Chocolate Meringue Cookies
My oldest brother and I went to the same college, and I remember watching him eat like a typical college guy – for example, every week McDonald’s ran a “10 cent Tuesday” special, when you could get a plain hamburger 10 cents. So my brother would order 10, but pile the “meat” onto just two buns, so that he could have two 5-patty massive hamburgers. Disgusting, right?
So, no surprise, after a few years of eating like this, he started to marshmallow out – just got husky in all directions. After a bad breakup and ready for a change, he decided to lose weight. He did this in two very focused ways: 1) he started going to the gym, and 2) he started eating fat-free.
The decision about the gym he handled in a reasonable way – going 4-5 times a week for an hour or so – but similar to how he ate before, he continued to eat massive quantities of food, just all fat free now. For example, an afternoon snack would be an entire box of corn pops cereal and a gallon of fat-free milk. Again, disgusting, but this time, also irritatingly effective. The guy lost a ton of weight (50 or 60 lbs.) and looked fantastic. Ah, to be 20 again!
As an aside, this was a while back, he’s grown into a perfectly reasonable adult. But to this day, every make something fat-free (which doesn’t happen all that often), I think of him.
And so we have here some very tasty, sweet, chocolatey, super quick, easy, and satisfying cookies. Important note: these are not health food, and if you’re over the age of 22, they probably shouldn’t be part of your weight loss plan. But if you’re craving something a little treat, these cookies are for you!
Here’s the recipe:
Chocolate Meringue Cookies
3 egg whites
1/8 teaspoon cream of Tartar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon cocoa powder, sifted
Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
In the bowl of a standing mixture, combine egg whites, tartar, and vanilla. Beat on high until soft peaks form, about 3-5 minutes. Slowly add in the sugar, and continue beating until stiff peaks form and the mixture is glossy. Fold in cocoa powder until fully incorporated.
These cookies will bake exactly how you put them out on the pan. I like to pipe mine, but you can also use a spoon or small cookie scoop. Bake for 30-35 minutes until dry to the touch.
February 22, 2015
This entry was posted in chocolate, cookies, quick and easy and tagged dessert, egg whites, fat-free.
