Passover Meringoons (Nutty Macaroons!)

Meringue meets Macaroon

for Passover

“Meringoons”

Blue Heron Kitchen

Hazelnut Meringoons

The original recipe, from Joan Nathan’s “Jewish Cooking in America”, is called “Mississippi Praline Macaroons”. Passover begins at sundown tomorrow; and there’s no time to research what makes a macaroon a macaroon. These are not ones you’ll find at Ladurée, nor are they anything like the previous published recipes.

They’re nutty and delicious. And they’re dairy-free.

I add cream of tartar, but you don’t have to. Those who are not ‘strict’ during this holiday use it. But those who adhere to the rules, don’t. So, don’t use it. But be very careful that no trace of egg yolk gets into your egg white. Do make sure that your bowl and beater are both without a trace of fat or oil. If there’s a speck of fat, you won’t achieve lift-off.

Ingredients:

3  size ‘large” egg whites (room temperature)

1 cup dark brown sugar (be sure it’s fresh and moist and lump-free)

1 cup roughly chopped hazelnuts OR pecans OR nuts that you adore, plus additional whole or half nuts (2 ½ dozen) for the tops of each cookie

(truc: toast them first to release oils. Hazelnuts: you’ll need to toast and then rub them in a tea towel to remove the outer skins.)

pinch of salt

¼ tsp. cream of tartar (optional)

Procedure:

Preheat the oven to 275º F. and line three baking sheets with parchment paper.

1.     Beat egg whites until they form soft peaks. Add pinch of salt and, if using, cream of tartar. 

2.     Continue beating, gradually adding the dark brown sugar, one teaspoon at a time, until the whites are very stiff. (They will look shiny)

3.     Fold in the chopped nuts by hand.

4.     Using a teaspoon, or a 1 ½ inch round scoop, drop the batter with about and inch between each cookie. Press each cookie down, flattening it (slightly … don’t smash it all the way down!), and then place a whole hazelnut or a half a pecan on the top of each cookie.

5.     Bake in preheated 275º F. oven for about 20-30 minutes, depending on size of cookies, how much you’ve flattened them, and how accurate your oven temperature is. The cookies should be slightly firm but still shiny. They will firm up as they cool. Be careful they don’t get brown or really dried. This will render them, as my Grandpa would have said, “boint”.

Hope you find the Afikomen!

Peace, love and zei gezunt!!

jane

Yield: approximately 2 ½ dozen (parve!)