Bärentatzen, "bear paws"

A German friend of mine specifically asked me to bake Bärentatzen, or bear paws, since her mother doesn't normally bake them. Well, I don't blame her. If you follow the traditional recipe and buy the equipment needed, it's very time-consuming and expensive. But if you take some shortcuts, I do recommend you try baking these marshmallow-like chocolate cookies. They are irresistible!

First shortcut: you can bake Bärentatzen in Madeleine forms. Traditionally, they're baked in special wooden Bärentatzen forms - each one costs about 5 euros, and that's for one cookie only.

Second shortcut - you can bake them right away, instead of letting them dry overnight. (I tried both and didn't notice any difference.)

Here's what you need for 28 Bärentatzen:

• 50g milk chocolate (I used rice milk chocolate to get non-dairy cookies)


• 50g dark chocolate


• 100g ground almonds


• 100g ground hazelnuts


• 2 Tbsp cocoa powder


• a pinch of salt


• a pinch of ground nutmeg


• 2 egg whites


• 100g sugar


• plus some more dark or milk chocolate for decoration

Grate both chocolates (this is easier if you've placed the chocolate in the fridge half an hour or so before). Combine all dry ingredients together, except for the sugar. Add grated chocolate. Mix egg whites until they form peaks, then add sugar and continue mixing until firm again. Add almond-chocolate mixture and stir until well combined. Form small balls with your hands and place them in the Madeleine forms. Bake in a preheated oven (150 C) about 20 minutes or until your Bärentatzen are dry from outside but still soft inside.

Take the cookies out of the forms and let cool. In the meantime, bake rest of the cookies (unless you have enough Madeleine forms for baking all at the same time, that is).

Dip one edge of each cookie in melted chocolate and store - or serve immediately!