Prettaly – Pretty Italy

This year I wanted to try some new Christmas cookies and living in Switzerland, baking some typical Swiss cookies was self-evident! These have evolved to my assortment of absolute favorite cookies and as of now will be baked every year! They also go really well with ice cream or a semifreddo…

Ingredients
185g sugar (plus a little more for garnish)
250g ground almonds
50g flour (for gluten-free version, use corn or potato starch)
1 pinch of cinnamon
2 fresh egg whites, whipped
100g dark chocolate (min. 85% cacao)
Boiling water

Directions
In a large bowl, mix together sugar, almonds, flour and cinnamon. Beat the egg whites and fold under the mix and set aside.

Meanwhile break the chocolate in pieces in a separate bowl and pour a little boiling water on top, so the chocolate melts (don’t mix!). After approx. 2-3 minutes, remove the water with a tablespoon, keeping ca. 1 tablespoon hot water and mixing this with the chocolate so it’s a spread. Then mix the chocolate with the rest of the dough.

Prepare a little bowl with sugar inside.

Now use two layers of cling film, one on the bottom and sprinkle with sugar, then dough and adding another piece of cling film on top.

Spread the dough until it is approx. 1cm thick. Remove the top layer of cling film and use cookie cutters to make little forms.

Then dip the other side of the cookie into the sugar bowl and set on a piece of parchment paper. Continue until all dough is used.

Now comes the difficult bit: Let the cookies dry in room temperature for at least 6 hours or overnight. Only then put in the pre-heated oven set to 250°C (air circulation) and bake for 5 minutes.