189 – Meringues with Walnuts (Gluten Free Cookies) Recipe

Ingredients :

• 4 egg whites (from large eggs)
• 1 cup granulated white sugar (200 grams)
• A pinch of salt
• 1/4 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 10.5 oz (300 grams) chopped raw walnuts

Directions :

1- First, using a sharp knife, chop 10.5 oz (which is 300 grams) of raw walnuts, into small pieces.
2- Meringue is made of egg whites. For this recipe, you will need 4 large eggs. Carefully separate the egg whites from the egg yolks. It is very important that the egg whites have NO traces of egg yolks, otherwise, we wont be able to beat them into a fluffy white mixture.
3- Place the egg whites in the stand mixer bowl, make sure that the bowl is clean and dry. Add a pinch of salt and ¼ teaspoon of fresh lemon juice. Start beating the egg whites at low speed for 2 minutes, until they become foamy.
4- Increase the speed of the beater to medium and add 1 cup of granulated white sugar, which is around 200 grams, all at once. Now, increase the speed to high, beat for a minute, then increase the speed to maximum and beat the egg whites for 5 minutes or so until you get white firm peaks.
5- Look how the meringue is dense and beautiful – it does not fall from the beater even when I lift it. Don’t worry about overbeating the egg whites, because the acidity of the lemon juice we added at the beginning helps keeping the meringue smooth even if we overbeat it.
6- You can flavor the meringue with 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract or the flavoring of your choice. You can also add a few drops of food coloring, but I just prefer to keep it white. Beat for 30 seconds to incorporate the vanilla.
7- Preheat your oven to 220 F degrees, which is 105 C degrees.
The last step is to incorporate the chopped walnuts into the egg whites. Using a spatula, gently mix the two together.
8- And that’s it. Prepare a baking pan covered with parchment paper, and using 2 large spoons to put small mounds of the batter on the paper.
9- Reduce your oven to 200 F degrees, which is 94 C degrees and bake the meringue for around one hour. Make sure to rotate the pan at mid-time for the meringues to cook evenly.
10- Once done, the meringues should be dry, and you can easily remove them from the parchment paper.
11- When still hot, the meringues are chewy and soft, like this one. Actually, let me taste it for you…. Hmmmm
12- When they cool down, the meringues will become crunchy form the outside and chewy form the inside.
Bonne appétit!