It is amazing what small changes in a recipe can do. This recipe started off as a chocolate-free and not-kosher-for-Passover recipe for croquants from Dorie Greenspan (basically a nut meringue cookie). I replaced the flour in the recipe with cocoa to make a chocolate nut cookie. It was chewy when warm, and crispy when cool, with the same chocolate intensity as my favorite passover chocolate cookies.
I started seeing a lot of flourless fudge cookies recently (including the Pesach issue of Whisk magazine). Like my chocolate croquants, these cookies are mostly sugar, cocoa and egg whites. I noticed that the proportions of this kind of cookie (see the King Arthur version as an example), were only a little different from the chocolate croquants. The difference was the use of powdered sugar instead of granulated and more cocoa in relation to the egg whites and sugar.
As an experiment, I reduced the sugar by 4 Tbl. and increased the cocoa by 2 Tbl. in my recipe. Plus, I replaced the nuts with chocolate chips. Oh, and I reduced the baking temperature from 400 degrees to 350 degrees. The results? Instead of being crispy and light, the cookies ended up being dense and fudgy.
So light and crispy or dense and fudgy–it is up to you.
Intense Fudge Nuggets
¾ cup sugar
8-10 Tbl. Cocoa (use the lesser amount for a less intensely bittersweet flavor, the full amount is really very bittersweet)
2 egg whites
1 ½ cups chocolate chips
¼ tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. coffee powder
Combine sugar, egg whites, salt, vanilla, coffee powder in a medium bowl. Mix well (try to dissolve sugar in egg whites, which may take a minute or so). Stir in cocoa. Stir in chocolate chips. Form 25 cookies. Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes.
Double Chocolate Walnut Cookies
Inspired by Dorie Greenspan’s Croquants
4 ounces walnuts (about 1 cup; you could probably double this amount if you wanted)
2 ounces egg whites (2 whites)
8 ounces sugar (about 1 cup)
1.5 ounces cocoa (about 1/2 cup)
6 ounces chocolate chips (about 1 cup)
1/8 tsp. salt
1 tsp. coffee powder
1 tsp. vanilla
Mix nuts and sugar. Stir in egg whites and vanilla. Combine cocoa, salt, and coffee powder. Stir in cocoa mixture. Add chocolate chips. Spoon onto parchment sheets about 2″ apart. Bake at 400 degrees for 8-10 minutes. Makes about 34 cookies.
Tags: cookies, gluten-free, Passover
Pragmatic Attic 
April 10, 2014 at 10:42 am |
My niece only cares about chocolate, so I plan on making these for her. Question: Should the whites be whipped up into a “snow”? Thanks!
April 10, 2014 at 12:36 pm |
No, for the intense fudge nuggets you don’t need to beat the egg whites into a “snow.” The fudge nuggets aren’t fluffy cookies–they are very dense in texture and intense in taste. The double chocolate walnut cookies (the ones with the nuts) are light and crunchy (but you also don’t need to whip the whites).
April 10, 2014 at 2:08 pm |
Thanks!
April 10, 2014 at 2:12 pm |
Good luck with the recipe and Chag Sameach!
April 11, 2014 at 9:50 am |
I made them last night and HOLY COW are they amazing. I’m not even a chocolate or cookie fanatic (I’m usually loyal to sponge cake), and I left quite a dent in these! My niece will go bonkers! Bless you for sharing this divine recipe! Chag Sameach!
April 11, 2014 at 11:05 am |
Thank you so much for letting me know how these worked out for you. I’m so happy you are pleased with the results.
Chag Sameach!!
March 26, 2015 at 11:57 am |
i want to make the double chocolate ones with the nuts – just regular sugar or icing sugar – in israel the sugar is sooo granulated almost chrystal –
also thanx for putting the approx cup measurements – i hate pounds/ounces for measuremnts
March 26, 2015 at 12:20 pm |
Use regular sugar. I’m not sure what the right cup measurement should be for powdered sugar. If your sugar is really coarse, you can pulse it in a food processor to make it a little finer. If you don’t have a food processor, you can combine the sugar and egg white and stir it and let it sit for a while to dissolve the sugar a little better before adding the rest of the ingredients. The walnut version is crunchy.
April 21, 2016 at 10:42 am |
How do your cookies look so firm? My batter is so runny. Did you refrigerate?
April 21, 2016 at 11:40 am |
No, I didn’t refrigerate the battter. The two pictures are of two different cookies. The first picture is of the intense fudge nuggets and the second picture is of the double chocolate walnut cookies.