Looking for a truly simple-to-make, but delicious, cookie? These chocolate-hazelnut cookies are my variation of pastry chef François Payard’s flourless chocolate cookies. I have used different nuts and flavorings, and altered his proportions. I believe the results are a scrumptious cookie, with a crisp exterior, a very soft chewy interior, and an extravagantly deep chocolaty-nut flavor.
I always have spare egg whites on hand in the freezer because I make many dishes using just egg yolks. And with today’s egg prices, you dare not throw away the whites. I find the recipe works perfectly with previously frozen egg whites that are brought to room temperature.
The Nuts
The extravagant ingredient in these cookies is hazelnuts. They’re expensive. You’re work will be made easier if you can find them already blanched. Although it’s optional, I retoast even blanched hazelnuts for a few minutes in a 350° oven just to intensify the flavors.
Retoasting blanched hazelnuts.
If you have purchased unblanched nuts, you will need to toast them for a longer period until their skins are well blistered. Then you will rub them vigorously in a paper towels to remove as much of the skin as possible. Don’t worry about removing every last bit.
The Procedure
Preheat the oven to 350°. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Chop the toasted hazelnuts coarsely.
Coarsely chop the nuts.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, sift in the confectioner’s sugar, then sift the cocoa through a sieve.
Sift the powdered sugar.
Sift the cocoa.
This step may seem superfluous, but I find it actually saves time by eliminating the lumps that are generally prevalent in these ingredients, causing endless time in smoothing them out in the mixing process.
Mix together the confectioner’s sugar and cocoa with a bit of salt. Add the chopped nuts.
Combine the dry ingredients.
Mix on low speed for a minute or two.
Mix the dry ingredients.
With the mixer still running, slowly add the room-temperature egg whites, the vanilla extract, and the almond extract. Increase the mixer speed to medium, and mix for about 4 minutes, until the batter begins to thicken. Batter should begin to hold its shape, but don’t over mix.
Mix the batter.
With a half-filled ice-cream scoop, place batter on the prepared cookie sheets, leaving ample space between the cookies to allow for spreading.
Scoop batter onto prepared baking sheets.
Place the sheets on two oven racks, and lower the oven temperature to 320°. Bake for about 15-18-minutes or until small cracks appear on the surface of the cookies. Reverse the baking sheets halfway through the baking process.
Remove the cookies along with the parchment paper onto cooling racks.
The baked cookies
Let the Chocolate-Hazelnut Cookies cool thoroughly before removing them from the parchment paper. They will keep for a week or more in a tightly covered tin.
