Meringue Three Ways -- Part One -- Forgotten Cookies

     Like pie crusts, I know that many of you may think of meringue as flat out just too difficult or too time consuming to mess with.  Just like you, I walk past those meringue pies in grocery store bakeries and am tempted to pick one up.  On the rare occasion when one does land in my cart, I usually remember that the highly manufactured stuff just isn't worth the calories and I end up putting the pie back.  Homemade meringue products, however, are an entirely different story.  They are totally worth the calories!

   In an attempt to encourage all of you to experiment with meringue, I want to share three different uses of meringue in recipes of varying degrees of difficulty.  The basic one is so basic and so, so yummy that I feel certain you will try it soon!  The moderately challenging one is great for taking to social events where you want to wow your family and friends a little with an uncommon dessert, and the last one, well, the last one is . . . a homemade lemon meringue pie!

  In all three recipes, you will need to remember some basics about meringue:
     1.  Your egg whites must be at room temperature.  Just trust me on this one.
     2.  Your egg whites must be clean.  Don't let any of that yolk sneak in!
     3.  Your bowl must be super clean and dry.
     4.  Meringue takes a little while to whip up nicely.  Don't rush it.

  So let's start with what I consider to be a fairly simple recipe for Forgotten Cookies.  When I was little, I had a friend whose mother used to make these.  My mom loved them and still fondly remembers these cookies.  Somehow, she never got the recipe from this woman.  While I was in college, my friend Carol, author of the blog CafeCarol.com shared with me a recipe for Bake While You Sleep Cookies that I knew had to be the same cookies my mom had loved.  Even if it is not exactly the same recipe, I have come to treasure this recipe typed up on a little red piece of paper.

    The beauty of this recipe is that you mix them the night before, pop them in the oven, turn the oven off, and in the morning you have little meringue cookies fresh out of your oven.  One of my favorite parts about making these is how divine your house smells when you wake up!

Forgotten (or Bake While You Sleep) Cookies

2 egg whites
1 c. very finely chopped nuts (I prefer pecans in these)
pinch of salt
2/3 c. sugar
1 c. miniature chocolate chips (my favorite ones to use are the Guittard semisweet mini chips from King Arthur Flour.  These are PERFECT for these cookies and have lots of other uses as well)
1 tsp. vanilla

  Begin by lining cookie sheets with parchment paper.  I LOVE parchment paper and actually do not know how to bake without it at all.  I never, ever grease a pan for cookies or brownies.  I can't remember the last time I had any baked good stick on these.  The sheets can be reused for your whole batch of cookies.  I prefer to use these from If You Care mainly because I can buy them in a local store.

 They are already cut in sheets and make the whole baking process so much easier.  King Arthur Flour also carries half sheet parchment sheets on their website as well.

 If you don't have parchment paper, line the sheets with foil and spray them with non-stick cooking spray.  Next time you make these, though, go ahead and buy the parchment.  You will thank me, I promise.

 While you prepare the cookie batter, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

 Beat your egg whites  on medium- low with a mixer (a standing one is better for this job if you have one) until they begin to look foamy.  Slowly add the sugar and then turn the mixer on medium high.  Continue to beat the egg whites until they are stiff.  This will likely take quite a few minutes.   Just one reason why the investment in a standing mixer is so worth it!

  Once the egg white mixture is very thick and stiff, turn the mixer to low and add the salt, nuts, chips and vanilla just until mixed in.

  Drop the batter by teaspoons on to the parchment lined sheets.  You can place the cookies fairly close together because they won't spread much at all.

  Place cookie sheets in oven and TURN THE OVEN OFF immediately!  This is very, very important!  Don't forget!  I have forgotten before.  Don't forget!  The whole point is to forget about the cookies, NOT TO FORGET TO TURN THE OVEN OFF!

  Now, this is an important step.  Go to sleep.  Just go to sleep.  When you wake up, you will have beautiful meringue cookies and you will be tempted to give in to your children's pleas for cookies for breakfast because the whole house smells so good.  Often, I just give in.