Dec 23
2008

Schaum Brötle–"little foam cookies"

in Dessert, Food History, Fuji Favorites, German, Recipes By Region, Recipes by Type

Update 12/8/09: I’m excited to be a featured blogger on Oprah.com for Oprah.com’s Holiday 2009 blow-out ~ come see our favorite holiday recipes!

The Fujis made it safely to Utah, just before a snowstorm hit–phew! As I type this post I can look out the window of my MIL’s kitchen and watch snow softly falling, turning the yard outside into a world of soft white. It’s beautiful. It looks as if everything has been doused in confectioners’ sugar.

Earlier this month I mentioned some cookies that my Oma used to make that were my mom’s favorites called Schaum Brötle (which means “little foam cookies”).
One fun little fact that CQ shared with me (because she speaks German and I do not) is that “brot” means bread in German, so cookies are “little bread”! These are very similar to the Forgotten Cookie recipe that I shared with some slight differences in ingredients and baking method. These do not need to be “forgotten” in the oven overnight, but the batter does require a substantial amount of beating.
One of the ingredients in these cookies is the grated peel of one lemon which gives the finished cookies a wonderful light citrus zing.
These cookies are very light and will crumble and melt in your mouth as soon as you bite into one. It comes as no surprise that these were my mother’s favorite. CQ agreed with my mom, saying she loved these, and remembered Oma making them, especially around Christmas. She also told me that Oma didn’t put chocolate chips in them in the beginning, that this was a later innovation. (Thank goodness for that little bout of inspiration!)
As this recipe does call for 4 eggs whites, which will leave you with 4 little lonely yolks, CQ also suggests that making pound cake is totally called for in conjunction with making these little beauties. Speaking of genius, I love the way CQ thinks!

Schaum Brötle

4 egg whites

1.5 cups granulated sugar

Zest of one lemon

1 cup chocolate chips

1 cup chopped walnuts

1. Beat egg whites until stiff and glossy and stiff peaks form. Beat in sugar a little bit at a time, and continue beating at medium speed for 20 minutes. Then add grated lemon peel, chips, and nuts.

2. Heat oven to 250 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease and lightly flour a cookie sheet. Spoon the cookie mixture onto the cookie sheet. Globs should be about the size of ping-pong balls. Cookies will expand only slightly.

3. Bake 15-20 minutes, or until you see only the very faintest hint of browning on the tops or around the bottom edges of cookies. Don’t over bake! Carefully remove cookies from cookie sheets and allow to completely cool on wire rack.

Coming Tomorrow: One Good Loaf leads to more cheating…

{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }

Bob December 23, 2008 at 2:10 pm

Glad you made it safe! Heh, I have family in Utah too, some of them aren’t as fond of the snow as you are. :)

Those cookies look great! What kind of nuts do you use?

Reply

K and S December 23, 2008 at 5:55 pm

yummy! glad to hear you made it safely also :)

Reply

Daily Spud December 23, 2008 at 8:06 pm

Those sound glorious (though I shudder at the thought of the physical effort that would be required if you didn’t have an electric mixer!).

I really will have to give them a whirl, aided and abetted by my mixer of course.

Reply

Fuji Mama December 24, 2008 at 8:30 am

Bob– I used walnuts this time around, but pecans are good too, or even a mix of walnuts and pecans! I’m actually not a big lover of snow…I’ve definitely got the Southern California mentality that snow is something you go see/visit and then you leave. :-) I lived in Utah for awhile and got VERY VERY VERY sick of the snow VERY VERY VERY fast.

K and S–Thank you!

Daily Spud–I know! Wouldn’t not having an electric mixer be absolute torture with this recipe?

Reply

heidileon January 6, 2009 at 9:46 pm

this cookies looks like lovely meringue like clouds to me. Yummie!

Reply

Jen Kruse December 20, 2020 at 3:15 pm

Jen Kruse

Reply

Leave a Comment

{ 1 trackback }

Previous post:

Next post: