seventeen - Walnusskugeln

Hello everybody. Meet the walnut balls. These cookies are important.
For quite some years already, if you asked anyone in my family which was their favourite cookie on the Christmas platter, they would tell you this one I think.

These cookies are big, they have a walnut AND chocolate on top, and they're stuffed too. Pretty decadent, right? They're exactly the kind of cookie my mother would let you eat just one a day, to make them last longer. Because they're quite a bit of work.
That's why they don't manage to make an appearance every year. When everyone is busy, no one bakes them. Obviously, that makes them even more special and popular.

If you have some time to bake these days and want to impress your dear ones, put these on your list.
They have a marzipan centre mixed with walnuts and quince paste, covered by a buttery shortcrust, and topped with walnut halves that toast beautifully in the oven. And to crown it all, you decorate them with some dark chocolate. Which is always a good idea, isn't it?

Recipe (adapted from this one, makes 35-40 cookies)

for the dough:
300 grams flour
150 grams cold butter
80 grams golden cane sugar
a pinch of salt
1 egg

for the filling:
80 grams almond paste (Marzipan)
50 grams dulce de membrillo (quince paste) or quince/currant jelly
80 grams chopped walnuts

for decorating:
50 grams dark chocolate
35-40 walnut halves


For the dough, cut the butter into small cubes and mix it with the dry ingredients until the texture resembles wet sand. Add the egg and mix to obtain a smooth dough. Add some drops of cold water if necessary. Wrap the dough in clingfilm and leave to rest in the fridge for at least an hour.

For the filling, cut the marzipan into little pieces, then mash it with a fork. With your hands, knead marzipan, quince paste (cut into small cubes) or jelly and chopped nuts together.

Preheat your oven to 180º C fan.
Take the dough out of the fridge and divide it into little pieces you then shape into balls of about 2 cm diameter.
Flatten them with your hands (use a little bit of flour if the dough is sticky) and fill them with half a teaspoon of filling each, close the dough around the filling and roll between your hands to make them round again.
Place them on two lined baking sheets and top each cookie with a walnut halve.

Bake for about 20 minutes, rotating the baking sheets once. The bottom of the cookies should be golden and the walnuts a bit darker.

Let them cool on a rack while you prepare the chocolate: melt it in a bowl over a pan of hot water. Spoon it into a little freezer bag and cut off one corner of the bag to pipe some chocolate over the cookies.

Once the chocolate has dried, store in an airtight container. They keep for a week or more.