Go Back
Print
Photograph of Brunsli

Brunsli

Brunsli Cookies are incredibly moreish, naturally gluten free, richly flavoured chocolate and almond cookies from Switzerland. Chewy on the inside with a crispy outer layer, these quick and easy cookies are firmly associated with Christmas but I think they are wonderful all year round.

Makes 24 small cookies

Course afternoon tea, Morning Coffee, Snack, treat
Cuisine Switzerland
Keyword Chocolate, Christmas cookies, Cookies, gluten free
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 8 minutes

Ingredients

  • 70g ground nuts – I use almonds but you can also use ground hazelnuts or ground walnuts
  • 70g caster sugar
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon powder
  • 35g cocoa powder
  • large pinch of fine salt
  • 35g dark chocolate, minimum 70% cocoa solids, finely grated
  • 1 egg white
  • 2 teaspoons Kirsch or Amaretto
  • extra sugar, either caster or granulated, to roll out

Instructions

  1. Collect together your equipment (see Recipe Notes below) and ingredients.

  2. Weigh the ground nuts, caster sugar, cinnamon, cocoa powder and salt into a mixing bowl.

  3. Grate over the chocolate using a fine grater and thoroughly mix all these ingredients.

  4. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg white until it forms stiff peaks.

  5. Fold the egg white and the Kirsch or the Amaretto into the dry ingredients until it starts to form a dough.

  6. Bring the dough together with your hands and place in the centre of some cling film. Shape into an oval shape, wrap in the cling film and place in the fridge for a minimum of 1 hour.

  7. When you are ready to roll out the dough, sprinkle sugar – not flour! – over a flat work surface. Place the dough in the centre and sprinkle more sugar onto the top of the dough.

  8. Roll out to 1cm thick and use your chosen cutters to cut out your cookies.

  9. Bring together remaining dough and re-roll and cut out until you have used up the dough. I made a total of 24 small cookies.

  10. Place the cut out cookies directly onto a lightly greased baking tray. They will not spread, so you can put them quite close together.

  11. Pop in the freezer for roughly half an hour or in the fridge for an hour, uncovered before cooking.

  12. When you are ready to bake them, preheat the oven to Fan Oven 160°C /180°C/350°F/Gas 4

  13. Cook in the centre of a preheated oven for 8 – 9 minutes.

  14. Leave on the tray for 5 minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.

  15. Store in an air-tight tin, on their own, not with other cookies or cakes.

  16. If you are lucky and no one snaffles them, they will last for up to 2 weeks.

Recipe Notes

Equipment:

  • kitchen scales and measuring spoons
  • 2 x mixing bowls
  • electric whisk
  • light greased baking tray
  • wire rack

Where is this recipe from?

This is another recipe from the wonderful Swiss website called Helvetic Kitchen. Set up by Andie, a Swiss-Canadian living in Switzerland, she shares a host of delicious Swiss and alpine recipes. This is her recipe, and just like Andie’s Vanillegipfeli recipe, I have made no changes: it is perfect as it is!  See here for Andie’s Brunsli post. You should take a look at her site, it is a real gem.

Andie explains that these cookies are from Basel and are often known as Basler Brunsli. The first known recipe goes back to 1750 in a cookbook called Das süsse Basel. Apparently they used to be made for weddings and other celebrations as well as Christmas. They are so good, they really need to be eaten all year round!