Chocolate Walnut Meringues

Hard to spell, but sweet to eat.

Meringues!

We went to Costco the other day with the plans of stocking our freezer and pantry once again and I had planned on buying bulk baking supplies since I always run out.

Case of evaporated milk, case of condensed milk, ridiculous amounts of powdered and brown sugar, 10 cup bag of walnuts, etc. etc.

What I did not buy, however, was that baking staple to end all baking staples.

Flour.

They only had 25 lb restaurant/hotel bags of flour, and I certainly do not have the space in my one bedroom apartment for that.

I decided to buy flour at Publix when we would go there later in the day to buy more reasonable quantities of items we don't use as much, but still need.

Unfortunately, we didn't end up going to Publix.

That day. Or the next. Or the next.

I was getting ye olde baking itch again, so I looked up flourless desserts - which ended up turning into looking at lists of Passover desserts.

Hey, I'd love to be Jewish.

Let's get into the Passover spirit 6 months early and make some Chocolate Walnut Meringues!

Delicious little puffs of joy, and easy peasy in the ingredient department. My kind of recipe. :)

Ingredients:

2 Egg Whites

1/4 teaspoon Salt

1/8 teaspoon Cream of Tartar

3/4 cup Sugar

6 ounces Chocolate Chips

1/4 cup Chopped Walnuts

Directions:

If you're like me with your bulk bag of walnuts, then your first task is chopping said nuts.

I use my IKEA chopper, which is very similar to the infamous Slap-Chop.

It is indispensable and so useful for chopping garlic (much better than my garlic press), nuts, mincing vegetables - the list goes on and on.

Now, to the fun part.

Beating the eggs.

Beat the eggs until foamy.

Then add in salt and cream of tartar.

Beat until eggs form soft peaks.

Add in sugar.

Beat until stiff.

Fold in chocolate chips and chopped walnuts.

Spoon onto parchment paper-covered cookie sheets. Or... just plop them onto naked cookie sheets. I wasn't sure how oil would effect the meringues, so I just did mine al fresco and immediately soaked them and threw them in the dishwasher once the cookies were done cooling.

Bake!

The recipe I used had two sets of baking instructions, depending on your texture preference, but mostly on your patience.

The first way to bake - the way I chose - is to bake at 300 degrees F for 25 minutes.

The alternate way is to bake at 200 degrees F for 1 1/2 - 2 hours.

If you choose the higher temperature/lower baking time, then your meringues will be almost hollow and have a crisper texture.

If you choose the lower temperature/longer baking, then your meringues will be softer and fluffy.

It's up to you!

Either way, take your meringues out when they become slightly golden, especially on the bottom.

There you have it! Chocolate Walnut Meringues!

These are definitely not "take to work" cookies, at least not if you chose the first baking version.

Mine turned out very delicate and, like the dreaded Alfajores, crack under pressure.

They are, however, boyfriend approved!

Just let them cool completely before biting into them so that you don't bite into what is basically a hollow egg chamber made expressly for holding molten chocolate chips.

Once cooled, the texture changes completely and they're quite the tasty treat.

And don't worry! These light, hollow meringues still pack a punch.

You won't have to eat an entire batch to feel satisfied - which, to be honest, I was worried about happening.

They're insanely rich from the total saturation of chocolate chips, so just a couple will be fine.

Though I can't make any guarantees that your boyfriend won't go sneaking off into the kitchen throughout the night to get more, because mine certainly did. ;)

Bon appétit,

Gabriella