Nuggety nougaty bites

We're a house that loves meringues...whether they be straight up crispy, chewy meringues or slightly fluffy pavlovas or wonderfully tart and sweet lemon meringue pies, we'll take 'em! So naturally when I came across a recipe for cookies based on a meringue recipe, it was only a matter of time before I tried them. The original recipe is called Forgotten Cookies, and they are apparently an American Christmas cookie tradition. They are called Forgotten because you essentially turn the oven off once you've put them in and let them sit overnight...forgetting about them until morning. What a wonderful notion - that you get up to an oven full of crispy crumbly morsels without having done any slaving over a hot stove! I actually have altered this slightly from the original because I found they needed just a bit more drying out, so I give them an hour at 50degC before turning the oven off completely and leaving them to slowly do their thing.

The original recipes (and variations around the internet) seem to use pecans, but I had roasted almonds in the cupboard and couldn't be bothered walking to the shop, so almond chocolate forgotten cookies was what I made! Quite honestly, I like the almondy flavour so much that I think I'd stick to those nuts next time...and there will definitely be a next time for making these little gems! They taste almost nougat-like, and are just these wonderfully delicious chewy nuggets of meringue filled with chocolate chunks and bits of crunchy almonds.

Once Andrew and I have our own house and a permanent base and can start creating our own Christmas traditions (instead of having to go with whatever the family member we're visiting wants to do which is how our Christmasses thus far have been) these cookies will absolutely be a Christmas eve tradition. So much better than horrid Christmas mince meat pies, don't you think?!

Oh, and tomorrow I'll post a recipe for what I'm doing to use up the egg yolks, so tune in then!!

Forgotten Cookies

Ingredients

2 egg whites
pinch of salt
120g castor sugar
100 g chocolate chips or chunks
100g roughly chopped toasted almonds
1 tsp vanilla

Turn oven on to 180degC and line 2 oven trays with baking paper. Beat egg whites with salt until foamy. Gradually add in sugar and beat until meringue forms stiff peaks. Add vanilla, nuts and chocolate and beat once to combine.
Drop teaspoonfuls onto the trays then put in oven. Immediately turn oven down to 50degC for an hour, then turn oven off and leave cookies in there overnight, or for at least 3 hours (the longer the better - they get chewy/crispier with time).