Basler Brunsli (Chocolate Almond Spice Cookies)

MAKES 1 TRAY

For the dough: (200 g) dark chocolate, 2 egg whites, 5¼ cups (500 g) ground almonds, 2 cups (400 g) sugar, 2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder, ½ tsp ground cinnamon, 1 pinch freshly ground mace, 3 tbsp cherry brandy

Additional: coarse sugar for the countertop, butter for the baking sheet, assorted cookie cutters (i.e. star, heart, clover)

Grate the chocolate very finely using a grater. Beat the egg whites to stiff peaks using a hand mixer with the whisk attachment. In a bowl, mix the chocolate with the almonds, sugar, cocoa powder, cinnamon, mace, and cherry brandy, and knead thoroughly. Carefully fold in the beaten egg white.

Sprinkle the countertop with coarse sugar and roll out the dough on top of it until it is 2 / 5 in. (1 cm) thick. Cut out cookies with the assorted cookie cutters and place them onto a well greased baking sheet, leaving at least the width of a finger between each cookie. Let harden for at least 2 hours at room temperature.

Next, preheat the oven to 355°F (180°C), unless you have a convection oven, in which case preheat to 320°F (160°C), or a gas oven, in which case preheat to level 3. Place the Brunsli in the oven and bake for approximately 5 minutes. After this amount of time, they should have a bit more of a crust, but should not have changed color at all. Take the cookies out of the oven and, after letting them sit out for 2-3 minutes, remove them from the baking sheet carefully and set on a wire rack to cool. When they are fully cooled, store them in airtight containers.

 

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