Description
Traditional Italian chocolate hazelnut sandwich cookies made without flour and filled with smooth chocolate ganache.
Ingredients
Units
Scale
- 200 g hazelnuts
- 20 g cocoa powder
- 1 g kosher salt
- 4 large egg whites (room temperature)
- 200 g granulated sugar
- 20 g honey
- 200 g dark chocolate
- 150 ml heavy cream
Instructions
- Roast and prepare the hazelnuts: Roast the hazelnuts in a 170°C oven for 10–12 minutes until fragrant but not dark. Let them cool slightly, then rub them in a clean towel to remove loose skins.
- Grind the hazelnut mixture: Place the hazelnuts, cocoa powder, and salt in a food processor and grind until very fine and dry, like hazelnut flour. Stop before it turns into paste.
- Whip the egg whites: Put the room temperature egg whites in a clean bowl and whip to soft peaks. Slowly add the sugar, then continue whipping until stiff, glossy peaks form.
- Add honey and dry ingredients: Gently fold the honey into the whipped egg whites, then fold in the hazelnut mixture in two parts using a spatula.
- Pipe the cookies: Transfer the thick batter to a piping bag fitted with a star tip. Pipe small rounds onto a parchment lined baking sheet, leaving space between them.
- Bake the cookies: Bake at 170°C for 9–10 minutes until the tops are set and the bottoms are lightly caramelized, but the centers stay soft.
- Cool completely: Remove the baking sheet from the oven and let the cookies cool fully on the parchment before moving them.
- Make the chocolate ganache: Heat the cream until just steaming, pour it over the chopped dark chocolate, wait one minute, then stir until smooth. Let it cool until thick but pipeable.
- Fill and rest the cookies: Sandwich similar-sized cookies together with the ganache and press gently. Store in an airtight container and rest overnight in the refrigerator before serving.
Notes
Do not over-roast, or the hazelnuts will taste bitter.
Pulse the processor and scrape the bowl to avoid oily clumps.
The egg whites should hold their shape without looking dry.
If piping is hard, let the batter rest for 5 minutes.
Do not overbake, or the cookies will become dry.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Cuisine: Italian
Nutrition
- Calories: 210
- Fat: 14 g
- Carbohydrates: 18 g
- Fiber: 3 g
- Protein: 4 g