Easiest Cookies, Part 1: Chocolate-Dipped Pecan Meringues
Ok, so I guess I’m on a baking kick. Its just that D and I have a few friends coming over to watch football tonight and tomorrow night, and I couldn’t help but bake some goodies to munch on during the game. I made both palmiers (recipe in part deux) and chocolate-dipped pecan meringues (recipe below). I am particularly fond of cookies that are easy, cheap, and can be made small, and these two recipes match all the criteria.
Not only do smaller cookies take less time to bake, they are also a wiser bet for satisfying your guests and making sure that your baking doesn’t go to waste (and frankly, your feelings don’t get hurt). Bigger cookies require the guest to contemplate the size of their appetite, normally an evaluation that takes place after a meal. If you want your baking to be put to good use (i.e. chomped and digested) then make those cookies smaller! Smaller cookies means more cookies to enjoy, and fewer people saying no to trying one. No one’s going to need to consult their diet commandments to eat one. All the pleasure in a couple fewer bites, that’s all. You can even feel good having seconds. And trust me, you’ll want more than one.
What I love about these cookies is not only that they’re easy and liked by all, but also that they have a certain adult quality about them. Its that almost-burnt flavor, that caramelized, brown sugar taste that deepens and balances the sweetness. They are crunchy, light, and even great without being dipped in chocolate, white or dark. Serve a few in a bowl with some raspberries, strawberries, and blueberries, add a little whipped cream or ice cream, and you have a more formal dessert. Whether you share them with friends while watching football or enjoy them crushed into ice cream, cuddled up with a good book, enjoy!
Chocolate-Dipped Pecan Meringues
Makes 25-30 1 1/2” cookies
1/2 cup pecans
2 egg whites
pinch salt
1/3 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/8 cup white chocolate chips
1/8 cup dark or milk chocolate chips (your choice)
Method:
1. Preheat oven to 385 degrees and lightly grease baking sheet, or better yet, use a silpat baking mat on top of the baking sheet.
2. Pulse pecans in a food processor (preferably a small one) until coarsely ground. Take care not to over pulse, or else oils will release and coarse texture will be lost.
3. Whip eggs whites with a pinch of salt until soft peaks form and add sugar slowly, while continuing to beat whites. Beat until stiff peaks form.
4. Immediately fold in pecans, taking care not to deflate the egg whites (the sugar does help to stabilize them, though).
5. Drop or pipe about a tablespoonful of batter onto baking sheet or mat, and leave 1” of room between cookies. Bake for 10 minutes, then turn oven down to 285 degrees. Bake for another 15-20 minutes until golden all over. Cookies will still be slightly soft to the touch, but they will harden as they cool out of the oven, yielding a crunchy texture.
6. While cookies cool, melt the chocolates in separate dishes in the microwave. Dip bottoms of the cookies in melted chocolate once completely cool and firm and place them on wax paper, then in the fridge, so the chocolate can harden.
Note: white chocolate-dipped cookies will not need to be refrigerated to harden, but the milk or dark chocolate-dipped ones probably will.
Enjoy!
-M : )
