Chocolate Almond Hearts
Flourless chocolate almond cookies, cut into hearts and dried in a low oven until firm outside and soft within.
Quick Summary
These Central European flourless chocolate almond cookies take 42 minutes to prepare and cook. Shaped as hearts and dried at low heat, they’re crisp outside and soft inside. Made with just four ingredients—egg whites and almonds replace flour.
This recipe uses How to Blanch Almonds: The Technique Behind the White Kernel — prepare it in advance if you haven't already.
Historical recipe
Modernised adaptation of an early 20th‑century source. Not independently kitchen-tested by Attic Recipes. Quantities, temperatures, and food safety guidance have been updated for a contemporary kitchen — results may vary and errors may exist. Nutritional values, where provided, are estimates only and have not been laboratory tested. Always follow current food safety guidelines for your region. If you have a health condition, allergy, or dietary requirement, consult a qualified professional before preparing this recipe.
Use of this recipe is entirely at your own risk and subject to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Attic Recipes accepts no liability for any adverse outcome.
- Tree Nuts
- Dairy
- Eggs
- Soy
Additional notes
-
Caution
This dough is bound with raw egg whites and only dried at a relatively low oven temperature rather than fully baked. Make sure cookies are firm all the way through before removing them from the oven. Pregnant women, young children, the elderly, and immunocompromised individuals may prefer to use pasteurized egg whites.
- 1
Whip the 2 egg whites to stiff peaks.
Tip Pasteurized liquid egg whites can be used in place of fresh; they may take a little longer to whip to stiff peaks. - 2
On a clean work surface or board, combine the 250g sugar, 200g ground almonds, and 100g grated chocolate. Knead in the whipped egg whites to form a firm, workable dough.
- 3
Roll the dough out with a rolling pin as thin as possible.
- 4
Cut out heart shapes using a heart-shaped cutter and arrange them on a baking sheet greased with the 10g butter.
- 5
Dry in a preheated oven at 150°C (300°F) / 130°C fan for 15-18 minutes, until firm to the touch on the outside but still soft within.
Tip Make sure the cookies are fully firm before removing them from the oven — since this is a lower-temperature drying process rather than standard baking, undercooked centers are more likely than in a hotter bake. - 6
Let cool completely on the baking sheet before serving.
Nutrition Information per 1 piece (approx 17g)
Nutritional values are approximate estimates and may vary based on specific ingredients used, preparation methods, and portion sizes.
Serving Suggestions
Serve on their own with coffee or tea, or package a few together as a small edible gift.
About This Recipe
These are simple, flourless cookies built from just four ingredients: sugar, ground almonds, grated chocolate, and whipped egg whites, kneaded together into a firm dough right on the work surface. There’s no butter or flour in the dough itself — the almonds provide the structure, and the whipped egg whites hold everything together as the cookies dry in a low oven.
Cut into hearts and dried until firm outside but still soft within, they land somewhere between a cookie and a chewy almond macaroon, with a light chocolate flavor running through the whole dough rather than sitting on top.
Why It Works
Because there’s no flour or leavening involved, these cookies depend entirely on the almonds and whipped egg whites for their texture — the whipped whites trap enough air to keep the dense almond-sugar dough from turning into a hard candy once dried. Drying rather than fully baking at a low, steady temperature lets the outside firm up into a light shell while the inside stays soft and slightly chewy.
Modern Kitchen Tips
Roll the dough between two sheets of parchment paper if it feels sticky — it makes rolling out this flourless dough much easier than doing it directly on a work surface. If you don’t have a heart-shaped cutter, any small cutter shape works just as well; just keep the pieces roughly the same size so they dry evenly.
A classic of early 20th century home cooking, preserved and adapted for the modern kitchen.
The Story Behind This Recipe
Historical Context
Early 20th century recipes for cookies like this typically gave no oven temperature, drying time, cutter size, or yield, leaving these to the cook's experience — the dough was simply 'dried' in the oven rather than baked in the usual sense. Raw egg whites, used here to bind the dough, were standard practice of the period without any particular precaution taken around them.
Modern Kitchen Adaptation
Pasteurized liquid egg whites can be substituted for fresh whites 1:1 by volume, offering an extra margin of food safety since the dough is only dried at a relatively low temperature rather than fully baked; they may take slightly longer to reach stiff peaks. Oven temperature, drying time, and yield were not specified in the original and have been estimated based on a standard heart-shaped cutter and this type of flourless almond dough. The butter quantity for greasing the pan is also estimated.
This recipe is an independent modern adaptation developed from historical sources in the public domain. It is provided for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute professional dietary, nutritional, or medical advice. Food preparation involves inherent risks. The reader assumes full responsibility for safe food handling, ingredient sourcing, and adherence to current local food safety guidelines. The site operator accepts no liability for outcomes resulting from the preparation or consumption of this recipe.
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