Mexican Chocolate Meringues

I believe this recipe comes from a  Cooking Light magazine.   I cannot date the magazine but I have been making these cookies, particularly around Christmas, for well over ten years.  A favoorite holiday dessert is this cookie paired with an orange or clementine and, more recently also and an Almond Macaroon (photo below). BUT this is one of the trickiest recipes in my repertoire. Before making, see notes at the end of the recipe. 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Bake:

1cup slivered almonds

stirring occasionally for 5-10 minutes until lightly toasted.

Beat on low speed until frothy then whip on high speed until firm but still moist peaks form. DO NOT OVERBEAT!**

4 large egg whites
1 t vanilla
1/2 t almond extract
1/4 t cream of tartar

Gradually add:

1/3 c sugar

Sift and then fold into the whipped egg white mixture:

2/3 c sugar
5 T Dutch-process cocoa powder* 
3 T cornstarch
1 1/2 t cinnamon

Then add and fold in:

1/2 cup of the toasted slivered almonds***


Drop meringues onto wax paper on a cookie sheet. REDUCE oven heat to 200 degrees F; bake one hour or until meringues sound hollow when tapped on bottom [I often cook 1 1/2 hours]. Turn off oven and let meringues sit an additional hour in the warm oven.

Dip cool meringues in melted
bittersweet chocolate chips (about 1 1/2 ounces) [I use 365 Dark Chocolate Baking Chunks]
then toasted almonds.

Cool cookies with chocolate/nuts on top.

* I have been using (and still use) Ghiradelli Natural Unsweetened Cocoa, but recently discovered that there is a difference between this and "Dutched" or alkalized cocoa. This dutching process raises the pH to a neutral 7 or alkaline 8 versus that of cocoa which is distinctly acid with a pH around 5. "The result is a cocoa powder with a milder flavor and darker color." This discussion in more detail can be found in Harold McGee's On Food and Cooking pages 705-706.

** December 2021 I learned not to overbeat the hard way. I beat until stiff dry peaks formed. The mixture was too stiff to accept the cocoa and sugar I tried to fold in and resulted in a watery mix (like the last cookie or two in a normal batch). In On Food and Cooking Harold McGee explains the reason, "Glossy Soft Peaks and Stiff Peaks  At the "soft peak" stage, when glossy foam edges retain some shape but droop, and when the foam doesn't yet cling to the bowl, the somewhat coarse bubbles are still lubricated by plenty of liquid, which would quickly drain to the bottom of the bowl. At the 'stiff peak' stage where the foam is still glossy but now retains a well-defined edge and clings to the bowl, the foam is approaching 90% air, and the egg liquid has spread so thin that the protein webs in the adjacent bubble walls begin to catch on each other and the bowl surface. There's just enough lubrication left for the foam to be creamy and easily mixed with other ingredients." (page 106).

December 2024 Subsequently, I have beaten less but perhaps this year (photo left) not enough. The cookies were not as puffy as some years (and there was a fair amount of runny batter in the bottom of the mixing bowl. I've yet - in all these years - had a batch where all the cookies held a nice shape but there were more "flat" ones than usual. The flat ones were still tasty broken up and topped with ice cream then drizzeled chocolate and/or sliced toasted almonds.

*** TIME SAVERS My food processor slicing blades either slice the almonds too thin and leave a lot of almond dust or don't slice them enough leaving almost whole almonds. This year I put the almonds in a bag and pounded them with an ice cream scoop (could also use a wooden mallet) until they were the desired size. Worked well (see photo directly above) and no clean up! Also (different bag than photo) I used roasted and unsalted almonds so I could skip the toasting process.

Reviewed 5/14/17

Revised 1/21/24

Revised 12/29/22 Photo and notes

Revised 1/5/2025 Photo of cookies

Revised 1/18/2025 Photo and Time Savers note