Instructions: In German, a Broetchen is a little bread; therefore, these are little hazelnut breads. Granma rarely made these because she could never chop the nuts finely enough, she said. However, with a food processor, this is a very easy recipe. The only problem I had was not knowing the shape of the cookies to make. The first time, I, for an unknown reason, decided they should be bar cookies. It became a delicious failure.

Save seven of the yolks for Ausstecherle, and the remaining yolk for glazing the Ausstecherle.

Grind the hazelnuts in a food processor until very finely chopped. This will take a minute or minute and a half for each bowlful. If you wish, leave about 1/4 cup of nuts unground to use as decorations.

In a large (4 1/2 qt) bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff. Slowly add the sugar while continuing to beat. Once the sugar is added, beat until stiff peaks form and the mixture is glossy (or until a spoon can stand in the mixture).

Fold in nuts. If you reserved nuts for decoration, sprinkle them on the drops before baking.

Drop spoonfuls onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees 25 to 30 minutes or until light brown. Essentially, the cookies will dry out.

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