Cacao Polenta Cookies

Ingredients

• 1 cup unsalted butter
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 large egg yolks
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup instant polenta
• 1/2 cup hazelnuts
• toasted
• skinned and chopped
• Pinch salt
• 1/2 cup cacao nibs (available from Scharffen Berger)

Instructions

1. In a mixer, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
2. Beat in the yolks.
3. In a bowl, stir together the flour, polenta, hazelnuts and salt and add them to the butter mixture, stirring just until you have a dry dough.
4. Fold in cacao nibs.
5. Divide the dough in half.
6. Mold each half into a log about 1 3/4 inches in diameter and 10 inches long.
7. Wrap each log in a sheet of plastic wrap and twist the ends to seal.
8. Roll the cylinders across your work surface to make them smooth and even.
9. Refrigerate until firm, at least 4 hours.
10. When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees and cover two large cookie sheets with parchment paper.
11. Unwrap the dough logs and use a serrated knife to slice them into disks about 1/3-inch thick.
12. Transfer to the prepared cookie sheets and bake until the cookies are crisp and just begin to color, about 20 minutes.
13. Cool on the cookie sheets.