3-Ingredient Hazelnut Cookies

From the kitchen of Carly

Hazelnut meringue cookies that are nutty, crisp, and impossibly simple. Just egg white, sugar, and toasted hazelnuts whipped into airy peaks. These disappear fast, and nobody needs to know you made them with three ingredients.

3-Ingredient Hazelnut Cookies

Three ingredients plus heat turns egg white and hazelnuts into thin, crispy-edged cookies with real nut structure. The trick is toasting the hazelnuts first to deepen their flavor, then letting the egg white do the work of binding while the low oven ensures they set without browning too dark. You end up with something closer to a hazelnut brittle than a tender cake cookie.

Prep
n/a
Cook
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Total
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Servings
4
Difficulty
medium

Ingredients

4 servings

  • 2/3 cupskin-on hazelnuts
  • 1 largeegg white
  • 1 pinchkosher salt
  • 1/3 cupsugar

Instructions

  1. Set your oven to 350°F and spread the hazelnuts on a rimmed baking sheet. Toast them, tossing occasionally, until they turn a deep golden brown, 13 to 15 minutes. Tip the hot nuts onto a kitchen towel, bundle them up, and let them steam for 1 minute. Rub the towel vigorously over the nuts to knock off the loose skins, then leave them to cool completely. Once cool, pulse them in a food processor until coarsely chopped.

  2. Turn the oven down to 300°F. In a medium bowl, beat the egg white and salt with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form (a whisk and some elbow grease works too). Scatter in the sugar and chopped hazelnuts, then fold gently until everything is well combined.

  3. Drop rounded tablespoons of batter onto a parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet, leaving about 2 inches between each cookie. Bake until golden brown, 16 to 18 minutes, then transfer the cookies to a wire rack and let them cool completely.

Tips from the kitchen

  • Toast the hazelnuts until truly golden, not pale, and let them cool completely before pulsing. Warm nuts release oils and will over-process into paste. Coarse chopped is the goal here.
  • Stiff peaks on the egg white matter. Go a little beyond what feels right. It's the only thing holding these together, so it needs backbone.
  • Don't overbake the urge to remove loose skins from the hazelnuts. Rub gently in the warm towel, accept what comes off naturally, and move on. A few stubborn bits won't hurt.

Variations

  • Swap in skin-on almonds for hazelnuts and reduce the toasting time slightly, around 10, 12 minutes, since they toast faster.
  • Add a pinch of vanilla extract or a scrape of vanilla bean to the egg white before beating for a subtle floral note.
  • Fold in 1 to 2 tablespoons of dark cocoa powder with the sugar for hazelnut-chocolate cookies, though this changes the texture slightly and may require an extra minute or two in the oven.

Make ahead and storage

Store cooled cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. They'll soften slightly as they sit, so eat them early if you prefer them crisp. Not recommended for freezing, as the texture breaks down when thawed.