Oma's Hazelnut Cookies – Hazelnut Macaroons (Haselnussmakronen)

by: Gerhild Fulson  / Oma Gerhild shares German recipes rooted in family tradition.

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German Hazelnut Cookies are the traditional Haselnussmakronen that we love, especially at Christmas.

These hazelnut cookies, aka haselnussmakronen, bring back such wonderful memories of my Mutti's Christmas cookie platter.

Also, they bring back memories of my sisters and I sitting at the kitchen table, busy cracking the hazelnuts Mutti had bought in bulk. She would then lightly roast them in order to remove the skins and grind them in her old coffee grinder.

Whenever possible, I buy ground hazelnuts. For the batch shown above, though, I started with whole hazelnuts and ground them myself.

They didn’t all grind as finely as I wanted, so the cookies turned out a little flatter than usual. But, OH, MY, they were still so GOOD!

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How to Prepare Whole Hazelnuts ...

If you've purchased whole hazelnuts, you'll notice that they probably still have their skins on. These need to be removed because they can make the cookies bitter.

Although there is a new way to do this by boiling in a baking soda water mixture, I still prefer to do it the 'old-fashioned' way by roasting them. Roasting always brings out a wonderful flavor in nuts. Boiling in a baking soda water bath just doesn't sound that appetizing to me!

To remove the skins, roast the whole hazelnuts in a preheated 325°F on a cookie sheet (in a single layer) for about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare a dishtowel (I prefer my 'waffle-knit' one for this) by folding up the edges so that when you pour on the hazelnuts, they wouldn't roll all over the place.

When the nuts have been roasted about 10 minutes, carefully pour them into the dishtowel. Spread them out and fold over the towel (pulling in the ends so the nuts won't roll out) and rub the towel back and forth to loosen the skins. 

Roasting hazelnuts for the traditional Haselnussmakronen that we love, especially at Christmas

I scoop out the 'skinless' nuts into a bowl and the ones that still have their skins clinging to them, I put into a large metal sieve. These, I rub back and forth in the sieve and the skins will loosen.

To grind the hazelnuts, I used my mini-chopper. The important thing is to make sure the nuts are completely cold first. I even put mine in the freezer for about an hour.

If the nuts get too warm while grinding, they can release their oils and start turning pasty instead of grinding finely. That’s what happened with this batch.

Only about half of the hazelnuts ended up finely ground, while the rest stayed more coarsely ground. I’m showing the results anyway because the cookies still turned out delicious, even if they were a little flatter than usual.

Ready to make these Hazelnut Cookies?

Print Recipe

Oma's Hazelnut Cookies – Hazelnut Macaroons (Haselnussmakronen)

These hazelnut cookies, aka haselnussmakronen, bring back such wonderful memories of my Mutti's Christmas cookie platter.

Also, they bring back memories of my sister and me sitting at the kitchen table, busy cracking hazelnuts! 

Prep Time:

25 minutes

Bake Time:

20 minutes

Total Time:

45 minutes

Servings:

Makes 48 cookies

Ingredients:

• 3 egg whites
• 1 teaspoon (5 milliliters) lemon juice
• ¾ cup (150 grams) granulated sugar 
•  ½ teaspoon (1 grams) ground cinnamon
• ½ lb (227 grams) ground hazelnuts
• about 50 whole hazelnuts to decorate

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 300°F (150°C). Line three 11x17-inch cookie sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, whip the egg whites with the lemon juice until stiff peaks form. Slowly add the sugar, continuing to whip until the meringue is shiny and you cannot feel any sugar when you rub a bit of it between your fingers. Fold in the cinnamon and ground hazelnuts.
3. Using a small cookie scoop or teaspoon, drop spoonfuls of the mixture onto the cookie sheets, leaving 2 inches of space between them. Place a whole hazelnut on top of each cookie.
4. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until golden.
5. Let the cookies cool completely before removing them from the parchment paper. They will stick if you try to do this while they are still warm.

Notes/Hints:

• ½ pound of whole hazelnuts is about 1½ cups. Once they are ground, the volume changes, depending on how coarsely or finely they are ground.

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Unless otherwise noted recipe, images and content © Just like Oma | www.quick-german-recipes.com

Updated on November 23, 2025

Why not make a batch of each of these cookies for your holiday platter. The different textures and flavours look so pretty, especially when arranged together on a tray. They also make great hostess gifts. Just be ready to pass on the recipes!

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Hi, I'm Oma Gerhild! As a food writer and cookbook author, I'm always looking to find ways to pass on my German heritage using local ingredients. Quick and easy. That's my goal. Wunderbar food. That's the result.