Cocoa Hazelnut Meringue Cookies

I’m a fan of making meringue cookies when I want to impress guests because oftentimes they are a recipe that intimidates people. However they are actually super easy, and you can flavor them many different ways. These cocoa hazelnut meringue cookies only need FOUR ingredients! And if you know anything about baking, you can probably guess all the ingredients just based off the title.

This recipe is similar to my strawberry walnut meringue cookies, just with a different flavor. Which just goes to show – you can get quite creative with flavor combinations at home!

This entire recipe only takes about 20 minutes, so it is even a perfect late night snack if you don’t want to spend all the time making chocolate chip or peanut butter cookies. The first thing you should do is preheat your oven to 200 Celsius. The second thing is to make the cocoa hazelnut mixture. I use 100 grams of hazelnuts (about a cup) and a tablespoon of dutch process cocoa powder (richer and darker than regular). I simply blitz those two ingredients in my nutribullet for a few seconds and you’ll end up with something like the picture above. You want small pieces, but not a paste, as a paste won’t mix well with the meringue.

For the meringue I use 130 ml of Egg Whites (about 4 eggs) along with 130 grams of White Sugar. I listed the eggs in ml form since I had a jar in my fridge of reserved egg whites after making my super decadent yolk heavy Carbonara. You can also save the yolks to make cured egg yolks which are a great way to add rich flavor to dishes.

Beat the egg whites and sugar until you get stiff peaks. I know they are done when I lift the head of my stand mixer and the whites don’t run off the whisk. I start the speed on low and slowly raise it to the max. Once you have your meringue, carefully fold in your cocoa hazelnut mixture. You want to retain as much air as possible.

Use a tablespoon and scoop out a heap of the meringue cookie mixture and place it on a silicone mat lined baking tray. You can use parchment paper, but I explain why a silicone mat is the better choice later in this article. I like the rustic messy look of meringue cookies, but you could use a pastry bag and try to place them in nice designs, it is entirely up to you.

Why Is A Silicone Mat Better Than Parchment Paper?

The cookies on the left were baked atop parchment paper, while the ones on the right were baked atop a silicone mat. As you can see, using parchment paper for meringue cookies results in meringue cookies that are a little burned on the bottom. This is because the parchment paper is much thinner than the silicone mat, which puts the meringue closer to the hot metal baking tray.

With normal baking there really isn’t much difference, however these cocoa hazelnut meringue cookies are quite delicate and small changes make a big difference.

Cocoa Hazelnut Meringue Cookies Cross Section

If you’ve heard of cookies being lighter than air, chances are they are meringue cookies (Unless they are Madeleines made by Ross’ manny). The inside of these cocoa hazelnut meringue cookies may look dark, but that does not mean dense. The web of chocolate hazelnut air pockets means these cookies crackle on the outside, and melt in your mouth on the inside.