Spelt Hazelnut Blackberry Squares

Spelt has such a funny name in German: Dinkel. 


Say it out loud. Dinkel.


Dinkel. Dinkel. Dinkel. Dinkel.


OK Sorry. 

Anywho, these squares were complete winners. Full of flavor, healthier than your average cookie and I love the little marzipan accessory on top. For those of you who made lots of jam this year, this recipe is a good reason to bust out a jar.

Spelt Hazelnut Blackberry Squares

From Dinkel-Nuss Würfel  recipe from Weihnachts-Backen, Verlag Zabert Sandmann München 2008

Ingredients:

• Scant 2 cups spelt flour
• 1/2 cup ground hazelnuts
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2/3 Cup butter, softened
• 3/4 cup white granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla bean seeds
• 1 teaspoons lemon zest
• pinch of salt
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup blackberry jam (or your favorite flavor)
• 2 ounces marzipan

Directions:

• Whisk together spelt flour, hazelnuts, baking powder and cinnamon and set aside.

• Cream together butter, sugar, vanilla, lemon zest and pinch of salt.
• Add the egg and mix thoroughly.
• Add dry ingredients to the butter mixture and beat until just combined.
• Form dough  into a ball, cover in plastic wrap and chill for a half hour.
• In the meantime roll out the marzipan and cut out shapes to decorate the cookies.

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Measure out two pieces of parchment paper to fit two baking sheets.
• Remove dough from fridge and roll out in a rectangle or square shape between the two pieces of parchment paper.

• Transfer to baking sheet and peel off top layer of parchment and discard.

• Using a fork or small whisk, break up the blackberry jelly until it it more liquid.
• Brush over the top of the entire dough.

• Bake for 10 minutes.
• Remove from oven and cool.
• Cut the dough in half stacking one side on top of the other jelly side up and trim the sides.

• Cut into strips and then cut those strips into squares.

• Decorate with marzipan cutouts.

Yield = 58 squares