leftover egg whites usually mean a skinny omelette, but I was craving something completely opposite that embodiment of health. and so I settled on these cookies that had only five ingredients.
basically a variant on a chocolate meringue, these are made of powdered sugar, cocoa and egg whites with a dash of vanilla and salt. very easy to mix and do up, most of the complexity lies in gauging how long they need to spend in the oven. if there’s anything I don’t like about this recipe, it’s the fact that even Heidi says that you will find out after a batch or two how much time you need for them – I rather prefer the standard, almost scientific, outlook baking holds.
but onward and forward!
- sift 335g powdered sugar with 45g regular cocoa and 1/3 table salt. stir in 3 egg whites with 2 teaspoons of good vanilla extract and mix until glossy and bubbly.
- spoon onto your parchment-lined baking sheets, very far apart from each other. 5 cookies each sheet worked for me, and I used 50g of batter per cookie. bake at 160C for 17-20 minutes, until the tops are cracked and glossy.
I have a few notes: I didn’t add walnuts because I didn’t have them, and from what I have eaten, they would add some texture and bitterness to the meringue. Also, I baked them for her recommendation of 15 minutes, and they were underbaked and an abomination to remove from the parchment so I returned them straight on a rack into the oven for another 5 minutes.
try these though! beyond that chocolatey taste, they bring the satisfaction of baking – if you too, like me, find an immense pleasure from the simplicity of mixing up batter – with only 5 ingredients you usually have on hand.
update: it’s been 2 days now and I’ve been nibbling on the cookies as I head to the kitchen, and my favourite part is munching on the center of the cookie where it is truly fudgy. the sides are a bit thin and sticky – not too bad but the middle’s defo the best.
USE THE BEST VANILLA you have for this cookie – in a monotonous landscape of cocoa, the vanilla stands out.
andmorefood 