Roasted Hazelnut Financiers
from https://www.pardonyourfrench.com/
Classic French bite-sized cakes made with roasted hazelnuts and brown butter. To make the recipe more approachable for my North American readers, the recipe is made for classic muffin tins/cupcake pans, which are widely available. If you can get your hands on an authentic financier mold pan, the financiers will need to bake a few minutes less.
While classic French financiers are typically made from ground almonds, these Roasted Hazelnut Financiers are made from – you guessed it – roasted hazelnuts, to help provide bolder flavors. This variation on these iconic French bite-sized cakes is a favorite of mine for its perfectly-matched notes of nutty brown butter and rich, toasty hazelnuts. These financiers are quick and easy to make, incredibly delicious and the perfect treats to ease into Fall baking.
However, they do rely on two key ingredients: Roasted hazelnut flour and Brown butter. These two components are essential in building the delicious nutty, toasted flavor profile of these financiers – and there can be no shortcuts. So, make sure to read through the paragraphs below and follow each step on how to make roasted hazelnut flour and brown butter, before you start making the Roasted Hazelnut Financiers recipe.
How to make roasted hazelnut flour
- Pre-heat your oven to 350°F (180°C) with a rack in the middle. Line up a baking sheet with parchment paper and spread the hazelnuts (100g) over it in an even layer. Bake the hazelnuts for 15 minutes, until skins are blistered. Remove the baking sheet from the oven and let the hazelnuts cool completely on the baking sheet.
- Once cool, transfer the hazelnuts, one handful at a time, into a larger sized kitchen cloth. Close the kitchen cloth (like a package) and rub the hazelnuts between your hands for about 1 minute. The friction will help most of the hazelnut skins to fall off. Transfer the “cleaned” hazelnuts to a bowl. Once roasted, hazelnuts can be kept for up to 12 months in an airtight container in the refrigerator or freezer.
- Transfer the roasted hazelnuts to a high-speed blender or food processor. Blend on high speed until finely ground. Important: stop when the hazelnuts are just fine enough. If you over-blend, the hazelnut meal will start to stick and eventually turn into hazelnut butter. We need flour, not butter.
How to make brown-butter (beurre-noisette)
- In a small sauce-pan, melt your butter over medium-low heat, whisking frequently. Once all melted, the butter will start to simmer and foam. This should take 3-4 minutes.
[Since you need to see the butter browning, make sure to use a light colored saucepan. Using low heat helps keep you in control of the toasting, as browned butter can very quickly turn from perfectly golden to black and astringent.] - Eventually the butter will stop foaming. Keep a close eye on it and watch for golden specks to form at the bottom of the pan. Smell the butter for nutty aromas. This should take about 4-5 minutes.
[The brown butter is ready when it turns an amber color and small brown deposits settle at the bottom of the pan. If the butter cooks too much, the deposits turn black and the process must be started again.] - Remove from the heat and pour the butter into a cold bowl to stop the cooking process. Set aside and cool to room temperature.
*** Be careful, as it’s easy to go from brown-butter to burnt-butter. If you think you’ve over-cooked or burned the butter, do not overthink it. Dump it and start again. Burnt butter is terrible for your health and tastes just as bad.
Roasted Hazelnut Financiers
1/3 cup + 2 tbsp (105g) unsalted butter, made into brown-butter
3/4 cup (90g) roasted hazelnut flour
1/2 cup (62.5g) all-purpose flour
1 cup + 2 tbsp (145g) icing sugar
¼ tsp salt
4 egg whites (½ cup [125 g]), at room temperature
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Pre-heat your oven to 350°F (180°C) with a rack in the middle. Grease a 12-cup muffin pan with butter and dust with flour (you will likely only use 8-9 cups).
Note: Financiers pans have loaf cavities that are 3.75 x 2.25 x 1.25 inch deep and make 18 mini loaves. You could also make financiers in mini cupcake pans. Mini cupcake pans hold about 1/3 the batter that a regular muffin pan holds. So this recipe would make about 24 - 27 mini financiers. (I got 11 from 1/2 recipe but I did fill the mini muffins cups a little more than 2/3 full. If you just divvy the batter equally between 12 mini cups, it should work out well.)
Step 1 - Make the brown-butter (“beurre-noisette”) (see instructions above) and set aside to let it cool slightly.
Step 2 - In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the ground roasted hazelnuts, icing sugar, flour and salt.
Step 3 – Whisk in the 4 egg whites and the vanilla extract. The batter will be fairly thick.
Step 4 – Switch to a spatula, and fold in the brown butter. Stop folding when just incorporated.
[Be sure to rest the batter before baking, preferably several hours. The flavors will meld together and the batter will firm up making it easier to transfer into the molds.]
Step 5 – Transfer the batter into the muffin pan – fill the cups up 2/3 of the way. You should have enough batter for 8 to 9 "cups". Bake for 20-22 minutes, until financiers have a dome and a toothpick inserted in the middle of one comes out clean.
[Bake them until browned on top, and they feel just set in the center when you touch them. Be careful not to burn the financiers and dry them out. They must be very soft.]
Transfer onto a cooling rack, cool for 5 minutes and remove financiers from the pan.
Makes 8-9 Financiers
