Brutti Ma Buoni

You'll love this classic Italian cookie, Brutti ma Buoni, which literally translates for "ugly but good" because of its cracked appearance. The light and airy cookies have a meringue-like texture and a delicious crunch from the hazelnuts.

Course Dessert

Cuisine Italian

Keyword brutti ma buoni

Prep Time 25

Cook Time 25

Total Time 50

Servings cookies

Calories 111kcal

Author Angela Allison

Equipment

food processor with blade attachment (optional)
medium saucepan
2 baking sheets

Ingredients

2 cups hazelnuts, roasted and skinned (265 grams)
3 large egg whites
⅛ teaspoon cream of tartar
⅛ teaspoon kosher salt
1 ½ cups granulated sugar (315 grams)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper; set aside.
In a food processor fitted with the blade attachment, pulse the hazelnuts until they are roughly chopped. Alternatively, you can chop these using a kitchen knife. You want the hazelnuts coarsely chopped and irregular in size; set aside.
In a large bowl, combine the egg whites, cream of tartar, and salt. Use an electric mixer to beat until foamy. Then, gradually beat in the sugar until the egg mixture has a meringue consistency and forms stiff peaks. Fold in the hazelnuts.
Transfer the mixture to a medium stainless steel saucepan. Cook on low heat, stirring consistently with a wooden spoon, until the mixture is amber/golden in color; about 10 minutes.
Remove the mixture from the heat and use a cookie scoop or spoon to quickly scoop out equal portions of cookie dough on to the prepared baking sheets (you should be able to fit a dozen cookies per pan).
Place the cookies in the preheated oven, rotating halfway through, until the cookies have dried out on top; about 25 minutes. Remove from oven and let the cookies cool on the baking sheet and then use a spatula to remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

Notes

Hazelnuts: easily remove the skin from your hazelnuts by placing them in on a baking sheet in a 350 degree oven for 8-10. While the nuts are still warm, place them inside a clean tea towel. Gather the towel into a secure bundle and roll the nuts in a circular motion to loosen and remove some of the skins.

Cream of Tartar: the cream of tartar is used to stabilize the egg whites. If you don't have any, you can use ¼ teaspoon of lemon juice instead.

Saucepan: use a stainless steel pan to cook the meringue for best results. Also, make sure you are stirring the meringue constantly using a wooden spoon for best results.

Storage: store leftover cookies in an airtight container in a cool dry place.

Nutrition