French Fridays with Dorie - You´ll Spoil Your Appetite Croquants

Today´s recipe for the French Fridays with Dorie group is Croquants, a rather delightful "You´ll Spoil Your Appetite" kind of French cookie.

Croquant translates as "crispy" or "crunchy" in French and that goes a long way towards describing these delectable cookies  They are - like their name - crisp and crunchy, made very simply with egg whites, sugar, a bit of flour, and the toasted nut(s) of your choice. Today, I made these croquants with three kinds of nuts and one kind of seed using almonds, Italian hazelnuts (called "round Romans", they are simply the best hazelnuts you can find around here), unsalted cashews and, my favorite, dark green Styrian pumkin seeds. You can also opt for the more typical almond version, if you prefer.

As mentioned above, they only take a handful of ingredients and are rather easy to make. You chop the nuts (and seeds, if using) and the batter is a simple stir and drop affair that you can bake immediately. No need to whip the egg whites, either.

Making the croquants will always begin with the selection of the nuts. Roughly chop them. Once the nuts are taken care of, the rest is a breeze. Add superfine white baking sugar (I also added pure vanilla sugar, cinnamon and some fine sea salt), then the flour (I used white spelt flour) to a medium bowl. Whisk together before stirring in two egg whites. Stir the lot together until the batter is thick and holds together well. And the batter is done!

These cookies are delicious and quite satisfying. One minute you have these tiny piles of just-mixed stuff, the next you have some macaroon-esque delights. And this is also a great way to use up leftover egg whites. The cookies also last for ages in a cookie tin so do not worry about having to gobble them all up the same day. The only thing to pay attention to really is the space between each one, do not be tempted to place too many on one baking sheet. It is wise to use two sheet here, covered with baking parchment, as these cookies will definitely spread and stick. Let them cool completely before removing them from the baking sheets.

If you enjoy crunchy cookies, you will agree with me that these cookies are delicious, addictive, and incredibly easy to make - definitely the "You´ll Spoil Your Appetite" kind of cookie that you would want to share with family and friends!

To see whether the other members of the French Fridays with Dorie group enjoyed this week´s recipe, please go here.

For copyright reasons, we do not publish the recipes from the book. But you can find the recipe for “Croquants“ on page 410 in Dorie Greenspan´s cookbook "Around my French Table".