Nov 22, 2010

Basler Brunsli (Chocolate-Almond Spice Cookies)

Specialties of Basel, in northern Switzerland, these chocolatey confections are often described as Swiss brownies. Almonds, sugar, and chocolate are ground fine and bound together with egg whites to create a satisfyingly chewy texture, while cinnamon and cloves impart an unmistakable flavor of old-fashioned Christmas cheer. Added bonus: they're gluten-free, so they're a holiday cookie everyone can enjoy.

Credit: Todd Coleman

MAKES ABOUT 4 DOZEN

INGREDIENTS

8 oz. whole blanched almonds
1 1/2 cups sugar, plus more for rolling
6 oz. semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
2 egg whites, lightly beaten

INSTRUCTIONS

Finely grind almonds and sugar in a food processor. Add chocolate; pulse until finely ground. Add cinnamon, cloves, and egg whites; pulse to make a dough. Sprinkle a large piece of parchment paper with sugar; transfer dough to paper. Lay another piece of paper over dough; roll dough to 1/8" thickness. Cut out cookies with star-shaped cutters; transfer to parchment paper�lined baking sheets, spacing cookies 1" apart. Reroll scraps and repeat. Let dough dry for 3 hours. Heat oven to 300°. Bake until cookies are slightly puffed, 12�15 minutes. Let cool.

This article was first published in Saveur in Issue #134

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Ratings & Reviews (9)

by sabeehakurji on 2010-12-11

I have had a real problem rolling these cookies out. They stuck to the paper like glue. Never again.

by VKANDERS on 2010-12-17

These are awesome - soft with a great balance of chocolate and almond flavor, with a short ingredient list. Easy! Make them today.

by LWETTERHAHN on 2010-12-19

These cookies turned out very well. The parchment paper is a must, both for rolling and baking. They are quite sweet, and the almond flavor is subtle so be sure to bake them until they smell toasty or it'll be imperceptible. I might consider using bittersweet chocolate next time since they are so sweet already and the chocolate flavor is rather mild.

by KKEY on 2011-08-31

I make a similar recipe for a Brunsli cookie and I found that if you roll the dough between 2 sheets of wax paper and then place the dough into the freezer for an hour the dough is very easy to work with. So sabeehakurji should give this a try before giving up totally on an awesome cookie.

by Chaospanic on 2011-10-19

Most certainly a recipe for a cool kitchen, or chill your dough. They turned out lovely. We made a version with hazelnuts that is delicious too. Next time I'll use bitter chocolate, as they are quite sweet. For those converting to metric, it is about 225g (not mls.) of nuts. In ten minutes I had cookies that cooled to a chewy texture, and after 12 minutes they cooled to a crisp meringue cookie!

by joythw on 2011-12-29

Great flavors and spices, and very attractive addition to a plate.
I wonder if you could use almond flour to get a smoother result? Mine were a little grainy, which I liked, but very smooth might be nice as well.

by ALICHAE on 2012-09-20

Yes, these were great! Thanks!

by PLACIDPLAID on 2012-12-23

I could not work with this dough. I did as suggested, rolling out the dough between two sheets of wax paper and then put it in the freezer. Cut out all the cookies and they stuck to the wax paper bottom. I could not get them up! In order not to waste the ingredients I'm baking the dough as it is. Ugh, I had high hopes for this.

by DWOLF on 2013-03-17

I also had leftover ground almonds and was searching for a good recipe to use them up. This one looked very different and interesting. I LOVED the smell and taste of the dough. Heavenly! I did not have any difficulty sliding a spatula under the cut-out cookie dough if I did it quickly. Otherwise, I could tip the whole thing over and peel off the bottom parchment. My oven is a bit slow, so I cooked them some additional time until the cookies puffed thoroughly, otherwise they came out looking undone and too soft. When puffed thoroughly, they cooled to a nice crunch. I liked the texture, but the baked cookies were VERY sweet. The only reason I did not give a 5 star rating was the feeling of them being too sweet, and I like sweet. I am tempted to try playing with the recipe a bit, using bittersweet chocolate and maybe reducing the sugar a bit. Not sure what would be needed (to add) in that event. I liked them well enough to write down for my recipe collection to try again (and I am quite picky about the recipes I keep). Thanks for sharing!

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