Basler Brunsli
Submitted by shepal
Basler Brunsli are flourless Swiss chocolate almond cookies spiced with cinnamon and cloves, cut into festive shapes. A traditional Basel Christmas cookie, chewy inside with a crackly crust.
YIELD
8 servingsPREP
20 minCOOK
10 minREADY
30 minBrunsli are Basel’s contribution to the Swiss Christmas cookie tradition, and they might be the most intensely chocolate cookie you’ll ever bake. No flour in the dough at all. Ground almonds and finely processed semisweet chocolate form the base, bound together with egg whites and a splash of kirsch.
The food processor does the heavy lifting. Almonds and sugar get pulsed to a fine meal, then the chocolate goes in and gets ground into the mix. The key warning: don’t let the processor run too long or the friction heats up the almonds and chocolate into a greasy paste. Short pulses, check often.
After pressing the dough out on a sugar-strewn surface (not flour, which would ruin the texture), you cut them into traditional shapes: hearts, stars, clovers. A grooved rolling pin pressed across the top leaves a decorative pattern that’s signature to Brunsli.
The drying step before baking is critical. Several hours uncovered at room temperature forms a thin crust on the surface. That crust is what gives Brunsli their characteristic texture: crackly and slightly firm on the outside, dense and chewy within. Skip the drying and they’ll spread and lose that contrast.
Bake them just 10 minutes. Overbaking turns these from chewy to rock-hard.
Pro Tips
- Use unblanched (skin-on) almonds for richer flavor and a slightly speckled appearance
- Press the dough to an even 3/8 inch. Thinner cookies dry out; thicker ones stay underdone in the center
- If you don’t have kirsch, leave it out rather than substituting. Other spirits change the flavor profile too much
- Store in an airtight tin. Brunsli actually improve after a day or two as the flavors meld
Variations
- Replace semisweet chocolate with dark (70%) for a more bitter, adult cookie
- Add a pinch of cayenne to the spice mix for a subtle warmth behind the chocolate
- Use hazelnuts instead of almonds for a Piedmont-inspired take
Ingredients
Directions
Combine the sugar and almonds in the food processor and pulse to grind finely.
Be careful that the mixture does not become warm. Cut the chocolate finely and add to the processor.
Pulse to grind the chocolate finely and mix with the almonds and sugar.
Add the remaining ingredients and pulse to mix rapidly.
Strew the surface with sugar and press the paste out about ⅜ inch thick.
Roll over with a grooved rolling pin. Cut the Brunsli in hearts, stars and clover leaf shapes and place on paper-lined pans.
Allow to dry several hours, uncovered, at room temperature.
Preheat oven to 300℉ (150℃)
Bake about 10 minutes.
Do not overbake or they will be very hard.
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