Sweet and nutty, these Nussecken - German nut bars - are the perfect handheld dessert. Made from chopped nuts and jam on a flakey crust, these "nut corners" are dipped in melted chocolate for a little something extra!
Course Dessert
Cuisine German
Prep Time 40 minutesminutes
Cook Time 25 minutesminutes
Total Time 1 hourhour5 minutesminutes
Servings 24
Author Recipes From Europe
Ingredients
The Dough
1 1/2cupsall-purpose flour
1teaspoonbaking powder
1medium-sized egg
1teaspoonvanilla extract
1/2cupbutter, at room temperature
1/3cupsugar
1/2tablespoonmilk
The Topping
3tablespoonsapricot jam
1/2cupbutter
1/2cupsugar
2tablespoonswater
1teaspoonvanilla extract
1cupground nuts, e.g. almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts
1 1/2cupchopped nuts, e.g. almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts
The Chocolate Glaze
6ouncessemi-sweet baking chocolate
Instructions
First, grease and flour your baking pan. We'd recommend a baking pan with approximate dimensions of 13.5 x 9.5 inches. This will make 12 large or 24 medium-sized triangles.
Add the flour to a medium-sized mixing bowl. Then add the baking powder and stir it into the flour. Now also add the butter, egg, vanilla extract, sugar. Mix everything together using the spiral dough hooks of your electric mixer while slowly pouring in the milk. Keep mixing until you have a dough that you can easily form into a ball.
Sprinkle a little bit of flour onto your countertop and roll out the dough with a rolling pin until it fits the size of your baking pan.
Place the dough into the baking pan, then add the apricot jam on top and gently spread it so that the top of the dough is covered.
At this stage, preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Now prepare the nut topping. For that, heat the butter, sugar, water, and vanilla extract in a medium-sized pot on the stove until the butter has melted and the sugar has dissolved. Remove the pot from heat and add the ground nuts as well as the chopped nuts. Mix well.
Let the mixture cool for around 5 minutes, then gently spread it onto the dough with the apricot jam. Make sure that it is evenly spread so that the bars will all be done baking at the same time.
Bake the nut bars on the medium rack of your oven for around 25 minutes until cooked and nicely browned.
Remove the baking pan from the oven and let the Nussecken cool fully. Then cut them first into large squares, then into smaller triangles.
For the chocolate glaze, melt the baking chocolate either in the microwave (make sure to take it out and stir it around approximately every 30 seconds) or in a hot water bath. Dip the corners of the nut triangles, or one of the sides, into the melted chocolate. Then place the triangles onto a cooling rack with parchment paper underneath. Let them sit until the chocolate has hardened.
Notes
Nussecken are often made with hazelnuts, but we sometimes also use almonds and walnuts. It really depends on what we have on hand.
You can grind your own nuts in a food processor if you have one and don't want to buy pre-ground nuts.
You can skip the chocolate glaze if you want to.
Store the nut bars in a container, ideally a cookie tin, in a cool and dry place (garage or basement for example). This way they will easily last for a couple of weeks.
This nutritional information has been estimated by an online nutrition calculator. It should only be seen as a rough calculation and not a replacement for professional dietary advice.