Fancy French Meringues

I make these like my momma. She called them Forgotten cookies. Like meringues but we do it Texas style. Big, with chocolate and pecans added! And a great way to use up egg whites.

Yesterday I made pastry cream which requires 5 egg yolks. Thus, time to make meringues!
And today, I’m having meringues with my coffee! Mmmm.

You need
5 egg whites
1/8 tsp cream of tartar
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 c chopped pecans
1/2 c chocolate chips

Let the egg whites come to room temp. Then beat them with an electric mixer or beaters until very foamy. Add in your sugar a tbsp at a time until all added, then add the salt and the vanilla. Keep beating for 5-10 min. It takes awhile to dissolve the sugar and get it to whip up into stiff peaks. Don’t let it beat till the mixture looks dry.

Preheat the oven to 200 and prep a pan or two with parchment paper.
Fold in your pecans and chocolate.
Dollop onto the parchment. Leave a little space. They don’t grow so they can be close.
If you want them chewy inside you can make them giant 3-4” dollops. If you like them all crunchy leave them about 2” size.

Bake at 200 for 2 hours. Then turn off the oven - DONT OPEN IT! - and leave in for another hour.

Remove from the oven and let cool completely. Store in a sealed ziploc or plastic container and they’ll be good for weeks!