What’d You Do Last Weekend?

With a little extra pastry cream and a simple crepe batter, try your hand at a gateau de crepes, also known as mille crepes.

This recipe is part of Alice Medrich's Cookies and Brownies.

Beacon Hill Cookies

Posted by jenny on 11/15/2009

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Not being a huge chocolate fan, I had my reservations about a flourless chocolate cookie. I was pleasantly surprised with the results - a deeply chocolatey flavor without being super sugary. In this recipe, it's all about the quality of the chocolate you use.

I realized while I was making these that they're not only chocolatey, they're also gluten and dairy-free. These make a decadent desserts for those folks used to eating applesauce-based sweets.

A few notes on this recipe:

The percentage of cocoa in the chocolate will make a difference in the cookie's texture. I used a chocolate with 75% cocoa and the results were a crumbly meringue cookie. A lower cocoa percentage (like 65%) should produce a cookie that dissolves or melts in your mouth. The higher percentage cocoa makes for a drier cookie. (I used Cacao Barry 75% - Tanzanie)
The weight of a typical large egg is 2 oz., of which 2/3 of that is the white. If you're using boxed liquid egg whites, you'll want to weigh out about 2.5 ounces for this recipe.

Beacon Hill Cookies
6 oz bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, cut in pieces
2 large egg whites, at room temperature
1/8 tsp cream of tartar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 c sugar
3/4 c chopped walnuts

Equipment
2 cookie sheets, lined with parchment paper or greased

Preheat the oven to 350F. Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven.
Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl in the microwave on medium power for 2 to 2 1/2 minutes, or set the bowl in a skillet of barely simmering water. Stir frequently until the chocolate is almost completely melted. Remove from the heat and continue to stir to complete the melting. Set aside.
Beat the egg whites with the cream of tartar and vanilla until soft peaks form when you lift the beaters.
Add the sugar gradually, continuing to beat until the egg whites are stiff but not dry.
Pour the nuts and all of the warm chocolates over the egg whites.
Fold with a rubber spatula until the color is uniform. Do not let the batter wait.
Drop level teaspoons of batter at least 1 inch apart on the cookie sheets.
Bake for 10 - 12 minutes, or until the cookies are shiny and cracked, firm when you press them but still gooey inside.
Rotate the sheets from front to back and top to bottom of the oven about halfway through the baking time to ensure even baking.
Slide the parchment liners onto racks or transfer individual cookies from the pan with a metal pancake turner.
Cool cookies completely. Cookies are best on the day they are baked but still delectable a couple of days later.