Salted Cocoa Roasted Hazelnuts by Cyndiok

[S_Wirth]

Salted Cocoa Roasted Hazelnuts

Here is an interesting conconction from the book the Essence of Chocolate, sweet and salty, that would make nice gifts around the holidays or as a sweet party nibble.

3 cups nuts ( a mixture of hazelnuts, pecan halves and walnut halves would be best)
8 Tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into chunks
2 large egg whites
1 cup sugar
1 Tablespoon cocoa
1 teaspoon kosher salt

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Place a rack in the center. Spread nuts out on a half sheet pan (17x12x1-inch) or a 9x13-inch baking pan works in a pinch. Toast nuts for 10 minutes. Remove from the sheet pan and set aside. Note: If your hazelnuts still have skins like mine, the may loosen and begin to peel. Just go through the nuts with your hands and loosen and remove any peels that might be ready to come off. I left a lot of mine with skins on.. no biggie!

Scatter the butter pieces over sheet pan and place in the oven to melt. This should only take a few minutes. Remove the pan as soon as the butter is melted.

Now, in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat egg whites. When the whites just start to hold their shape, gradually add the sugar and continue to whisk on medium-high for two minutes. The mixture will be sticky and shiny, but may be a bit thinner than meringue.

Sift the cocoa over the top of the beaten eggs and fold in. Pour the chocolate mixture over the toasted nuts and fold in.

Spoon the coated nuts on top of the butter on the baking sheep. Spread out into an even layer. Not all of the butter may be covered by nuts, that's ok!

Bake nuts for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and quickly stir a bit. Return to the oven for 10 minutes, remove and stir once again. The meringue will look like it's drying out a bit. This is when you add the salt. Sprinkle it on top of the meringue and nuts. Return to the oven for a final 10 minutes, remove and give it one final stir, breaking the nuts up a bit as you stir them.

When done, the butter should be absorbed and the nuts and coating crisp. Let cool completely before handling. Store in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

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