Mario Batali's Brutti Ma Buoni Cookies
Cocoa-amaretto meringue cookies with hazelnuts, almonds, pine nuts and orange zest bake up crisp, nutty and wonderfully fragrant.
Prep 20 min · Cook 30 min · Total 1 hr 5 min · Makes 24 cookies
Ingredients
- 4 egg whites, room temperature
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 3 tablespoons flour
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon amaretto
- 1 tablespoon cocoa powder, bitter
- 1/2 cup chopped hazelnuts
- 1/4 cup chopped almonds
- 1/4 cup pine nuts
- Zest of 4 oranges
Directions
- Heat the oven to 325 degrees F. Butter a cookie sheet, then dust it lightly so the cookies will release cleanly.
- Put the whites in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat them until they reach soft peaks. With the mixer running, add the sugar in a steady stream, then continue beating for 2 minutes.
- Turn off the mixer. Add the flour, vanilla, amaretto, and cocoa powder, then mix for 1 minute and stop again.
- Working quickly, fold in the nuts. Drop the batter onto the prepared cookie sheet in 2-inch mounds.
- Bake for 30 minutes, until the cookies are crisp. Take them out of the oven and let them cool.