François Payard's Flourless Chocolate Walnut Cookies Recipe

Put away the fruit platter. Okay fine, serve a fruit platter but don't let Passover's special holiday Kosher rules keep you from baking up a pile of these incredibly rich and fudgy chocolate walnut cookies from beloved NYC pâtissier François Payard. These flourless cookies will become an instant hit, so memorize the super-simple recipe. You'll need it again.

François Payard's Flourless Chocolate Walnut Cookies Recipe
No Ratings
Prep Time
25
minutes
Cook Time
15
minutes
Servings
12
4-inch cookies
Ingredients
  • 1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoons Dutch-process cocoa powder
  • 3 cups confectioners' sugar
  • pinch of salt
  • 2 3/4 cups walnuts
  • 4 large egg whites
  • 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
Directions
  1. Place a rack each in the upper and bottom thirds of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F.
  2. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
  3. 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 1 minute.
  4. With the mixer running, slowly add the egg whites and vanilla.
  5. Mix on medium speed for 3 minutes, until the mixture has slightly thickened. Do not overmix it, or the egg whites will thicken too much.
  6. With a 2-ounce cookie or ice cream scoop or a generous tablespoon, scoop the batter onto the prepared baking sheet, to make cookies that are 4 inches in diameter.
  7. Scoop 5 cookies on each pan, about 3 inches apart so that they don’t stick when they spread. If you have extra batter, wait until the first batch of cookies is baked before scooping the next batch.
  8. Put the cookies in the oven, and immediately lower the temperature to 320°F.
  9. Bake for 14 to 16 minutes, or until small thin cracks appear on the surface of the cookies.
  10. Switch the pans halfway through baking.
  11. Pull the parchment paper with the cookies onto a wire cooling rack, and let cool completely before removing the cookies from the paper. Store in an airtight container for up to 2 days. 
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