Cacao Polenta Cookies

Ingredients

• 1 cup unsalted butter
• ¾ cup sugar
• 2 large egg yolks
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• ½ cup instant polenta
• ½ cup hazelnuts, toasted, skinned and chopped
• Pinch salt
• ½ cup cacao nibs (available from Scharffen Berger)

Makes 50 to 60 cookies

Preparation

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