Gather your mise en place; get together all of the equipment needed for the recipe and gather your ingredients.

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Spread the hazelnuts on a rimmed baking sheet and toast in the oven for 8 – 10 minutes, or until the skins begin to crack and loosen.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool until they can be handled (about 10 minutes). Rub them with a clean tea towel to mostly remove the skins.

Reduce the oven temperature to 300’F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a food processor, pulse the hazelnuts until the pieces are small, but not quite fine.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the whisk, whip the egg whites and salt on medium speed until foamy.

With the mixer running, gradually add the sugar in a steady stream, continuing to whisk until the mixture appears glossy and starts to thicken. Fold in the hazelnuts and vanilla

Transfer the mixture to a large pot. Cook over low heat, stirring continuously with a wooden spoon, until the mixture begins to dry out and clump somewhat, comes away from the sides of the pan, and begins to turn beige, about 10 minutes.

Remove the pot from the heat. Working quickly, use two spoons to place mounds of the batter on the lined baking sheet, spacing them 1 ½ inches apart.

Bake for 15 minutes until lightly browned. The cookie will feel a bit soft when pressed but will harden on the outside when cool.

Serve immediately or store in an aluminum cookie tin at room temperature for 2 weeks.