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Chocolate Praline Macaroons (gluten free)

 Just in time for Passover; the recipe is my own. It started off as the Chocolate Macaroon recipe from The New York Times Passover Cookbook (1999 edition), but I didn’t have (or like) some of the ingredients, so took it in another direction.

The batter will be thick after being mixed, so you’ll need a second spoon or your finger to drop each cookie onto the cookie sheet.  The bottoms can burn; check the underside at 15 minutes. Feel free to experiment with this recipe: increase the amount of chocolate, add cinnamon, plop in some coconut or even sub it for the praline (I’m not a fan of shredded coconut, but you might like it). Make the praline first, as it must be cool to be put in the batter. Oh, and there will be extra praline so that you can eat some as is.

Makes 24-30 cookies depending on size

Preheat oven to 300 degrees

Praline

1 cup whole nuts (walnuts, hazelnuts, almonds or a mix)

¼ C. water

3/4 C. sugar

1.       Toast the nuts for about 10 minutes.

2.       Line a baking sheet with foil or parchment

3.       Mix water and sugar in a saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring until mixed. Boil, swirling every minutes until a deep gold color, about 280-300 degrees.

4.       Remove from heat, stir in nuts, and quickly spread evenly on the cookie sheet

5.       When cool, measure out 1 cup and break up with a rolling pin.

 

starting to crush the praline

Cookies

1 C. almond flour or finely ground almonds

3 egg whites

1 C. sugar

3 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, melted and cooled to room temperature

1 C. crushed praline

 Preheat oven to 350 degrees

·         Beat egg whites until stiff.

·         Fold the sugar, then the almond flour into the egg whites.

·         Fold in the chocolate and then the praline.  

·         Drop by heaping teaspoons onto a parchment paper covered cookie sheet and flatten them slightly with your palm.

·         Bake 17-20 minutes

 Batter ready to be dropped onto cookie sheets

Review:

·         Were the ingredients easy to find? I always have nuts in the house, but not everyone does.

·         Were the directions easy to follow? I wrote them, so let me know.

·         Did it come out as expected? The cookies are a bit chewy, but that’s the nature of a cookie like this.

·         How did it taste? I like a little crunch in my cookie, so that’s a plus. You could take the taste in any direction by adding dry or powdered ingredients you prefer.     

·         Will I make it again? This is a Passover standard, but also great to serve or bring to gluten-free friends and relatives.



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