could i leave out the almond? is the almond only adding texture to the cookie, or does it have some sort of a chemical reaction with the cookie? thanks alot!

I have never tried this recipe any other way than the recipe is written. If you want, you could try leaving out the almonds but they do make up a good portion of this recipe. Whenever you start omitting entire ingredients from a baking recipe you run the risk of things not working out the same. Cheers!

Made these twice now. I think next time I will try it with flour. Also thinking it would work with ground hazelnut. Will let you know the verdict!

May I purchase finely ground almonds or do I have to make it myself? Thanks

I even found it on Amazon. But if you have a food processor, you can do them yourself and they will be much fresher. You may just want to remove the skins first.

These had a wonderful flavor! I found they flattened quite a bit...I like a higher cookie! Your picture looked perfect! I rolled them in the sugar then put them in the freezer before baking. In your picture yours looked less flat then mine...any suggestions? Should I have used convection instead? I ground the almonds in my food processor....I was unsure if they were fine enough...I went for a very long time...I'm not sure if I could get them finer. This is a recipe worth working to get right :) Thanks

Perhaps your oven was a bit too hot if they flattened out too much. Test the internal temperature of your oven with an oven thermometer and bake the cookies in the center. Convection can be used but it is not necessary. Try it again and make sure the cookies are not warm before going in. Cheers!

Thanks I will give it a try!

The cookies turned out great.

Fresh hazelnuts are in season now, so I ground them a nut grinder (my 5 year-old was helping) -- then finished in a food processor. I also threw in some fresh almonds for a hybrid flour :) Turned out great.

Lke Darren S, I had a hard time scooping the dough into balls -- it sort of flaked apart when I used a small ice cream scoop. I then had to use my hands to mold it together. It was a mess, but not a disaster.Didn't know if I was doing something wrong. I would have loved foodsafe gloves. I guess I need to find some.

Will also see if I can find a melon baller next time.

Yes these cookies are a bit messy to shape but they are well worth it and chocolaty mess. I do generally wear gloves when I roll them out.

By the way, I buy the latex, food safe gloves at Costco but you can find them in many stores. Cheers!

Would it be possible to bake these for longer at 120 C? (I have a range cooker with hot oven 220C & slow oven at 120C)

Thank you

Hi,
I'm having trouble finding a 70% bittersweet chocolate chip.
Which would be better: 60% bittersweet chocolate chips or a 70% bar of Lindt chocolate that isn't labeled for sweetness? It's just 70%. Godiva makes a 72% dark bar, but I'm not sure if it's semi-sweet or bittersweet.

Didn't think it would be hard to find 70% bittersweet chocolate chips but it is.

Thanks for any help you can provide.

Hi Mark,

I would recommend the 70% or 72% dark bars, rather than chocolate chips. Chocolate chips have vegetable oil added to them to help keep their shape in cookies, so they don't behave the same way that bar chocolate does.

Unfortunately, the labels semi-sweet and bittersweet aren't standardized, so they mean different things to different companies. The percentage is the easiest way to compare two bars. If you have the option, taste both the Lindt and Godiva bars and use the one that you prefer. Just like with wine, you want to cook with chocolate that is delicious enough to eat on its own.

Hope that helps!

Hi Mark,

I forgot to mention that you should also read the ingredient list and choose the highest quality chocolate, without any fillers, added vegetable oils or fats, or preservatives. You may also find it helpful to watch the "Basics of Quality Chocolate" lesson (http://rouxbe.com/cooking-school/lessons/292-basics-of-quality-chocolate).

I used a 60% Ghirardelli bar and it turned out great.
I undercooked a batch, but I just ate that delicious mistake!
Good cookies!
Thanks.

You can always cook the cookies at 'a bit " of a lower temperature but going to 120C will not work, it is simply too low, you will end up with white a dry cookies because at that temperature you are not really baking but drying, You'll have better results at 220, just keep an eye as they will burn quickly.

These cookies are the best I have ever had. The almonds not only add texture but add a subtle depth to the flavor as well. Great, great, recipe. I also used a 70% chocolate bar. The only complaint I got was from a 4 year old who said they weren't sweet enough...but I told him these were grown up cookies.

These cookies were worth working for! They turned out amazing! Delicious!

Hi Wendy- That is so great...sometimes it takes a bit of practice and, like everything, there's no replacement for trial and error when you are really figure something out.

I had the cookie balls in the fridge over night. When I baked them, they stayed in the same ball size. What could I have done wrong?

Hi Jason- First, our apologies for the very late reply... we do work very hard to respond quickly to students. We're sorry that this took so long.

In any event, it sounds like the cookie balls may have gotten a bit too cold or they were a bit too dense with chocolate (which is hard to imagine). Next time, let them temper just a bit (20 minutes) before baking or try to make the balls a bit smaller so the heat can penetrate and allow the cookie to "relax" just a bit to look like a cookie and not a warm truffle ball.

Again, our apologies for the late reply. I hope you have better success next time you try these.

These cookies are very good!
They were easy to make once I got the dough refrigerated overnight. Used a melon baller and rolled with my bare hands. After 4 or 5 balls, my hand got sticky and I had to wash them but it was not a big deal.
I love the delicate texture, lightly crunchy outside and soft and moist inside.
I have a question regarding the chocolate. I used this Schafrren Berger 70% cacao bittersweet chocolate.
The cookie is very rich and "chocolatey" and lot of my friends will love its intensity. I am more of a milk chocolate type of person so it was a bit more intense than what I prefer.
Can I go down to like 50% cacao or even less without having problems with my cookie?
Or should I just try another chocolate, just not bittersweet?
Thanks in advance!

You could always give it a try Lili. We have personally never made them with anything less then 70%. As you said, though, you may want to just start with another chocolate that is just not so bitter — maybe start with a semi-sweet. In that case you may want to lessen the amount of sugar, but again, we have not tried this with this recipe.

At least you experiments will still taste delicious. Cheers!

I made this recently and due to my whisk being out of action I could only fork the eggs which of course didn't thicken them. Any way I carried on and ended up cooking ás a big cake instead of making balls. Must say it turned out pretty well. I've done the standard recipe many times and this was pretty much as good even with the thin mixture! Maybe if I'd not kept it whole b the balls would v have b fallen apart?