Chocolate-Kissed Walnut Cookies

Sometimes one wishes to indulge into a little sweet treat, but at the same time, its nice if one can make something that takes very few ingredients, and less time to prepare, yet can satisfy your craving. On a cold Saturday afternoon, that's precisely what I felt. I was bored, and wanted to bake something simple. SO I opened my pantry and the first thing I saw was a bag of walnuts gawking straight at me. SO I picked it up, and went for the quintessential all-purpose flour, sugar and butter, and decide to bake these simple yet beautiful and crunchy walnut cookies. With less than 5 ingredients, it is indeed one of the most easy recipes, with an end product that is sure to delight you and your family! I just added some chocolate topping to give it that extra zing!

I'm sending these to Aparna who's hosting this month's Monthly Mingle featuring High-Tea Treats! Hope she likes them:)

Ingredients
Makes about 18-20 cookies

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup ground walnuts
4 oz butter - at room temperature
1/4 cup sugar
Hershey's chocolate syrup

Method
Preheat your oven to 350 deg F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

In a bowl, cream butter with sugar until light and fluffy, about 7-8 mins.

In another bowl, whisk together the flour and ground walnuts and add to the creamed butter mixture. Mix until well combined to form a soft dough. Do not knead a lot as this can get pretty sticky. Use some all-purpose flour for dusting.

Now refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes. This makes is easier to shape the cookies.

Take a teaspoonful of dough in your hand, form a small ball, and press lightly in the center with your finger to make a shallow hole (use light pressure with your thumb or index finger). You can even roll out the dough to make a big 1/2 inch thick round, then use a cookie-cutter to make smaller cookies.

Arrange the cookies on the baking trays, 2 inches apart. Leave enough space as they will spread a bit as they bake. Bake for 15 minutes, until the edges are slightly colored and the cookies look firm.

Let the cookies cool completely on a wire rack, then you can store them in an air-tight container. Right before serving, fill the holes with Chocolate syrup. Or, you can fill the holes with melted chocolate ganache, then refrigerate them till it solidifies, and store in an airtight box for a few days.