Nutty Cinnamon Twists

Ahh, hazelnuts...they always remind me of my beloved nanny (I had her as my nanny for many years, but unfortunately she died when I was 7) who loved me as if she was my granny. I remember that she lived at a very nice house that had a back orchard where she had a few fruit and nuts trees, among which you could find this hazelnuts tree, gloriously standing right in front.
I remember going to see her and going to check on the hazelnuts at the back of the house, up on a little hill...picking up a few from the ground after shaking the tree...cracking the nut's hard shell and indulging in the raw nut. Heaven !
Such nice memories when it comes to hazelnuts...


I was craving those today and here they are, shared with you !
The recipe is something I just came up with myself, so here it is for you all to enjoy as well.

They were so good that both my husband and I ate a few one after the other. Good !
You can make your own puff pastry, of course, but I just took the shortcut this time and used the puff pastry sheet I had in my freezer.
Easy to make and the most delicious piece of nutty pastry ever !



Ingredients:
1 puff pastry sheet


1/2 cup almonds
1/2 cup hazelnuts (got them at Whole Foods)


1/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
5 TBSP butter

Directions:
Place the puff pastry sheet on a floured board, cover with plastic wrap and let thaw for 25 to 40 minutes at room temperature.


While the dough is thawing, prepare the nut mixture.
Place the hazelnuts, almonds, sugar and cinnamon in a food processor and process until a fine grind.


Melt the butter and have it ready for use, along with a pastry brush.
When the puff pastry sheet has thawed, spread it and cut in 2 horizontally.


Brush one half at a time with some butter, spread half of the nutty mixture and press it slightly into the dough with your rolling pin.
Then sprinkle with some of the warm melted butter.


Then cut strips almost 1 inch wide


and start twisting them.



Preheat the oven to 425 F and line a rim baking sheet with parchment paper or silpat silicone baking mat, at least at 1/2 inch distance one from the other.
Now if you find yourself with some extra nuts mixture and some extra melted butter left, like I did, then you need to brush the remaining butter over half of the twists and then roll them through the mixture, and this way you did not waste anything and you also made sure the nuts will stick better to the dough.
That's why they look like that: one coated almost in nuts and the other almost plain.



You might notice that the twists shift position while baking, like mine did.



Bake them for 12 to 16 minutes, keeping a close eye on them.
They are ready when golden-brown.


Let cool off a bit and indulge !