Recently my German tutor, Dagmar, placed the “10 Best German Christmas Cookie Recipes” on her Facebook page. Lebkuchen (gingerbread) is in the top 10 and one of my favorites. However, German Hazelnut Macaroons also made the list. Since this brought back childhood memories of Christmas in Germany, I was excited to make a couple batches of these chewy and sweet delights for the holidays. Because they are only made with egg whites, ground hazelnuts, cinnamon and sugar, they are naturally light, gluten free and dairy free. Traditionally, Germans use round baking wafers on a cookie sheet where a spoonful of dough is placed on top before baking. But this recipe had a nice substitute by dipping the bottom of the baked cookies in melted chocolate. This lends to a more festive macaroon!
Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Beat egg whites with a pinch of salt using a mixer until very firm.
By firm, I mean that when you cut it with a table knife, you see the cut and the knife comes out clean.
Blend in powdered sugar using a sieve and tapping lightly with your hand.
Using a spatula, carefully fold in the powdered sugar. Add the hazelnut flour and cinnamon. Fold in gently.
Place a piece of parchment paper on a cookie sheet.
Using a small ice cream scoop, place about 2 teaspoons of rounded dough on the sheet pan. On top of each cookie, place one small hazelnut (or ½ large hazelnut). Bake 20-25 minutes. You want to cookies to brown only on the bottom. Cool the cookies completely.
Place the chocolate chips in a glass bowl. Microwave for 20 seconds at a time. Stirring in between melting. This will take 3 to 4 iterations.
The melted chocolate is finished when it is creamy and has a nice shine.
The easiest way to coat the bottoms of the cookies with chocolate is to first turn them upside down on the lined sheet pan. Drizzle the bottoms with the melted chocolate. Let the chocolate cool completely. Makes 1 to 2 dozen macaroons depending upon the size of your ice cream scoop.
Ingredients
Directions
Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Beat egg whites with a pinch of salt using a mixer until very firm.
By firm, I mean that when you cut it with a table knife, you see the cut and the knife comes out clean.
Blend in powdered sugar using a sieve and tapping lightly with your hand.
Using a spatula, carefully fold in the powdered sugar. Add the hazelnut flour and cinnamon. Fold in gently.
Place a piece of parchment paper on a cookie sheet.
Using a small ice cream scoop, place about 2 teaspoons of rounded dough on the sheet pan. On top of each cookie, place one small hazelnut (or ½ large hazelnut). Bake 20-25 minutes. You want to cookies to brown only on the bottom. Cool the cookies completely.
Place the chocolate chips in a glass bowl. Microwave for 20 seconds at a time. Stirring in between melting. This will take 3 to 4 iterations.
The melted chocolate is finished when it is creamy and has a nice shine.
The easiest way to coat the bottoms of the cookies with chocolate is to first turn them upside down on the lined sheet pan. Drizzle the bottoms with the melted chocolate. Let the chocolate cool completely. Makes 1 to 2 dozen macaroons depending upon the size of your ice cream scoop.