Chocolate Hazelnut Macarons

Source:  Good Housekeeping Magazine

1 c. hazelnuts toasted
1 c. sugar (I reduced the sugar to 3/4 cup -- see below)
1/2 c unsweetened cocoa (I used special dark cocoa)
1 oz unsweetened chocolate chopped ( I used semi sweet chocolate)
1/2 t salt
2 egg whites
1 t vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 F.  Line two large cookie sheets with parchment paper.  In food processor with knife blade attached, pulse hazelnuts with sugar, cocoa, chocolate, and salt until ground.  Because I didn't use unsweetened cocoa and chocolate and cocoa, I reduced the sugar to 3/4 cup.  Also, instead of sugar and vanilla extract, I used my special homemade vanilla sugar.  Add egg whites and vanilla, process until well blended.  Mixture will be tacky. I would say it looks like mud.
Drop batter by rounded teaspoons, 2 inches apart on cookie sheets.  Bake 10 minutes or until tops look dry.  Cool completely on cookie sheet on wire rack.

First a little ingredient note -- hazelnuts.  I grew up in Europe, where if you bake with nuts ... you are most likely using hazelnuts.  It's by far the most common nut used in cooking and baking (and I am using the term "nut" loosely, without regard to its actual botanical designation).  I grew up eating hazelnut pastries, cookies, chocolates, and I love hazelnuts.  They are delicious.  They are a little expensive, but nuts are generally not cheap, and it's well worth it.  In the raw form, hazelnuts have a papery peel, kind of like peanuts and almonds.  They taste delicious, crunchy and slightly grassy -- yeah, sounds weird, but true.

However, the true flavor of hazelnuts really shines after you toast them.  You can see hazelnuts in their raw form on the right, and toasted on the left.  After you toast them on a cookie sheet, 350 F for 15 degrees, take the (admittedly hot) hazelnuts and rub the papery skin right off. In addition to the texture being more pleasant without the skin, the taste deepens, mellows ...and turns into that delicious and unmistakenly hazelnutty taste.


Moving on from the hazelnuts.  Macarons -- the American version -- macaroons, is a dense, sweet coconut dessert.  Very delicious.  The French Macaron -- is a light cookie made with egg-whites and ground almonds, and some flavorings.  Two cookies are usually sandwiched together with a variety of fillings to make an delicious, light and airy and not overly sweet concoction.  I love macarons.  Possibly my favorite dessert.  They are crunchy, look gorgeous, come in a variety of flavors -- what's not to love.  Always thought they were hard to make, so when I saw this recipe, and it looked pretty easy to make, without whipping a meringue, piping complicated shapes ..... well, I jumped at the chance to try it.  The fact that there was chocolate involved didn't hurt matters either.

Very easy to make.  You just throw a bunch of stuff in the food processor.  Can I just tell you that when you open the food processor after pulsing everything together, the smell is heavenly -- chocolate and hazelnut is a fantastic combination  (as the makers and lovers of Nutella well know).  Makes sure you use parchment paper on your cookie sheet.  As there is very little fat in these (only what's in the hazelnut) they will stick to the pan like no one's business.

So these are not French macarons.  At all.  But they are very delicious cookies.  They are light and crispy -- yet very rich from the dark chocolate and the hazelnuts.  You think after you take the first bite -- wow, these are nothing, I can scarf down the whole pan in an hour.  Yet after the second cookie, you are strangely full.  Please don't let their pedestrian appearance fool you.  These are delicate, dark and rich cookies.  Not macarons, but a delectable treat nevertheless.