve to avoid lumps in the dough.
Mix until you get a plain dough, which is kind of sticky.

Step 3: Spread It Everywhere

Cover your baking pan with parchment paper and spread the dough evenly.
Use a spoon to make patches of dough on the paper. It is easier if you start from different spots than starting with one big patch in the middle.
Cover your hands with flour and spread the dough on the parchment paper. It will be sticky, but the flour on your hands will help prevent sticking on your fingers.
Spread 5 tablespoons of apricot jam on the dough. Set everything aside.

Step 4: Create the Topping

Use a pot to melt the butter.
When the butter has melted add the sugar and the water.
Carefully boil for a few (2 or 3) minutes.
Add the chopped and ground hazelnuts and stir well, take of the stove.
Distribute the hazelnut mixture over the dough.
Start with spots and fill up the gaps until the baking pan is evenly covered.

Step 5: Cut the Corners

Bake with circulating air at 180°C (365°F) for approx. 10min, until the nut mixture is golden and the edges are slightly browned.

Take out when finished and put on an oven proof surface.
Take your knife and directly start to cut. If you wait until the pan is cooled down it will be difficult to cut the triangles without getting to many crumbs. Be careful the baking pan is very hot - since it just came out of the oven.
Start cutting the vertical lines and continue with the horizontal lines.
Finish your nut corners with diagonal cuts.
Set aside to cool completely down.

Step 6: Finished Nut Corners

Store the nut corners in a metal box. To keep the moisture inside your bakery you might add some wrapping foil between the layers of your nut corners.

You can also cover the corners with dark chocolate, which is a nice add on.

Enjoy your nut corners, I will enjoy mine :-)