Gluten Free Chocolate Pecan Meringues

by

Cindy

I felt like a failure since my from scratch gluten free cake turned out badly, so I decided to make another gluten free recipe.  I had checked out several gluten free cookbooks from the library and was scanning through them when I saw this recipe.  It reminded me of a cookie that my friend's mom used to make when we were in grade school.  My friend's name was Ellen Hamrick, and I remember that I loved going over to her house.  I loved these cookies because I had never had anything like them.  She made vanilla meringue cookies with chocolate chips.  I've made them on occasion but they never seemed to taste as good as Ellen's mom's cookies.  This recipe is a little different but it has normal ingredients and is naturally gluten free.  They are light, crunchy, and just a fun cookie.  I looked up the Nestle Semi-sweet Chocolate Chips just to make sure that they were gluten free and found that there were.  Tones vanilla is also gluten free.  Another good thing about this recipe is that it's very low in fat, so there should be less guilt about eating these. lol.

5 egg whites (eggs are easier to separate when cold and egg whites make more

volume when room temperature, so let them set out for a little while after separating)

1/2 t cream of tartar

1/4 t salt

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1 t vanilla extract

1 cup semisweet chocolate or chocolate chips

1 T butter or margarine

2 T milk

1/2 c toasted pecans, chopped finely

Preheat oven to 250 degree.  Beat egg whites with a mixer on high speed until foamy.  Add the cream of tartar and salt, beating until soft peaks form.  Gradually add sugars, beating until stiff peaks form.  Add vanilla: beat one minute. 

Cover baking sheets with parchment paper.  Spoon  mounds on to sheet, or you can use a pastry sack and pipe them out or cut the tip off the corner of a Ziploc to use as a piping tool - this makes it much easier and neater.  The don't have to be far apart because they will not spread during baking.  Bake for 1 hour or until dry to touch, rotating pan halfway through cooking.  Meringues will be done when surface is dry and meringues can be removed from paper without sticking.  Turn the oven off and let cookies cool for an hour in the oven. To make the chocolate dipping sauce, microwave the chocolate, butter, and milk in 30 second increments until melted.  I used a one cup glass measuring cup because it was deep and I could dip the cookies in it.  After you dip one side of the cookie, roll it in the chopped nuts.  Keep in an airtight container.

adapted from

The Cooking Light Gluten Free Cookbook