Mexican Meringue Cookies

Recipe Ingredients

1/2 cup	46g / 1.6oz	Slivered almonds
1 cup	198g / 7oz	Sugar
5 tablespoons	75ml	Dutch-process cocoa powder
3 tablespoons	45ml	Cornstarch
1 1/2 teaspoons	7.5ml	Ground cinnamon
4 teaspoons	20ml	Egg whites (large)
1/4 teaspoon	1.3ml	Cream of tartar
1 teaspoon	5ml	Pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon	1.3ml	Pure almond extract
1 1/2 oz	42g	Semisweet or bittersweet chocolate - (not unsweetened)

Recipe Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spread almonds in a pie pan and bake for 5 to 10 minutes, or until lightly toasted. Set aside to cool. Reduce the oven temperature to 200 degrees. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper; set aside.

In a food processor, pulse the toasted almonds with 1/3 cup of the sugar until finely chopped. Add cocoa, cornstarch, and cinnamon and pulse just until mixed. In a large mixing bowl, beat egg whites with an electric mixer on low speed just until frothy. Add cream of tartar, increase the mixer speed to medium and beat until soft peaks form. Gradually add the remaining 2/3 cup sugar, 2 tablespoons at a time, beating until the whites form firm but still moist peeks. Add vanilla and almond extracts and beat just until blended. In 2 additions, gently fold the cocoa mixture into the beaten whites just until blended. (A few streaks of white may remain.)

Drop heaping teaspoonfuls of the batter, 1 inch apart, onto the prepared baking sheets, or pipe the batter through a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch plain tip. Bake, using both oven racks, for 1 1/2 hours, alternating the positions of the pans halfway through the baking time. Turn off the oven and let the meringues cool in the oven for 1 hour, then peel them off the parchment paper.

Melt chocolate in a small bowl set over a pan of almost simmering water or in the microwave. Use a small pastry brush to apply a thin coating of chocolate to the flat side of the meringues. Let the meringues stand, chocolate-side up, until the chocolate has set. (Store the cookies in an airtight container for up to 5 days.)

This recipe yields 4 dozen cookies.

Content per Cookie:

calories .. 30 protein .. 1.0 g total fat .. 1.0 g

carbohydrates .. 5 g sodium .. 5 mg cholesterol .. 0 mg

Source:
THE EATING WELL DESSERT COOKBOOK by EW Communications (c) 1996 - Eating Well Books, Charlotte, VT - 191 pages - $15.95 - As reprinted in the Mar/Apr, 1997 issue of Cookbook Digest

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