I had forgotten about this recipe! I used to make these back in my student days when I knew I should bring a treat to visit. The beauty of these cookies is the work is in preparation – the cooking you get to walk away from! Of course there have been a few times when I forgot the cookies the next morning. The people sharing my house took care of them for me…
Ingredients
2 egg whites
OPTIONAL: 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar (Cream of tartar helps “stabilize” the egg whites when beaten so they keep their froth. It is not required.)
2/3 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2/3 cup small semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup finely chopped pecans
METHOD
1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
2) Using a mixer beat the eggs whites. If you are using cream of tartar add when eggs are frothy and bubbly. Beat eggs until just softly forming peaks.
3) Slowly add the sugar. When all the sugar has been added beat on high for 5 more minutes to create stiff shiny peaks of meringue!
4) Using a spatula fold in the vanilla, chocolate chips and pecans until evenly mixed
5) On a non-stick cookie sheet (use parchment paper on cookie sheet of you have it) drop by the teaspoon full evenly on sheet. You can use tablespoon for bigger cookies but they may not set inside.
6) TURN OFF OVEN
7) Leave cookies in oven overnight (or at least 8 hours)
Makes about 3 dozen cookies (depends on how big you make each cookie!)
OPTIONS
No Cream of Tartar and the egg whites won’t peak for you?
Rule one is never add salt to egg whites. If you did then just start over!
Since Cream of Tartar is essentially an acid – you can use 1/2 teaspoon of lemon juice for each egg. It will give the eggs a bit of a lemony flavour so your meringue will be fluffy with a hint of lemon!