Nussknacker--Austrian candied nut treat (Recipe)

This was one of my favorite bakery items I had in Austria. I decided to experiment at home and came up with this recipe. If you like pie crust as well as candied nuts and dark chocolate, I think you'll like it.

Here's what you'll need:

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 stick unsalted butter (cold)
3/4 cup cold water
1 pinch of salt
1 tbsp. unsalted butter
1/4 cup dark brown sugar (packed)
1/4 cup honey
1 tsp. molasses
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups mixed nuts, roughly chopped (I like almonds, cashews, hazelnuts and brazil nuts)
1 1/2 cups dark chocolate chips

Here's what you'll do:

Make the pastry first.
Put the flour in a medium-sized bowl and mix in 1 pinch of salt with a spoon or fork.
Cut up the 1 stick of butter into pats or cubes, add that to the flour and cut in the butter with a fork, two knives or even use a food processor.
Once the butter/flour mixture is crumbly, slowly add the cold water, 1/4 cup at a time, and mix with a spoon until all the dough comes together in a ball. Make sure it's not too wet.
Then wrap the dough ball in a sheet of plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Once the dough has rested, you can lightly flour the surface of a large cutting board or your counter and roll out the dough until about 1/8 inch thick. Try to get it as square or rectangular as possible.
Place dough on a cookie sheet and, using a fork, dot the dough all over so as to prevent bubbling up while baking.
Bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes or until the kitchen smells like toasty, buttery pastry and the edges are slightly golden brown. Place on a cooling rack and set aside.

Now you will prepare the nut mixture.
In a medium-sized saute pan, over medium heat, add 1 tbsp. butter and let it melt until foamy.
Then add the brown sugar, honey, molasses and vanilla extract and stir with a wooden spoon until melted and gooey. Feel free to add more honey if there's not enough moisture.
Then add the nuts, turn off the heat, and stir to coat the nuts well.
Let the nuts cool slightly but not too much, otherwise they will stick together.
On the cooled pastry crust, spread the nuts evenly and allow to cool.

Then prepare the chocolate.
Put the chocolate chips in a ceramic or glass bowl.
Microwave, 30 seconds at a time, stirring with a spoon after each 30 seconds, until all the chips are melted.
Drizzle the melted chocolate over the nuts, as much or as little as you want.
You can also let the pastry/nuts cool, cut up into snack-sized pieces and dip each piece into melted chocolate and let it cool.
Or you can also melt the chocolate before placing the nuts on the pastry crust, spread the chocolate on the pastry crust first to act as a "glue" for the nuts and then drizzle more chocolate over the top (for serious chocolate lovers).
Allow everything to cool completely and then cut into snack-sized pieces. These can be stored up to 1 week in an air-tight container or plastic baggie.
Enjoy!