Chocolate Payard cookies

Francois payard's Flourless Chocolate Cookies

This is by far my favorite, most addictive Passover cookie. I can't even call it a Passover cookie becuase it's so good I should make it year round. Actually, if I make it all year- I will eat it all year. Oh and by the way, I can't even take credit for this recipe. It originally came from the celebrated french pastry chef Francois Payard in his book "Chocolate Epiphany". I have tweaked it a tiny bit, but it's pretty much exactly as he instructed. It's a wonderful book, and this is a wonderful recipe. Click here to see his book on Amazon.

Rating: So fast to make, and way too yummy.

Yield: 16 cookies

Ingredients:

½ cup plus 3 tablespoons cocoa powder

3 cups confectioners sugar

2 ¾ cups walnuts, coarsely chopped

¼ teaspoon kosher salt

4 large egg whites

1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

Directions:

Place 2 racks into your oven. One in the upper third and one in the lower third of your oven. Preheat to 350 degrees (325 degrees convection).

Combine the cocoa powder, confectioners sugar, salt and walnuts in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on low speed for one minute. With the mixer running, slowly add the egg whites and vanilla. Mix on medium speed for 2 minutes, until the mixture has slightly thickened. Do not over mix it or the egg whites will thicken too much.

With a medium OXO cookie scooper (2 ounce cookie scooper or generous tablespoon), scoop the batter onto the prepared baking sheets lined with parchment. I usually fit 8 cookies on a sheet- but make sure to spread them out so they have room to grow. Bake for 15 minutes, or until small thin cracks appear on the surface of the cookies. I rotate the pans front to back halfway through baking. Let them cool completely before removing them from the parchment paper. Store in an airtight container for 2 days. (Ha! These don’t last 2 hours in my house)

Plan Ahead:

The only plan ahead advice I can give here is to make sure you have made enough. A 1x batch is NEVER enough.