Maple Walnut Meringue Cookies

I decided I'd experiment more with meringue nut cookie recipe. Since I had some maple sugar laying around, I decided to use them with some walnuts. The outcome was pretty good, but I think I prefer the version with hazlenuts better. Still delicious though.

INGREDIENTS

3 large egg whites at room temperature
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 cup maple sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup walnuts

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees.
2. Lightly butter and barely flour parchment paper and place it on baking sheets.
3. Beat egg whites until foamy.
4. Add salt and cream of tartar then beat until stiff.
5. Stir in sugars gradually while still beating.
6. Fold in nuts carefully.
7. Drop batter onto cookie sheets. These don't spread much, so it can be fairly close.
8. Bake for 1 to 1 1/4 hours or until slightly browned.
9. Allow to cool then carefully peel them off.

Vanilla Crescents

This recipe also came from Country Desserts by Lee Bailey. These were very brittle and easily broken, so the handling was a bit difficult. Making them was a breeze though, other than the part where you attempt to shape them like crescents. The taste was pretty good, but nothing terribly special. Perhaps I should've used more vanilla. I bought expensive Madagascar vanilla beans, so I think I was a bit cheap with them.

INGREDIENTS

1/4 cup sugar plus 2 cups for coating
1 vanilla bean, crushed in chunks
1/2 cup shelled walnuts
2 sticks butter, softened
2 1/3 cups sifted flour

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Place sugar and vanilla bean in a food processor. Pulse off and on a few times until the beans are chopped. Add walnuts and process until finely chopped.
3. Add butter and flour and process, scraping down if necessary, until the dough is pliable.
4. Pinch off walnut-sized dough and shape into balls. Shape balls into small crescents. You can place them close since these don't spread.
5. Bake for 10 minutes then reduce temperature to 300 degrees. Bake for additional 10-15 minutes or until tan and dry. I ended up baking them about 30 minutes total as my oven's not exactly accurate.
6. Roll the hot cookies in sugar.

P.S My significant other's cousins loved these cookies.

Thick-and-gooey Chocolate Chip Cookies

Thought I'd give chocolate chip cookies one more try. I liked this recipe a lot better than the previous one. My significant other is usually not a cookie dough fan, but he loved the dough so much that he volunteered to clean the mixer as well as the bowl. He did say he thought they would have been perfect if they had had nuts in them. This recipe is from New York Times Sunday Magazine.

INGREDIENTS

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons salt
2 sticks butter, softened
1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3 cups chopped bittersweet chocolate

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
3. Sift together flour, baking soda and powder, and salt.
4. Cream butter and sugar until fluffy, about 3 minutes.
5. Add eggs, one at a time, then vanilla.
6. Fold in chocolate then dump the flour mixture. Mix well.
7. Chill the dough.
8. Roll 1/4 cup lumps into balls and place on the sheets. Flatten to 1/2-inch thick discs spaced 2 inches apart. These will spread a lot, so give them plenty of space.
9. Bake until the edges turn golden, about 14-19 minutes.

Meringue Nut Cookies

I baked three different kinds of cookies to give to my significant other's cousin's children, and this is the first one and probably the best. These turned out to be a huge success. Both my significant other and I loved them. Not to mention it's a very simple process though it does take a bit of patience to whip the egg whites stiff. The recipe comes from Country Desserts by Lee Bailey. Hazelnuts are easily replacable by any other kind of nuts. I think I'm gonna experiment with dehydrated strawberries next time. It's safe to say I've been converted. Homemade meringues rule.

INGREDIENTS

3 large egg whites at room temperature
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
3/4 cup sugar
2 cups hazelnuts

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees.
2. Lightly butter and barely flour parchment paper and place it on baking sheets.
3. Beat egg whites until foamy.
4. Add salt and cream of tartar then beat until stiff.
5. Stir in sugar gradually while still beating.
6. Fold in nuts carefully.
7. Drop batter onto cookie sheets. These don't spread much, so it can be fairly close.
8. Bake for 1 to 1 1/4 hours or until slightly browned.
9. Allow to cool then carefully peel them off.