Haselnussmakronen

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Baking sheets
• •Parchment paper
• •Electric mixer or balloon whisk
• •Food processor or nut grinder
• •Piping bag with large plain tip, optional

Instructions

1. 1

   Roast the nuts

   Roast the 200g hazelnuts at 160C for 10 to 12 minutes, until the skins darken and the nuts smell deep and sweet. Rub off the loose skins in a towel, then let the nuts cool completely before grinding. Warm nuts smear their oil into paste and collapse the egg white later, so don't rush this part.

   Grind the nuts medium-fine, not to flour. A little texture gives the Makronen their bite, while a greasy nut paste makes them heavy.
2. 2

   Set the wafers

   Line two baking sheets with parchment and lay out the Oblaten, the baking wafers, with a little space between them. They are not decoration. They give the sticky flourless mass a base, so the cookies lift cleanly and stay tender underneath.

3. 3

   Beat the whites

   Beat the egg whites with the salt until foamy, then add the sugar a spoon at a time and keep beating until the meringue stands in stiff, glossy peaks. Add the sugar slowly so it dissolves into the foam instead of sitting gritty at the bottom. This foam is the whole building, because there is no flour beam hiding in the dough.

4. 4

   Fold the nuts

   Fold in the ground hazelnuts, vanilla sugar, cinnamon, and lemon zest with a spatula, turning the bowl and lifting from underneath. Stop as soon as no dry nut pockets remain. Keep stirring and you'll knock the air out, then the nut oil has nowhere to go except out onto the tray. Nicht aus dem Glas, not from a packet mix. This is the work.

5. 5

   Shape the mounds

   Spoon or pipe walnut-sized mounds onto the Oblaten and press one whole hazelnut lightly into each top. Press only enough to anchor it; push too hard and you squeeze the air out of the middle before the oven has set it.

6. 6

   Bake them pale

   Bake at 150C for 16 to 18 minutes, until the tops are dry to the touch, lightly cracked, and only faintly golden at the edges. Runter mit der Temperatur. High heat browns the outside before the centre sets, and then the cookie dries into a nut biscuit instead of staying chewy. Cool fully on the tray so the soft middle firms without breaking.

Chef Tips

• •Use fresh hazelnuts and smell them before you start. Rancid nuts ruin the whole tin, and sugar won't hide it.
• •If the mixture loosens while you pipe, let it stand five minutes. The ground nuts drink a little moisture, and the mounds hold better.
• •Store them in a tin with parchment between layers. After a day the sugar pulls moisture through the cookie and the chew settles properly.
• •No Oblaten in the shop, use parchment and lift carefully after cooling. The cookie will still work, but the wafer is the clean old solution.

Advance Preparation

• •Roast and grind the hazelnuts up to 3 days ahead, then keep them airtight and cool so their oil stays fresh.
• •Bake the Makronen 2 to 5 days before serving. They keep well in a tin, and the texture softens into the chew you want.
• •Freeze baked Makronen for up to 2 months, layered with parchment. Thaw uncovered at room temperature so condensation doesn't make the tops sticky.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 14g)