Made with pulverized filberts. While in Germany, my landlord gave me this recipe. I have made it many times, and it is a real treat. Cookies can be stored for several weeks in tightly sealed jars or tins.
Regarding whipping the egg whites, the reason to avoid plastic bowls is that they tend to absorb grease/fat, which really interferes with the whipping process. Just sayin'. (Glass, stainless steel, or preferably copper are better choices.) I really enjoyed these cookies. They are delicate in both taste and texture, made unique by the ground hazelnuts, with a hint of lemon. Great recipe, and easy as long as you have blanched (skinned) and toasted hazelnuts on hand. If not, toast shelled hazelnuts in a 350F oven for 10-15 minutes, transfer to a bowl and cover with a towel, let steam one minute, then rub off the skins. (That's the method I used.)
Read More Regarding whipping the egg whites, the reason to avoid plastic bowls is that they tend to absorb grease/fat, which really interferes with the whipping process. Just sayin'. (Glass, stainless steel, or preferably copper are better choices.) I really enjoyed these cookies. They are delicate in both taste and texture, made unique by the ground hazelnuts, with a hint of lemon. Great recipe, and easy as long as you have blanched (skinned) and toasted hazelnuts on hand. If not, toast shelled hazelnuts in a 350F oven for 10-15 minutes, transfer to a bowl and cover with a towel, let steam one minute, then rub off the skins. (That's the method I used.)
For beating egg whites successfully, your bowl and beaters have to be entirely free of oil or fat. Plastic bowls will not work for some reason. It helps to have the eggs at room temperature. If there is any trace of yolk in the white it will not beat well, either. These are very tasty, airy macaroon type cookies.
These were just what I wanted. Not too sweet and very nutty. They are a little crumbly.
My friend and I followed this almost exactly (had to sub raw sugar for white) and made sure to beat the eggs in a glass bowl. They turned out absolutely perfectly. So light and fluffy, it was like biting into a crispy marshmallow! Thank you for posting this recipe!
Amazing taste but whipping the egg whites took a bit of time and the cookies don't spread on their own - make you you flatten them thinly. They are so crisp that even a 1/4" cookie is too thick to easily bite into.
I have been using this recipe for years, I started making them when I was dating my German boyfriend. We have parted ways but I continue to make them. I was trying to find this recipe earlier tonight but passed it up because the photo was extremely unattractive and I did not think it was the same recipe. I tried a different recipe and I am not happy, sorry I am just discovering this is the one I wanted after all after making a double batch of an inferior recipe. I will try to add a nice looking photo to help bring more people to this amazing recipe! Thank you so much! These are definitely the best!
I was looking for a way to help use up the 25lbs of hazelnuts I bought in my attempt to find the perfect homemade Nutella recipe... I doubled the recipe, which I recommend (the work wouldn't justify a single batch.) The cookies were really good warm. Once they cooled, they got much harder and, if I were a coffee drinker, they would be good with a cuppa. I needed milk to wash them down, but I'll definitely make them again.
