Preparation:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place hazelnuts in 13" by 9" metal
baking
pan. Bake 10 to 15 minutes, until toasted. Wrap hot hazelnuts in clean
cloth
towel. With hands, roll hazelnuts back and forth to remove skins. Cool
completely.
2. Turn oven control to 275 degrees F. Grease 2 large cookie sheets. In
food processor with knife blade attached, blend hazelnuts with 1/4 cup sugar
until finely ground.
3. In large bowl, with mixer at high speed, beat egg whites until soft
peaks
form. Beating at high speed, sprinkle in remaining 1/2 cup sugar, 1
tablespoon at a time, beating well after each addition until sugar
completely
dissolves and whites stand in stiff peaks. With rubber spatula, fold in
ground hazelnuts, flour, and melted margarine or butter.
4. Drop mixture by rounded teaspoons, about 2 inches apart, onto cookie
sheets. Bake cookies on 2 oven racks 25 minutes, rotating cookie sheets
between upper and lower racks halfway through baking time, until cookies are
firm and edges are golden. Remove to wire racks to cool. Repeat with
remaining batter.
5. When cookies are cool, with small metal spatula, spread thin layer of
melted chocolate onto flat side of half of cookies. Top with remaining
cookies, flat side down, to make sandwiches. Spoon remaining chocolate into
small self-sealing plastic bag; snip 1 corner of bag to make small hole.
Squeeze thin lines of chocolate over cookies. Let stand until set. |
