Candied Walnut Cookies

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: North American

Prep Time: 15

Cook Time: 12

Total Time: 27

Servings: cookies

Calories: 114kcal

Author: Lord Byron's Kitchen

These chocolate cookies are baked with a whole candied walnut right in the center. The cookie is chocolatey and chewy, but the walnut is sweet and crunchy. Paired together, they make these Candied Walnut Cookies something extraordinary - despite the fact that they look like stuffed mushrooms!

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Ingredients

For the Cookies:

1 cup salted butter, softened
2/3 cup sugar
2 large egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup sanding sugar

For the Candied Walnuts:

2 large egg whites
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
36 whole walnut halves, toasted

Instructions

For the Candied Walnuts:

Begin by separating the egg white from the yolks. Set the yolks aside for later. Add the egg whites to a bowl.
Add the sugar, allspice, cinnamon, and nutmeg to the egg whites. Whisk until foamy and frothy.
Stir in the cooled, toasted walnut halves and set aside.

For the Cookies:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat and set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, use a hand-held mixer to beat together the butter and sugar until well incorporated.
Next, beat in the egg yolks and vanilla extract.
Lastly, mix in the flour and cocoa powder. The mixture will be crumbly at first and might not look like a cookie dough, but keep beating on medium speed and a cookie dough will form. This is not an overly wet dough, so don't be alarmed.
Portion two teaspoons of the cookie dough and roll into a ball.
Place the ball onto the prepared baking sheet, leaving two inches of space between each ball. Gently, but firmly, press one of the walnuts into the center of the cookie, flattening the cookie as you do so.
Use a pastry brush to brush the excess egg white over the cookie. Top with a sprinkling of sanding sugar.
Bake for 12 minutes. Remove from oven and allow cookies to cool for 3-5 minutes before transferring them to a wire cooling rack to finish cooling.

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