Chewy and sweet hazelnut macaroons or Nussmakronen, these are typical German cookies made with only 4 ingredients.
NUSSMAKRONEN
If you would like to make some cookies, but don't feel like spending a lot of time in the kitchen, these hazelnut macaroons are the solution. They taste incredible, sweet and chewy and “hazelnutty”, are soft on the inside and crispy on the outside, they are made in no time and, at least for me, a happy way of using the egg whites that I keep gathering in the freezer.
I find that I need only egg yolks more often that I need egg whites, that is why you will find at least 3 or 4 plastic bags containing egg whites in my freezer at any given time.
I am not a fan of egg white omelet (pfui!!!) and I really can't think of many ways of using those darn egg whites, so each December, all those frozen bags get thawed and I am making lots and lots of hazelnut or almond macaroons.
Luckily, these cookies happen to be my husband's favorite cookies, he devours at least 4 times this recipe every winter (and he still doesn't have one gram of unnecessary fat on his body...).
INGREDIENTS FOR GERMAN HAZELNUT MACAROONS?
You will only need four ingredients for making these traditional German macaroons: egg whites, sugar, ground hazelnuts and some whole hazelnuts.
Egg whites:
Use either fresh or leftover frozen ones. If you still have too many egg whites in your freezer bag, why not try some other egg white recipe, something like this Egg White Cake or the Stacked Pavlova with Raspberries?
Hazelnuts:
I normally make the cookies with hazelnuts, but from time to time, I take almonds and to tell you the truth, I like the almond version just as much as I like the original.
I use a piping bag for making regular nice cookies, but if you don't have one or don't feel like cleaning it afterward just use two teaspoons to form small heaps on the baking tray.
HOW TO MAKE NUSSMAKRONEN?
- Preheat the oven to 170 degrees Celsius/ 340 degrees Fahrenheit. Line two baking trays with baking paper.
- Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Slowly add the sugar and continue beating until the mixture is glossy and stiff again. Carefully fold in the ground hazelnuts.
- Fill the mixture into a piping bag with a very large nozzle. If you don't have a very large nozzle, leave the nozzle and use only the piping bag without the nozzle. Pipe about 24-26 macaroons on the baking trays. Alternatively you can use two teaspoons to make small heaps on the baking tray. They will not be so regular but they will taste just as good.
- Place a whole hazelnut in the center of each cookie and press it down gently.
- Bake the cookies for about 15 to 20 minutes or until they start to get golden around the edges.
- Leave to cool completely, then keep airtight in cookie jars or cookie tins.
Each time I make cookies I keep meaning to count them so that I can give you an amount when posting the recipe. But almost each time I either forget to count them at all or, if I do count them, I forget to write down the number, so by the time I post the recipe I have already forgotten what I have counted.
This time is no exception 🙁 . If I remember correctly I had a bit less than two trays, so that would make about 24-26 macaroons.
And if you are interested in reading something about German Christmas traditions, I liked reading the linked article.
Chewy German Hazelnut Macaroons - Nussmakronen
Ingredients
- 3 egg whites medium Germany, large US
- 200 g granulated sugar 7 oz/ 1 cup
- 200 g ground hazelnuts 7 oz/ 1 ⅔ cups
- one whole hazelnut for each macaroon about 25
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 170 degrees Celsius/ 340 degrees Fahrenheit. Line two baking trays with baking paper.
- Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Slowly add the sugar and continue beating until the mixture is glossy and stiff again. Carefully fold in the ground hazelnuts.
- Fill the mixture into a piping bag with a very large nozzle. If you don't have one, leave the nozzle and use only the piping bag without the nozzle.
- Pipe about 24-26 macaroons on the baking trays. Alternatively, you can use two teaspoons to make small heaps on the baking tray. They will not be so regular, but they will taste just as good.
- Place a whole hazelnut in the center of each cookie and press it down gently.
- Bake the cookies for about 15 to 20 minutes or until they start to get golden around the edges.
- Leave to cool completely, then keep airtight in cookie jars or cookie tins.
Notes
Nutrition
Other German Christmas cookies you might like:
Vanilla Crescents - Vanillekipferl
Rosa says
Oh my! These sound delicious!! Will have to try them. 🙂
I never thought about freezing leftover egg whites. Thanks for sharing your tip! I've tried freezing egg yolks and I wasn't too happy with the outcome. I leave them in the fridge but end up throwing them out after a couple of days. 🙁
Have you ever tried making angel food cake? You need a special form for it, which can be found on Amazon for 15-20€ or so. It's a fat-free cake and is absolutely delicious with strawberries and cream. 🙂
When I make cookies, I take pictures of the baking trays just before they go into the oven and right after they are baked. When I need to know how many I made, I just refer to the photos. 🙂
I wish you and your family happy and safe holiday!!
Balvinder says
These look delicious! I love how they are made with hazelnuts. Sounds like a perfect holiday dessert1
Happy Holidays!
Roland says
One of my favorite cookies. I love the moisture inside.
mjskitchen says
Just went through some of the last posts that I missed and now my mouth is watering! What a great batch of sweetness. Love the hazelnut recipes. Now something I use much because hazelnuts are hard to find here, but I do love the flavor when I taste it, especially in baked goods. The macaroons look DElicious!!!
Hope you and your family have a wonderful Holiday Season! See you next year my friend!
rosita vargas says
Se ve muy delicioso te deseo Felices Fiestas y muchas bendiciones,abrazos.
Alicia says
I remember visiting my German great aunt and uncle when I was a young girl. At Christmas, she had the most amazing hazelnut cookies. I recently thought about them and I scoured the internet for the recipe. I wasn't finding the right recipe until I entered German Hazelnut Cookies and the picture and recipe popped up! I am so happy and can't wait to make them. I also love the fact that there's only 3 ingredients especially since I'm not a great baker. Thank you so I much for posting the recipe for these delicious cookies from my youth.
Adina says
I am so glad, Alicia. I do hope they are like the ones you remember.
Claudia says
I just made them and they turned out crunchy so I checked on line and most recipes call for Confectioner's sugar instead of granulated sugar. I suspect this is the reason. The flavour is still good, but I prefer them chewy. Thanks
Adina says
Hi Claudia, thank you for the comment. I've never used confectioner's sugar to make the macaroons and they are always chewy. Maybe the oven temperature was too high? Ovens can be tricky sometimes.
Deborah H says
I used fresh eggs, added sugar slowly, and gently folded in the hazelnuts. The cookies still spread out and were flat. What did I do wrong?
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