Ugly But Incredibly Good (and Nutty)

Brutti ma Buoni aka ugly but good. We’d say irresistible is more accurate.

brutti ma buoni chocolate hazelnut cookies

These 4-ingredient cookies are one of Italy’s most beloved little treats. Flourless, chewy, chocolatey, nutty, and naturally gluten-free: they’re the kind of thing you make once and never stop making.

The base is a light, airy meringue that turns glossy in the oven and sets into craggy peaks. But the real show stopper here are the ingredients.

🟤 Alta Langa Hazelnuts from Piemonte, toasted to perfection by our guys at Terra delle Nocciole in Cravanzana. These are the star of the show: sweet, mineral, rich, crumbly, intoxicating. Just give them a rough chop and fold into whipped egg whites.
🟤 Marco Colzani’s chocolate hazelnut spread, made with 50% of those very same hazelnuts from those very same farmers. This spread has won Best Gianduja Spread in so many competitions, we’ve lost count. It adds a warm hue and an undeniable decadent touch to the recipe.

brutti ma buoni chocolate hazelnut cookies

MERINGUE CHEAT SHEET: Bake a batch whenever you’ve got egg whites to spare. Don’t worry, we wrote all the tips for meringue success (like: make sure your mixing bowl is bone dry!) HERE

SERVING: Eat them solo, straight from the jar. Pair them with your coffee for some extra sweetness. Crumble them over gelato or yogurt.

STORING: Once baked, these cookies are light, like a cloud made of Piemonte’s finest ingredients. They keep their beautiful crunchy meringue texture if preserved in a tin or glass jar. If you don’t eat them all in one sitting, that is.

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