Walnut cookies

We love tea and coffee, and sometimes one just needs a cookie to go with a warm beverage of your choice. We find these cookies to fill that role quite perfectly. On more decadent days we were surprised pleasantly how well these cookies pair with the silky chocolate custard.

Apart from tasting great, making these cookies is so simple, the dough can even be made ahead of time, there are just a few ingredients, there is nothing complex in the recipe. Leftover egg yolks beg for a making a custard or brioche!

• 6-8oz (170g - 225g)shelled walnuts
• 3/4 cup (170ml) sugar or honey (feel free to reduce to 1/2 cup - 120ml) 
• 4 egg whites
• 1/2 cup flour (120 ml)
• 1 tsp (5 ml) vanilla extract 
• pinch of salt

In a food processor grind the walnuts and 1/2 cup sugar, or 1/4 cup if reducing the sugar.

Beat egg whites to a soft peak, add 1/4 cup sugar, and beat some more to get firm peaked meringue.

In a bowl mix, gently, egg whites, the ground walnuts, pinch of salt, vanilla extract, and the flour.

Store in a air-tight container in a fridge for at least an hour, up to a day - this is a very simple make-forward kind of a cookie.

Preheat the oven to 375F. When the oven is hot, line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat a-la Silpat, and arrange heaping tablespoon sized dollops of cookie dough. I like to use an ice cream scoop to measure equal quantities of dough.

Bake for 15-18 minutes, until cookie edges and tops start becoming brown. Cool on a rack, consume right away, or store in an air-tight container for up to three days.