Nutty Meringue Cookies Recipes

MERINGUE COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C). To prevent burning you can bake on an air cushion baking sheet or put parchment paper on a regular cookie sheet.
• Beat egg whites, salt, cream of tartar, and vanilla until very firm. Gradually add sugar and mix. Fold in chocolate chips.
• Drop by teaspoonfuls on pan. Bake 300 degrees for 25 minutes. They should only be lightly browned.

NUTTY MERINGUE COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 225 degrees F.
• In a large bowl, using a hand beater, beat the egg whites, cream of tartar, salt and vanilla until soft peaks form. Gradually add the sugar and beat until the sugar dissolves and stiff peaks form, about 3 minutes. Gently fold in the chopped nuts.
• Drop the batter onto silicone mats or parchment lined baking sheets (will need 2) with a teaspoon, spacing at least 2 inches apart. Bake until the meringues are dried through, about 2 to 2 1/2 hours. The cookies will remove easily from the parchment or silicone mat when ready.
• Cook's Note: Do not bake on humid days. Dye these any color to suit a seasonal event. For orange cookies, add 5 drops of food coloring.

NUTTY SANDWICH COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment. Pulse the nuts, confectioners' sugar and granulated sugar in a food processor until finely ground. Add the flour, cinnamon and salt and pulse until combined. Add the butter and pulse to form a soft dough.
• Roll heaping teaspoonfuls of dough into balls and arrange 1 1/2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. Lightly flatten the balls with your fingers. Sprinkle with coarse, raw, sanding or brown sugar. Press a whole nut into the top of some of the cookies or sprinkle with chopped nuts.
• Bake the cookies until lightly golden, about 15 minutes. Let cool 3 minutes on the baking sheets, then transfer to racks to cool completely. Spread your choice of filling on the flat side of a cookie; sandwich with another cookie. Repeat with the remaining cookies.

DATE-NUT MERINGUES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 200°F.
• In a large bowl of an electric mixer, beat egg whites until foamy. With the mixer on high speed, beat in salt; then gradually add sugar, about a tableshppon at a time, beating well after each addition, until whites fold stiff, glossy peaks.
• Add vanilla and beat for 1 minute. Fold in dates and walnuts.
• Drop meringue mixture by rounded teaspoonfulls onto well-greased cooking sheets, spacing cookies about 1 inch apart. Bake in a 200°F oven for 1 hour or until outside is dry and set; cookies should not turn brown.
• Let cool on baking sheets for about 5 minutes, then transfer to racks and let cool completely. Store airtight.

CHOCOLATE CHIP MERINGUE COOKIES

Steps:

• Place egg whites in a large bowl; let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. Beat egg whites until foamy. Add cream of tartar and salt; beat until soft peaks form. Gradually add sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating on high speed until stiff peaks form, about 6 minutes. Beat in cocoa. Fold in chocolate chips and nuts if desired., Cut a small hole in the corner of a pastry or plastic bag; insert # 806 round pastry tip. Fill the bag with meringue. Pipe 1-1/2-in. hearts 2 in. apart onto lightly greased baking sheets. Bake at 300° for 20-25 minutes or until firm to the touch. Remove to wire racks to cool. Store in an airtight container.

DATE A NUT MERINGUE COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F Grease a cookie sheet.
• Beat the egg whites in a large bowl on medium speed, till soft peak stage.
• Add the sugar gradually. beat till glossy stiff peaks form.
• Carefully fold in cardamom, dates and nuts.
• Drop mixture by the tablespoon onto cookie sheet.
• Bake for 10 minutes.

WALNUT MERINGUE COOKIES

Steps:

• Grind walnuts (medium grind--not as fine as flour but not as coarse as whole sesame seeds). Purists say that a nut grinder needs to be used, but for this recipe, I find that a food processor works fine. Whip egg whites. (Alternatively, if you're in a great hurry, you don't even need to bother whipping the egg whites, in which case the cookie will be flat and smooth and chewier, and will need a bit less time to bake.) Thoroughly fold in ground nuts and sugar. Place heaping spoonfuls of mixture on 11" by 18" cookie sheet (parchment paper lined, or use a Teflon-coated one that has been lightly buttered and floured, as the batter is sticky). Space them at least 1 inch apart, as they spread when baking. There will be 24 cookies. (You can also make 48 small cookies, in which case cut the baking time about in half.) Bake in pre-heated 350F oven until golden (perhaps 20 minutes). They will still look a bit moist and raw inside-do not be dismayed! (If you bake them until they look baked inside, they will be dry and hard.) Cool 10 to 15 minutes, and remove from baking sheet. Cool another 10 to 15 minutes, then store in air-tight container, at room temperature. (If you're cautious about egg whites, store cookies in fridge but let come to room temperature before eating.) Will keep 7 to 10 days perfectly; also freeze well. They can be eaten when still warm, or when cool.