Chocolate Chip Meringues

Woke up this morning and the barometer in my nose said it would be a good day to bake Chocolate Chip Meringues. (Dry and cold…great for egg whites, lousy for sinuses).
So.. I leaped out of bed and raced to the kitchen, where I whipped up some perfect Chocolate Chip Meringue cookies! hahahahahahaha

Truth be told… I got the day going as I usually do… feed people, send them out the door, clear some rubble, walk the dog…. and then I started baking. And the first round fell.
Sigh.
Before I even pulled them out of the oven, I had whipped up another batch of meringue… perfect this time… now, where were my piping tips? Someone “helped” me by putting them away in a mystery spot.
Sigh.
I used a plastic bag to pipe. It worked, but not the effect I wanted.

Went out to run errands…bought a new tip (fairly certain I NEEDED one anyway, and the kitchen supply department is my favorite place to shop)… then came home to make them AGAIN.

This time I got it right.
Crisp outside, bit chewy inside, sweet with just enough chocolate to make me swoon…

Not only are these cookies easy to make….they are LOW-FAT! No kidding. They are primarily egg whites and sugar. Now… you do add chocolate… but, it’s chopped small, so it hardly counts….

The trickiest part of these cookies is the whipping up of the egg whites. Be sure the eggs are fresh … or at least not the eggs you bought 3 weeks ago…. Separate them carefully, and be sure you have a clean mixing bowl. Egg yolk spells death for meringue, as does any fat residue (ewww… that sounds gross) that you might have in your bowl (no.. I’m not insinuating that you don’t wash your dishes well… just saying… sometimes a schmear of something gets left behind).

Superfine sugar is best for meringues… it dissolves nicely. I find it in the adult beverages aisle of our grocery store…why? don’t know…. If your store doesn’t carry superfine sugar…. stick regular sugar in the food processor. Don’t have a food processor? Use regular sugar, and go slow. If you dump heavy sugar onto light egg whites.. they fall.

You can use mini-chocolate chips, but if you don’t have them ( and I seldom do) you have to chop up regular sized ones. I used a food processor… but you can chop away with a knife on a cutting board.

You don’t have to pipe your cookies. I like the look of stars, but it certainly isn’t mandatory. You can just drop the meringue with a tablespoon. If you don’t have a piping bag, and you want to pipe? Put the meringue in a plastic gallon zipper bag, and clip a corner. Of course, if no one has put your tips away in a place of mystery… use the star tip to make your Chocolate Chip Meringues shine.

As usual, I have step-by-step photos below… and I’ve even thrown in photos of what happens when you goof…. (and how to rescue yourself)

Chocolate Chip Meringue Recipe

Makes 30 to 36 cookies

Prep Time: 10 -15 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour

Ingredients

2 Egg Whites

1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract

1/4 tsp Cream of Tartar

2/3 cup Superfine Sugar

23 cup Mini-Chocolate chips or chopped regular chocolate chips

Instructions

Preheat Oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit

Put parchment paper or a baking mat on a cookie sheet…. I was able to get all of the cookies on one sheet, they really don’t spread much.

Separate the Eggs…(quick tip- Bang the egg on the counter to crack it, then let the egg run through your fingers. If you bang on the edge of the bowl, you drive egg shell into the egg, and run the risk of rupturing the yolk, and fingers don’t generally have sharp edges)

Egg whites go into the mixing bowl of a stand mixer (egg yolks? make a custard or give the dog a treat). Using the Whisk attachment, whip them up at high speed. Add the Cream of Tartar and Vanilla Extract as it’s whirring away.

Bring the egg whites to SOFT PEAK- soft peak is where the egg white is fluffy and white, and when you lift the beater the white folds down. It will still look a bit bubbly-ish.

Now SLOWLY, with the mixer going at high speed, add the Superfine Sugar… add about a tablespoon at a time… no hurry….bring them to STIFF PEAK- stiff peak is when you pull the beater up, and the egg white stands up straight. It will look glossy.

Fold in the chocolate bits and crumbs- FOLD is where you run the spatula down the side of the bowl, and bring it up through the middle of the meringue… rotate the bowl 1/4 turn and repeat… and repeat… and repeat… until the chocolate is fully incorporated. You don’t want to just stir, you’ll flatten the egg white.

Put the Chocolate Meringue Mixture into a Piping Bag with a Star Tip… or put it in a zipper bag… or just go to the spoon drawer…

Pipe the “batter” onto the parchment paper.

Bake the Meringues at 300 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 minutes.

When they are done… let them cool on the baking sheet on the counter.

Eat.

Store in an airtight container.

Don’t even THINK about making these on a rainy day.

Step By Step Instructions with Photos

Whip Up Egg Whites to Soft Peak

Adding Cream of Tartar and Vanilla Extract as You Go

 Add Sugar And Whip to Stiff Peak

Should Look Like This…

 Chopped Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips

This gave me large and small bits… and chocolate dust

Add the Chocolate to the Meringue

Fold the Chocolate Into the Meringue

Careful, you don’t want to smoosh down the meringue

What? You ONLY Have 2 Hands??

Use a Bowl or Measuring Cup to Hold the Piping Bag While You Fill It

See… So Easy to Fill Like This…

At least until you get that extra arm issued to you

Pipe Star Shaped Blobs of Meringue Onto a Parchment Covered Sheet

You Can Put them Close Together

Ready For the Oven

Baked and Cooling

Yum… almost time to eat!

Ok, So you Don’t have a piping bag and tip?
Quickly add it to your Wish list…

For now you can use a plastic bag

If You Pipe with a Plastic Bag… Your Meringues Will Look Like This

Smooth sides, and maybe a peak

You Can Smooth Out the Peak With Your Finger

Don’t lick it…. You can damp it with water… or just use the back of a spoon

So Your Egg Whites Collapsed

If Your Egg Whites Never Go to Stiff Peak… DON’T Throw It Out!

Seriously… you can sort of salvage the situation. Take the flat meringue mess…. and pipe it out or spoon it out anyway. Bake the same 20 minutes, then eat… feed them to the kids… just enjoy.

They Aren’t Pretty, and they Certainly Aren’t Gift Worthy…

But They Taste SOOOO Good

What you will have is a cookie that has a crispy thin thin thin shell, and a gooey inside. My daughter LOVES these.

 Don’t Bake Meringues on a Rainy Day

Because baking meringues is as much about drying the “batter” as it is about baking it… bake these on a day of low humidity. Seriously… they will be sticky if you bake them on a rainy day.