The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
BRUTTI MA BUONI (UGLY BUT GOOD)
This unusual treatment for the meringue feels like a variation on the classic Italian meringue in which a hot sugar syrup is drizzled into softly whipped egg whites. The result here is a finished cookie that is light brown and crisp all the way through. If you like hazelnuts (Nutella, anyone?), you will love these.
We tested the recipe not with whole raw hazelnuts but with roasted, chopped hazelnuts we found in the baking aisle of our local Kroger. At the busy holiday season, this saved one special shopping trip and a few minutes of preparation time. A 6-ounce package yielded 1 ½ cups chopped hazelnuts, which was just right for this recipe.
2 cups whole raw
hazelnuts
5 egg whites
1 cup granulated sugar 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
Arrange whole hazelnuts on a rimmed baking sheet and toast in the oven 15 minutes or until nuts are fragrant and begin to brown. Remove from oven and put nuts on a clean kitchen towel. Let them cool 10 minutes, then rub the nuts in the towel to remove skin. Coarsely chop and set aside.
Allow baking sheet to cool, then line with parchment paper. Prepare a second baking sheet in the same fashion.
In a medium bowl, beat egg whites until foamy, then slowly add sugar and vanilla and beat until whites are stiff and shiny. Carefully fold in the chopped nuts so your whipped egg whites don’t collapse.
Transfer the mixture to a medium saucepan over low heat and cook 10 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and scoop out by tablespoons onto prepared baking sheets, placing each scoop 2 inches apart. Bake 50 minutes or until cookies are dry all the way through. Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack. Makes 37 cookies. Adapted from a recipe provided by Caterina Scarano.
Per cookie: 77 calories (percent of calories from fat, 59), 1 gram protein, 7 grams carbohydrates, trace fiber, 5 grams fat (trace saturated fat), no cholesterol, 8 milligrams sodium.