Ingredients

Dough:

• 1 kg flour
• 500 g butter
• 300 g of powdered sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 baking powder
• 200 g ground walnuts
• lemon peel and juice of one lemon
• rum / rum aroma to taste
• 25 g vanilla sugar

Decoration:

• 200 g chocolate
• 1 tbsp butter
• desiccated coconut
• chocolate sprinkles
• chopped hazelnuts
• colored marzipan (for nose and decorations)
• white chocolate

Directions

Sift the flour, add the baking powder, powdered sugar, vanilla sugar, diced butter, eggs, walnuts, lemon zest and juice, rum and knead into smooth dough.

Use hands to shape the dough into balls (the size of a walnut). With your fingers, stretch one side of the ball to assume a pear shape or body of a hedgehog. Arrange shaped cookies in a prepared tray lined with baking paper. Bake at 180 C / 360 F for 15-20 minutes, until slightly browned.

Allow cookies to cool. Don’t worry if they’re little cracked as most all will be covered by chocolate.

Melt the chocolate with 1 tbsp of butter over a water bath.  Dip the bottom of each cookie, about two-thirds up, into the melted chocolate. Shake off excess chocolate then roll the cookie into chocolate sprinkles / chopped nuts / desiccated coconut. Place cookies on waxed paper.

Using a toothpick dipped into melted chocolate draw two small dots for eyes and add marzipan decorations (use melted white chocolate for the glue).