Flourless Cracked-top Sea Salt Chocolate Cookies

Need to satisfy those raging chocolate cravings? You've come to the right place.

Let me set the scene for you. We're in the beginning of lockdown and everyone's panic-buying toilet paper, household necessities – AND FLOUR.

Everyone in the UK will understand the struggle we went through when there was absolutely no flour to be found in any supermarket. I took this opportunity to research flourless desserts to make.

Turns out you can use icing sugar and egg whites to create these wonderful rich discs of joy!

Given I had made a fair few meringues before this, I figured egg whites were a good addition as they achieve a fluffy texture and give meringues a good rise.

NOTE: Do not panic when spooning the batter onto a baking tray – they will look flat and disappointing. But I can reassure you that with just 14 minutes in the oven, they'll look absolutely beautiful.

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INGREDIENTS

350g icing sugar

30g cocoa powder

40g cacao powder

1/2 tsp salt, plus a little more for sprinkling at the end (Kosher Salt works best!)

4 egg whites (or if you have a carton of pure egg whites, you can do 8 tbsp of egg whites)

1 tbsp vanilla extract

METHOD

1. Preheat oven to 165ºC fan. Prepare a baking tray with a sheet of greaseproof paper and leave aside.

2. In a large bowl, combine the sugar, cocoa powder, cacao powder and salt. Mix thoroughly until well combined. Stir it gently with a spatula or wooden spoon as the powdered sugar puffs everywhere and could make a mess.

3. In a small bowl, whip the egg whites with a whisk until they start foaming. Don't over whip them to a stiff peak as this will affect the consistency of the batter.

4. Pour the egg whites and vanilla into the sugar and mix thoroughly until the mixture thickens and changes to a dark brown colour.

5. Grab a large spoon and scoop the batter onto the baking tray. Leave a 2-3 inch gap between the cookies as they will increase in size. You need to work quite quickly with these as the batter will start to disperse on the sheet.

6. Sprinkle a little more salt over the cookies before putting them into the oven. Bake for 14 minutes.

7. Once the cookies are done, allow them to cool completely before doing anything with them!! These cookies are very delicate when warm and if they're picked up too soon they will break.