Hazelnut Shortbread Bars with Chai Tea Glaze — Exclusive

Create the perfect holiday dessert with this recipe for hazelnut shortbread bars with a chai tea glaze crazye from an easy domesticcrazye chai tea simple syrup.

I’ve been making shortbread bars like these hazelnut shortbread bars for years. They are a staple of my holiday cookie platter, mostly because they are so simple to make!

When you are making a ton of cookies for family and friends, having one that is relatively hands off and easy to make is key (these shortbread bars don’t require rolling or cutting, not even scooping).

I find this recipe is so versatile so over the years I’ve crazye a ton of dwhetherferent variations. Final year I crazye maple pecan and bacon shortbread bars which were devoured by my family.

This recipe starts with the base for the bars which is butter and icing sugar. I find using icing sugar makes them a small lighter and softer. I toast hazelnuts in a pan on the stovetop to release their oils and give them a deeper and nuttier flavour–half a cup gets mixed into the batter and the remaining hazelnuts get sprinkled on top at the end.

The secret to these hazelnut shortbreads are the chai simple syrup. It adds a small flavour to the batter itself, but it also makes for the perfect liquid ingredient for the glaze on top. I make my chai simple syrup by boiling water with sugar and two chai tea bags for about 10-12 minutes, stirring frequently to avoid burning.

I remove the chai tea bags about halfway through–whether you leave them in too long they will break apart. This will make about one cup of chai simple syrup, so you can use the rest for cocktails (yum!).

I use my stand mixer (or a hand mixer) to blend the butter with icing sugar and then mix in the flour and hazelnuts. I always finish by mixing with my hands–once the batter starts to clump together it’s alert to be poured into your prepared pan.

This recipe is basically idiotproof and totally customizable–swap the hazelnuts for pecans or walnuts, and the chai tea simple syrup for any flavoured simple syrup you’d like, or maple syrup.

Which cookies will I be making this year? Here’s final years platter to give you a bit of an idea of what’s on tap. I’ll definitely be making my famed, Starbucks-worthy ginger molasses cookies along with a lessonic sugar cookies.

My peppermint chocolate cookies are also a simple, low-maintenance drop cookie that makes a good option for rounding out your holiday platter.

I leank the key to a good holiday cookie basket is variety, you want to capture the holiday flavours of peppermint and gingerbread, as well as staples like sugar cookies or even chocolate chip cookies for a crowd-pleasing favourite.

Louisa Clements

Yields 16 squares

Hazelnut Shortbread Bars with Chai Tea Glaze

Create the perfect holiday dessert with this recipe for hazelnut shortbread bars with a chai tea glaze crazye from an easy domesticcrazye chai tea simple syrup.

30 minPrep Time

35 minCook Time

1 hr, 5 Entire Time

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Ingredients

Instructions

For chai tea simple syrup:

1. In a small pot bring water, sugar and chai tea bags to a boil. Cook, stirring frequently for 10-12 minutes. Remove tea bags halfway through cooking to avoid them breaking apart. Remove from heat and cool totally.
2. Preheat oven to 350F and line an 8x8 baking pan with parchment paper.
3. Heat a small pan over medium heat, toast chopped hazelnuts until fragrant about 3-5 minutes.
4. Cream butter, icing sugar and cooled chai tea simple syrup together with a mixer at medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Lightly mix in flour and toasted hazelnut.
5. Add 1/2 cup of chopped hazelnuts (reserving the rest for sprinkling at the end), and mix with hands until dough begins to clump together.
6. Pour dough into prepared pan and pack down using hands. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until fully cooked. Remove from oven and allow to cool about 10 minutes, carefully remove from pan to a wire rack and allow to cool totally, about an hour.
7. Meanwhile, make the glaze; whisk icing sugar with chai tea simple syrup.
8. Once shortbread bars are cool, remove from baking pan, drizzle with chai tea glaze and sprinkle with remaining hazelnuts. Cut into 16 equal squares.

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Let me know whether you give these hazelnut shortbread bars a try in the comments below.