Brutti Ma Buoni Food

BRUTTI MA BUONI

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly butter a cookie sheet and dust it with flour.
• In a bowl, beat the egg whites, until soft peaks form. Gently fold in the hazelnuts, almonds, sugar, cocoa powder, 1 tablespoon of flour, vanilla, and amaretto until all the ingredients are evenly distributed (without deflating the egg whites too much).
• Spoon blobs or heaping tablespoons of batter onto a cookie sheet, leaving approximately 1-inch between each cookie. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until firm to the touch. If you prefer chewier cookies, under bake them slightly. Remove the cookies from the oven, transfer them to a wire rack, and let rest for a 1/2 hour, or until cooled.

UGLY-BUT-GOOD HAZELNUT COOKIES (BRUTTI MA BUONI)

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Roast hazelnuts on a baking sheet until fragrant and lightly toasted, 10 to 12 minutes. Let cool briefly, then rub off skins with a clean kitchen towel. Coarsely chop hazelnuts.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat egg whites on medium-low speed until foamy, about 4 minutes. Increase speed to medium-high and gradually add sugar. Beat until meringue is stiff and shiny, 3 to 5 minutes. Beat in vanilla and salt.
• Scrape meringue into a large heavy-bottomed saucepan. Add chopped hazelnuts. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly and scraping bottom of pan to make sure meringue does not burn, until mixture is light brown and pulls away from sides of pan, about 15 minutes. (Mixture will look curdled after first 5 minutes of cooking.)
• Increase oven temperature to 325 degrees. Remove pan from heat and let cool to room temperature. Fold in chocolate.
• Scoop mounds, about 2 tablespoons each, onto a parchment-lined baking sheet, spacing about 1 inch apart.
• Bake until cookies are crisp on outside but soft and chewy inside, 25 to 30 minutes. Transfer sheet to a wire rack and let cool completely. Cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature up to 1 week.

FLOURLESS BUTTERLESS ITALIAN HAZELNUT COOKIES (BRUTTI MA BUONI)

Steps:

• Preheat to 325°F Line two baking sheets with Silpat or parchment paper.
• Pulse nuts and sugar in a food processor until finely ground. Scrape into a large bowl.
• Beat egg whites and salt in another large bowl with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form.
• Using a silicone spatula, fold the egg whites into the nut mixture. Add vanilla and gently but thoroughly mix until combined.
• Transfer the mixture to a disposable piping bag and snip off the tip. Pipe the batter on the Silpat, making sure to keep a uniform size under 1 inch in diameter, as well as maintaining a fingers distance between cookies.
• Tap the baking sheet a few times on the counter, this will help spread the cookie and give a flat cookie with a good snap.
• Sprinkle the cookie batter with the sliced hazelnuts.
• Place the baking sheet in the centre of the oven and bake until golden brown, 5-7 minutes. Switch the pans back to front. Keep an eye on it; it goes from golden brown to brown very quickly, given the tiny size.
• Let cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes. Gently transfer the butterless cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.
• Store in an airtight container for upto a week. But I bet it won't last that long.