Renowned pastry chef and teacher Nick Malgieri gave us his secret for spiced, flourless bittersweet chocolate cookies, pointing out that it is important not to overbake them so that they stay chewy. These are much easier to make today, thanks to the easy availability of really good chocolate. The dough is sticky, so roll it out covered with wax paper, then cut and peel the hearts right off the paper.
This is just one of Gourmet’s Favorite Cookies: 1941-2008. Although we’ve retested the recipes, in the interest of authenticity we’ve left them unchanged: The instructions below are still exactly as they were originally printed. Learn how to roll out thin cookie dough—with no mess and no extra flour.
1990s Recipes + Menus
Basler Brunsli
Heart-Shaped Chocolate Almond Spice Cookies
December 1994
- 1 1/2 cups whole natural almonds (8 ounces)
- 1 1/2 cups sugar plus additional for coating work surface
- 6 ounces Swiss or other fine-quality semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped
- 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/4 cup egg whites (from about 2 large eggs)
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In a food processor combine almonds with 1 1/2 cups sugar and pulse until ground fine (do not overprocess or mixture will become warm and melt chocolate when added). Add chocolate and pulse until ground fine. Add spices and pulse twice. Add whites and pulse until mixture forms a stiff dough, adding 1 teaspoon water if necessary.
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Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or foil.
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On a surface coated with additional sugar press out or roll dough about 1/4 inch thick. With bottom of fork held facing down and tines touching dough at 60-degree angle, score dough about 1/16 inch deep by pulling fork across in a series of parallel vertical lines. With a 2-inch heart-, star-, and/or clover-leaf-shaped cutter cut out cookies and transfer to prepared baking sheets. Press dough scraps together and cut out more cookies in same manner. Let cookies stand, uncovered, at room temperature 3 hours.
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Preheat oven to 325° F.
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Put cookies in oven and immediately reduce temperature to 300° F. Bake cookies, switching position of sheets in oven halfway through baking, 10 to 15 minutes, or until they are just firm (do not overbake or cookies will be hard), and cool on sheets on racks. Keep cookies in an airtight container up to 2 weeks. Makes about 60 cookies.
Recipes + Menus
Chocolate Desserts for Valentine’s Day
Whether or not you celebrate it with a special someone, this holiday is a nice excuse to treat yourself to a decadent dessert (or four…). Here are a dozen of our favorites.
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