Hazelnut Horseshoe Biscuits (Nusskipferl)
How to make delicious and simple German horseshoe biscuits
By Jen Curcio
A good addition to your Christmas bakes or treats rotation is hazelnut horseshoe biscuits, or Nusskipferl. This is a variation of Vanillekipferl (vanilla crescent biscuits). The latter is a much loved biscuit in the German festive baking schedule, and are made with ground almonds instead of ground hazelnuts.
Hazelnut horseshoe biscuits are incredibly simple to put together and their shape presents wonderfully. This makes them a great inclusion on Christmas biscuit platters or even as gifts. They will last several weeks if kept in an airtight container, so they’ll get you through the Christmas period (if they last that long).
Enjoy!
Hazelnut Horseshoes (Nusskipferl)
Makes 12 – 16 biscuits
142g plain flour
42.5g icing sugar (sifted)
56.7g ground hazelnuts
113.4g soft butter or margarine (softened)
Extra icing sugar for dusting
Preheat your oven to 204°
Mix all the ingredients together thoroughly (except the extra icing sugar for dusting) and knead everything together until you can form it into a ball
Divide the dough into four equal parts
Roll each of the four parts out into long pieces (as if you are making gnocchi) about the thickness of a finger
Cut the four lengths into 3″ long pieces and form into horseshoes. Feel free to shape them and squeeze and stretch (delicately) to ensure they all have a similar size
Place the horseshoe biscuits on an oven tray lined with baking paper and bake for 12- 15 minutes until they start to become a pale golden brown
Whilst the horseshoe biscuits are cooling down, sift them with icing sugar or if you’re after something a little more decadent, wait for them to cool down and then dip them into melted chocolate and decorate to your liking
I personally prefer them plain with just the icing sugar and a lovely hot cup of coffee!
