Hazelnut Nutella Macarons

Nutella is delicious and it’s basically a ganache, so why not smush it between two hazelnut cookies? HAZELNUT HEAVEN! I love hazelnuts, they have this lovely flavour that is 100x better when paired with chocolate. However, I think I may be allergic to raw/whole hazelnuts in large quantities because it started to make my throat kind of itchy. Also, since they seem a bit more dense than almonds, they didn’t rise as well. They were also crispier than my normal macs, but that’s okay, because they softened after being in the fridge overnight.

I feel like my cholesterol must be ridiculous because of the amount of eggs and sugar I go through. Granted I don’t eat all of my baked goods, and I eat lots of healthy things like quinoa, kale, and carrots? I also had this AWESOME green juice called Odwalla Superfood which is green and icky looking but so delicious. It was unbelievably filling too. I highly recommend it, it’s a great alternative to an energy drink =)

But anyway, these macs were so good. I like how the Nutella held its shape once it was refrigerated. At room temperature, they were super gooey and I felt like a child licking the Nutella off my fingers.

Ingredients:

150g icing sugar
150g hazelnut meal (processed whole hazelnuts)
150g granulated sugar, + 35g for the meringue
120g egg whites (divided 60g and 60g)
50g water
1 cup Nutella

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F

Process the hazelnuts with the icing sugar. Sift to make sure they’re small enough, and re-process until you only have about 2 tbsps of bigger chunks.
Mix the hazelnut meal with 60g egg whites.
Whip 60g of the egg whites with 35g of sugar until you get between the soft and stiff peak stage.
Heat 150g of granulated sugar with 50g of water until 230F. Do not stir. Slowly pour the sugar syrup into the still-mixing meringue and whip until you reach stiff peak, or until the meringue gathers into the middle of your whisk when you pull it out.
Mix a dollop of the meringue into the hazelnut mixture to loosen the mix. Then fold the rest of the meringue in until you get a lava-like texture. The batter will sink back together within 20-30 seconds.
Transfer to a piping bag with a Wilton 12 round tip and pipe 1 1/2 inch circles onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for about 12 minutes or until the domes only wiggle a tiny bit when you touch them in the oven.
Let cool on a wire rack for about 2 minutes, then gently peel the shells from the parchment paper. Fill with a dollop of Nutella and gently sandwich similar-sized shells together to get a delicious sandwich of deliciousness.

I love the flecks of brown from the hazelnuts in the shells. So pretty! Nutella is so gooey, but it is the perfect amount of hazelnut sandwiched between this hazelnut sandwich.