Loose shortbread cookies in the shape of nuts are a classic of Soviet cuisine, which is still popular today. Any cream is suitable as a filling, but nuts with boiled condensed milk are especially tasty - soft, viscous, very tender. Wafer crumbs, crushed nuts and other original ingredients are added to it, making the dessert even more delicious.
Homemade nuts: cooking features
In the confectionery department, you can find a variety of variations of the popular delicacy. The cookies are stuffed with chocolate or butter cream, a mixture of nuts and dried fruits, waffle crumbs mixed with caramel. But the most popular option is boiled condensed milk filling. It has a rich taste, a pleasant beige color, and an ideal consistency. Boiled condensed milk does not flow out. Keeping the appearance of the cookies, it does not allow the shortbread halves to get wet. At the same time, the filling is never too hard or dry, nuts harmoniously combine a slightly crunchy shell and a gentle viscous filling.
In order for the condensed milk filling to be successful, you need to choose a product made according to GOST, which does not contain palm oil. Liquid condensed milk on vegetable fats cannot be boiled down to the desired state. An alternative option is to buy a ready-made product. On sale there is condensed milk with various flavors, the addition of cocoa, as well as the classic one, which is usually brewed at home.
The only disadvantage of the popular dessert is its high calorie content. Shortcrust pastry, condensed milk and nuts are rich in fats and simple carbohydrates, so the treat should be eaten in small portions. The perfect accompaniment is freshly brewed tea or sugar-free coffee.
Nuts with condensed milk: the classic version
Cookies prepared according to this recipe are crumbly and tender. For the cream, you can use any nuts: walnuts, hazelnuts, almonds.
Ingredients:
- 430 g wheat flour;
- 200 g butter or quality margarine;
- 0.25 tsp salt;
- 0.25 tsp soda;
- 120 g sugar;
- 3 eggs;
- 1 can of condensed milk;
- a few drops of lemon juice;
- 0.5 cups of shelled walnut kernels.
Separate the yolks from the proteins, grind with sugar until whitening and complete dissolution of the crystals. An ordinary submersible mixer will help speed up the process. Melt butter, mix with sifted flour. Knead a soft homogeneous dough, gradually adding the yolk mixture and soda, slaked with lemon juice.
Beat the whites into a strong foam together with salt. Introduce them into the dough, stirring gently. If the mass seems not dense enough, place it in the refrigerator for 30-40 minutes.
Divide the finished dough into small lumps, roll them into balls and put in the cells of the mold. The most convenient way to bake cookies is in a special electric hazelnut machine - a device made of 2 connected halves, reminiscent of an ordinary waffle iron. Before the first use, hazelnut must be ignited, cooled and wiped thoroughly. To prevent the finished products from sticking to the metal, the cells are greased with melted butter (or any odorless vegetable oil).
After unfolding the dough, the upper part of the mold is lowered, under pressure, the dough pieces acquire the desired shape. A batch of blanks is baked for 1, 5-2 minutes, then the lid can be opened. The cookies are taken out and cooled on a board or wire rack.
While the halves of the future nuts are resting after baking, you need to prepare the cream. Fry the nuts in a dry frying pan and chop coarsely with a knife. Mix them with condensed milk. If the cream is too runny, you can put it in the refrigerator. Fill the halves of the cooled sandy shells with a mixture of condensed milk and nuts, combine in pairs and lay them on a plate with a slide.
Cookies made from original dough: step-by-step preparation
Those who have already mastered the basic recipe should try the unusual versions of the classic cookies. An interesting idea is to add condensed milk directly to the dough. It turns out to be crumbly, delicate, very pleasant to the taste. Such nuts can be stuffed with jam, butter or chocolate cream, whipped cream.
Ingredients:
- 230 g wheat flour;
- 2 egg whites;
- 140 g sugar;
- 1 can of condensed milk;
- 1 tsp soda;
- a few drops of apple cider vinegar;
- a pinch of vanillin;
- butter for greasing forms.
Beat the whites with a mixer until firm. To make the mass lush and airy, increase the speed of the device gradually. Add sugar without stopping whipping. Add condensed milk, vanillin, soda, slaked with apple cider vinegar, sifted flour. Knead an elastic homogeneous dough.
Lightly grease the molds in the form of walnut halves with melted butter. Put a lump of dough in each, gently distribute it along the walls with your fingers so that the middle remains empty. Arrange the forms on a baking sheet with the convex side down. Bake in an oven preheated to 200 degrees until a beautiful golden brown. Turn the finished cookies on a board and cool. If the pieces are difficult to remove, turn the molds over and cover with a towel dipped in cold water.
After cooling, fill the halves of the nuts with any cream or jam. The chocolate version is especially tasty. To prepare it, beat 200 g of butter with a glass of sugar and 2 tbsp. l. cocoa powder. The finished cream must be cooled to make it thicker, sand or waffle crumbs, chopped walnuts or hazelnuts are added to it.
Sand nuts with condensed milk: a step by step recipe
Those who prefer particularly crumbly biscuits will surely like minced shortcrust pastry products. They can be baked in an electric hazel pan or in classic metal tins placed in the oven. Any condensed milk is suitable for the filling: classic, boiled, with the addition of cocoa.
Ingredients:
- 200 g butter;
- 2 eggs;
- 170 g sugar;
- 450 g of premium wheat flour;
- 0.5 tsp soda;
- a few drops of apple cider vinegar or lemon juice;
- a pinch of salt;
- 1 can of condensed milk.
Grind half a portion of butter with sugar until the crystals are completely dissolved. The mass should become fluffy and white. Separate the yolks from the whites and beat with the remaining butter and a pinch of salt. Beat the whites into a strong foam together with soda, slaked lemon juice or vinegar.
Combine 3 mixtures in a deep bowl and mix thoroughly. Knead the dough with your hands until elastic and smooth. If it turns out to be too sticky, wrap the mass in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for 30-40 minutes. It is much easier to distribute such dough into forms. Put small pieces in heated cells of hazelnuts, cook each batch for 1, 5 - 2 minutes. Cool the finished halves, fill with liquid chilled condensed milk without additives, combine in pairs.
Egg-free dough nuts
There are no eggs in this recipe, but this does not affect the taste of the dough. The cookies are crumbly and slightly less dry; boiled condensed milk, purchased or cooked at home, is ideal as a filling.
Ingredients:
- 200 g of high-quality creamy margarine;
- 170 g low-fat sour cream;
- 450 g wheat flour;
- 170 g sugar;
- 0.5 tsp baking powder;
- 1 can of boiled condensed milk;
- a handful of peeled hazelnut kernels.
Melt margarine in the microwave or on the stove, mix with granulated sugar. When the crystals are completely dissolved, add sour cream, baking powder, add sifted flour in portions. Knead a soft elastic dough. If it turns out to be liquid, you can add a little more flour or put the dough in the cold for half an hour. Scald the hazelnut kernels with boiling water, peel off the dense brown skin. Crush nuts in a mortar, mix with boiled condensed milk. If desired, the proportions can be changed, the more nuts, the tastier the cookies will be.
Arrange the lumps of dough into the cells of the electric hazelnut, lower the lid. After 2 minutes, carefully remove the finished shell halves and set aside to cool. When all the dough is used up, fill the halves with condensed milk cream and fold them in pairs, pressing tightly. According to this recipe, you can make other options for cookies in the form of fir cones, mushrooms, strawberries.
