My friend Laura at Mother Would Know just released her new book, The Hamilton Cookbook: Cooking, Eating, and Entertaining in Hamilton’s World. And she was kind enough to share a sample recipe for Chocolate Puffs. Luckily, I had time to bake them up and photograph these cookies with a candy-like crunch.
Although The Hamilton Cookbook isn’t strictly dairy free, it’s still such a fun, gift-worthy book for any Hamilton fan. And it really isn’t just about recipes.
The Chapters include:
- Alexander Hamilton: Who Was He?
- Hamilton’s World: 18th Century West Indies and Colonial/Early Federal America
- Cooking in Hamilton’s Time
- Dining with Alexander Hamilton
- Explanation of Recipes
- Original & Adapted Recipes
There is just so much interest and history to read in this fact-filled cookbook. As for the recipes, about half of the 22 recipes are naturally dairy free, and most others are easy to adapt if you are comfortable with substituting for milk and butter.
These Chocolate Puffs from the “Sweets” recipes in The Hamilton Cookbook are naturally dairy-free and gluten-free, so I didn’t need to make any substitutions!
Tasting Notes: Chocolate Puffs
They aren’t fluffy and airy like I expected. Rather, they have a big cookie crunch and a candy-like sweetness. You can reduce the sugar a touch, but these are meant to be sweet. Just be sure that you use superfine sugar. They will come out even sweeter if you use a regular or coarse sugar.
Special Diet Notes: Chocolate Puffs
By ingredients, this recipe is dairy-free / non-dairy, gluten-free, grain-free, nut-free, peanut-free, soy-free, and vegetarian.
- 1 cup + 2 tablespoons superfine sugar
- ⅓ cup cocoa powder (preferably Dutch processed)
- 1 egg white
- Pinch cream of tartar (optional)
- Preheat the oven to 225°F. Set aside two parchment-lined cookie sheets (Alisa's Note: I only needed one cookie sheet).
- In a medium-small bowl, whisk together the sugar and cocoa until they are a uniform color. Set the mixture aside.
- With a hand beater, stand mixer, or clean whisk, whip the egg white until it is very frothy and beginning to stiffen. (When using a hand or stand mixer to whip egg whites, start at a low speed and slowly raise the speed to medium. Do not use the higher speeds because egg whites whipped that way are less stable.) If desired, add a pinch of cream of tartar to help the egg white froth and stiffen. Once the egg white reaches the soft peak stage, slowly add the sugar/cocoa mixture while continuing to beat the egg white. The result should be a thick paste.
- Wet your hands slightly and form the batter into small coins about ¾-inch diameter. Place them on the parchment-lined cookie sheets and bake 1¼ to 1½ hours.
- Store the cookies in a tightly covered container.
Key Pantry Supplies: Chocolate Puffs
More Classic Cocoa-Rich Treats
Whoopie Pies (optionally vegan, nut-free & soy-free)
Chocolate Whipped Cream (vegan, gluten-free & allergy-friendly)
Cola Cake with Fudgy Frosting (vegan, optionally nut-free & soy-free)
18 Comments
Love simple ingredient recipes and these puffs look delicious!
I’m so behind! I have not seen the musical yet, but how trendy and fun is this recipe!
Those look amazing! I can’t believe it’s only a few ingredients. I am planning on trying these.
I know! I should have noted “just 3 ingredients” at the top as that is pretty cool!
This is such a cute book idea….so different than usual but so fun, especially for history buffs.
These look amazing! And so easy! I love that it’s naturally GF and DF!
I’m gonna have to get this book for my BFF, she has a bit of an obsession with Alexander Hamilton!
These look like they would have a very satisfying crunch. This cookbook sounds intriguing. History and food are such a great combination.
They are seriously crunchy! It’s a surprise at first, but then they are a bit addicting.
I love cookbooks! This would be a great addition to my collection. Those chocolate puffs deserve a special place on the desert table.
Oh my gosh, yum! These sound amazing!!
Oh my gosh! My kids and I love Hamilton; what a great cookbook idea!
Sounds like a fun gift 🙂
Those sound so easy to make. Also love that they have so few ingredients. I have all those ingredients in my cupboard…. hmm
Definitely great for nut and seed allergies 🙂
I am totally craving these chocolate puffs now! This cookbook would make such a great idea for a history and foodie lover.
Agreed!
such a super fun idea for a cookbook! these puffs sound so very good – I wonder if they’d work with aquafaba…
As I was writing up the Special Diet Notes, I was wondering that, too! The aquafaba takes longer to whip, but it probably would work.