Chocolate Macadamia Meltaways Recipes

Steps:

• 1. In a small bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in vanilla. Gradually add flour and mix well. Stir in the one jar of finely chopped nuts (dough will be stiff); set aside.
• 2. For filling, in a microwave-safe bowl, melt chocolate chips; stir until smooth. Stir in the 1/2 cup coarsely chopped nuts; cool slightly. Drop by 1/2 teaspoonfuls onto a waxed paper-lined baking sheet; cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
• 3. Shape teaspoonfuls of dough around each piece of chocolate-nut mixture so it is completely covered. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets.
• 4. Bake at 375 for 12-14 minutes or until lightly browned. Roll warm cookies in confectioner's sugar; cool on wire racks.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Place the nuts in a large mixing bowl. Add the corn syrup and stir until evenly coated. Place the nuts on a baking sheet and roast in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from the oven. Using a wooden spoon, transfer the nuts onto a parchment paper-covered baking sheet pan. Do not touch them, as they are extremely hot. Let them cool at room temperature, or if possible, place them in the freezer because the cold nuts will help the chocolate to temper. When completely cooled, break apart any nut clusters that may have formed. Place the cooled nuts in the coating pan or in a large mixing bowl. Slowly add one third of the bittersweet chocolate, one ladleful at a time. If you are using the mixing bowl, fold the nuts until they are thoroughly coated and the chocolate has set. If you do not fold immediately, the chocolate will set and the nuts will stick together. Add another third of the chocolate and fold thoroughly until set. Add the remaining third and fold thoroughly being sure all the nuts are well coated. Separate any clusters of nuts that may have formed. If you serve the nuts as they are, let the chocolate set completely. If you decide to move on to the next step, do not wait for the chocolate to set completely. Add the powdered sugar or cocoa powder and stir until all of the nuts are well coated. If you'd like to coat half of the nuts in powdered sugar and the other half in cocoa powder, start with the powdered sugar. Before serving, place the nuts in a sieve to remove any excess sugar or cocoa powder. The nuts will keep at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.
• How to Temper Chocolate(From Dessert Circus, Extraordinary Desserts You Can Make At Home by Jacques Torres):
• Chocolate is tempered so that after it has been melted, it retains its gloss and hardens again without becoming chalky and white (that happens when the molecules of fat separate and form on top of the chocolate). There are a variety of ways to temper.
• One of the easiest ways to temper chocolate is to chop it into small pieces and then place it in the microwave for 30 seconds at a time on high power until most of the chocolate is melted. Be very careful not to overheat it. (The temperature of dark chocolate should be between 88 and 90 degrees F, slightly warmer than your bottom lip. It will retain its shape even when mostly melted. White and milk chocolates melt at a temperature approximately 2 degrees F less because of the amount of lactose they contain.) Any remaining lumps will melt in the chocolate's residual heat. Use an immersion blender or whisk to break up the lumps. Usually, chocolate begins to set, or crystallize, along the side of the bowl. As it sets, mix those crystals into the melted chocolate to temper it. A glass bowl retains heat well and keeps the chocolate tempered longer.
• Another way to temper chocolate is called seeding. In this method, add small pieces of unmelted chocolate to melted chocolate. The amount of unmelted chocolate to be added depends on the temperature of the melted chocolate, but is usually 1/4 of the total amount. It is easiest to use an immersion blender for this, or a whisk.
• The classic way to temper chocolate is called tabliering. Two thirds of the melted chocolate is poured onto a marble or another cold work surface. The chocolate is spread out and worked with a spatula until its temperature is approximately 81 degrees F. At this stage, it is thick and begins to set. This tempered chocolate is then added to the remaining non-tempered chocolate and mixed thoroughly until the mass has a completely uniform temperature. If the temperature is still too high, part of the chocolate is worked further on the cold surface until the correct temperature is reached. This is a lot of work, requires a lot of room, and makes a big mess.
• A simple method of checking tempering, is to apply a small quantity of chocolate to a piece of paper or to the point of a knife. If the chocolate has been correctly tempered, it will harden evenly and show a good gloss within a few minutes.

Steps:

• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, or in a large bowl with a stiff spatula, mix butter, confectioners' sugar, salt, lemon juice and vanilla until creamy and combined. Add ground freeze-dried fruit and mix until distributed. Add flour, and mix until it all comes together into a soft dough.
• Divide the dough into two (250-gram) portions. On pieces of parchment paper, wax paper or plastic wrap, roll each portion of dough into a 10-inch-long log. Chill for at least 2 hours in the refrigerator or up to 3 months tightly wrapped in the freezer.
• Set oven racks in the lower and upper thirds of the oven, and heat oven to 350 degrees. Line two sheet trays with parchment paper.
• Using a sharp knife, trim about ⅛-inch off each side of the chilled dough logs, just so that you have flat ends. Slice the logs into scant ¼-inch-thick cookies. Roll the log a quarter turn after each slice to keep it round. (If the dough cracks while slicing, let it warm up at room temperature for 10 minutes.) Arrange on sheet trays ½-inch apart and bake, rotating the trays once during baking, until set and barely golden underneath, 10 to 12 minutes.
• While the cookies bake, make the sugar coating: Sift together the powdered sugar with the ground freeze-dried fruit. While still warm, gently toss the cookies in the powdered sugar mixture and return to the sheet tray to fully cool. The cookies will keep for 2 weeks stored at room temperature in an airtight container.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In food processor, pulse nuts until they are finely chopped, or chop by hand. With a mixer, combine butter and vanilla, and mix until smooth, occasionally scraping the sides with a rubber spatula. Add the confectioners' sugar and mix for 2 more minutes. Then add the flour and mix just until combined and the dough holds together. Fold in the macadamia nuts.
• Shape dough by measuring teaspoons into 3/4-inch balls. Place balls, 1 inch apart, on ungreased large cookie sheet. Bake cookies 20 to 22 minutes or until bottoms are lightly browned. Transfer cookies to wire rack and cool 5 minutes.
• Sift remaining 1 cup confectioners' sugar into a pie plate. While cookies are still warm, roll in sugar to coat; return to wire rack to cool completely. When cool, gently roll cookies in sugar and then tap very lightly to remove any excess sugar.
• Repeat with remaining dough and sugar. Store cookies in tightly-covered container at room temperature up to 1 week, or in the freezer up to 3 months.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees with racks in upper and lower thirds. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar on medium-high until light and fluffy, 2 minutes. Add egg yolk, lemon zest and juice, and salt and beat until combined; beat in nuts. With mixer on low, add flour and beat just until combined, 2 minutes. Form dough into a 4 1/2-inch-long log, wrap in plastic, and freeze until firm, 30 minutes. Cut into 1/4-inch slices, transfer to 2 parchment-lined baking sheets, and freeze 5 minutes. Bake until golden at edges, 14 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through. Let cookies cool completely on wire racks.
• Microwave chocolate in 30-second increments, stirring after each, until melted. Dip half of each cookie into chocolate; transfer to parchment-lined baking sheets. Chill until set, 10 minutes.