Flourless hazelnut and chocolate fudge cookies

"This is my go-to recipe when I have very little time and leftover egg whites. The cookies have an intense cocoa flavour and a wonderful chewy texture, similar to that of a brownie. If you're a chocolate fiend, the batter will easily tolerate the addition of chopped chocolate or chocolate chips. As for the method, you could practically do it with your eyes closed!" Poh Ling Yeow, Poh & Co.

Credit: Randy Larcombe Photography

• makes

  15-20

• prep

  10 minutes

• cook

  8 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 105 g or 3 extra large egg whites 
• 1 ½ cups (190 g) icing sugar 
• ¼ tsp salt 
• 1 cup Dutch process cocoa or high-quality baking cocoa 
• 1 tsp instant espresso coffee powder (optional) 
• zest of 1 orange (optional, but with pistachios this is a particularly good pairing) 
• 1 ½ cups (180 g) roasted hazelnuts or nut of choice, very roughly chopped 
• 1 cup chopped chocolate or chocolate chips (optional - if using, reduce quantity of nuts to 1 cup. The ratio of each is up to you, but the mixture will tolerate 2 cups of additions)

Cooling time 10 minutes

Instructions

Preheat oven to 170°C or 160°C fan-forced.

Mix all the ingredients, except the nuts and chopped chocolate, with an electric cake mixer or whisk until just smooth. Add the nuts and chocolate, then stir to combine. Line 2 baking trays with baking paper and dollop tablespoons of the batter onto the trays, leaving 3 cm gaps between the cookies. Bake for 8 minutes. When the cookies are out of the oven the surface should be slightly cracked and glossy like a brownie. Cool on a wire rack completely before storing in an airtight container in the fridge. These are best eaten within 2 weeks.

Note

• If you overbeat the batter, you'll lose that dense, chewy, brownie-like texture and instead get a fluffy insubstantial cookie that somehow fails to satisfy. Don’t say I didn’t warn you! As soon as the mixture is combined, stop.

This recipe is from Poh & Co.  Photograph by Randy Larcombe Photography.

Reproduced with permission from the book Same Same But Different by Poh Ling Yeow, published by ABC Books/HarperCollins Publishers Australia, 2014.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.