Forgotten Cookies
by Nigella. Featured in AT MY TABLEIntroduction
These little cookies — described by one friend as tasting like a cookie within a cookie — are really a mixture between a meringue and a cookie. Hence they've become known at home, where they're immensely popular, as Merookies, and are ideal with a cup of coffee after dinner.
They are called "forgotten" as, just like the Forgotten Pudding, they are not baked, but put in a hot oven, which you immediately turn off, leaving the cookies to bake in the fading residual heat overnight. I find it all too easy actually to forget them, and always put a post-it sticker on the oven to remind me they're in there, so I don't burn them to a cinder by preheating the oven to cook something else in it the next day.
For US cup measures, use the toggle at the top of the ingredients list.
These little cookies — described by one friend as tasting like a cookie within a cookie — are really a mixture between a meringue and a cookie. Hence they've become known at home, where they're immensely popular, as Merookies, and are ideal with a cup of coffee after dinner.
They are called "forgotten" as, just like the Forgotten Pudding, they are not baked, but put in a hot oven, which you immediately turn off, leaving the cookies to bake in the fading residual heat overnight. I find it all too easy actually to forget them, and always put a post-it sticker on the oven to remind me they're in there, so I don't burn them to a cinder by preheating the oven to cook something else in it the next day.
For US cup measures, use the toggle at the top of the ingredients list.
Ingredients
Makes: 12-14 merookies
- 2 large eggs (at room temperature, whites only)
- 1 pinch of fine sea salt
- 100 grams caster sugar
- 1 teaspoon cornflour
- 1 teaspoon cider vinegar or white wine vinegar
- ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom
- 75 grams mini chocolate chips
- 75 grams finely chopped pistachios
- 2 large eggs (at room temperature, whites only)
- 1 pinch of fine sea salt
- ½ cup superfine sugar
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar or white wine vinegar
- ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom
- ⅓ cup mini chocolate chips
- ½ cup finely chopped pistachios
Method
- Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C Fan/350°F. In a grease-free bowl, whisk together the egg whites and salt until you have soft peaks. Whisk in the sugar a little at a time until thick and gleaming.
- By hand, fold in the cornflour, vinegar and cardamom, then add the chocolate chips and most of the pistachios and very gently fold these in too.
- With a spoon, drop mounded blobs of the mixture, 4-5cm / 1½-2 inches in diameter, onto a large baking sheet lined with baking parchment. Sprinkle with the remaining pistachios.
- Put the cookies into the oven, shut the door and turn off the oven immediately. Let the cookies sit in the turned-off oven overnight.
- Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C Fan/350°F. In a grease-free bowl, whisk together the egg whites and salt until you have soft peaks. Whisk in the sugar a little at a time until thick and gleaming.
- By hand, fold in the cornstarch, vinegar and cardamom, then add the chocolate chips and most of the pistachios and very gently fold these in too.
- With a spoon, drop mounded blobs of the mixture, 4-5cm / 1½-2 inches in diameter, onto a large baking sheet lined with baking parchment. Sprinkle with the remaining pistachios.
- Put the cookies into the oven, shut the door and turn off the oven immediately. Let the cookies sit in the turned-off oven overnight.
Additional Information
MAKE AHEAD/STORE:
Best eaten within 24 hours but can keep up to 5 days. Store in airtight containers, but don't put too many in each container as they crush easily. The cookies will soften as they are stored, more quickly in humid conditions.
FREEZE:
Can also be frozen in rigid airtight containers, with layers of baking parchment in between the cookies, for up to 1 month. To defrost, transfer cookies to a plate and leave at room temperature for 30-60 minutes, then eat as soon as possible, as they often fairly quickly once defrosted.
MAKE AHEAD/STORE:
Best eaten within 24 hours but can keep up to 5 days. Store in airtight containers, but don't put too many in each container as they crush easily. The cookies will soften as they are stored, more quickly in humid conditions.
FREEZE:
Can also be frozen in rigid airtight containers, with layers of baking parchment in between the cookies, for up to 1 month. To defrost, transfer cookies to a plate and leave at room temperature for 30-60 minutes, then eat as soon as possible, as they often fairly quickly once defrosted.
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Show more commentsMade for a morning tea for the over 70s they flew off the plate! We managed to loose the pistachios somewhere so I toasted up the equivalent amount of peanuts flaked almonds and seseme seeds, still divine
I made these for a picnic and they turned out so well. Everyone was raving about them. I didn’t have any ground cardamom so I used a bit of cinnamon and nutmeg instead and they added a beautiful spice to the cookies and complemented the chocolate well.
I have phobia making desserts, as to me everything seems to be spotless and precise. However, Nigella just made everything so easy, i completely understand each and every steps / descriptions easily. Thankx! I made these merookies last night at 1am in a kind of merry tipsy state Best hangover cure!
They just went into the oven ... soooo easy to make after having egg white left over from home made carbonara ... cannot wait for tomorrow!
I’ve made these with aquafaba for vegans, works well.
I made these for Christmas last year and everyone I gave them to wanted the recipe, SO easy and SO delicious!
Cooking Side Note: a NutriBullet does not chop, it pulverises. Hence, cardamom pods, choc chips and pistachios turned into a fine powder in moments. As always, when standing open mouthed at the edge of a precipice, the only way is forward...and they turned out heavenly! Every Nigella recipe I have ever made has been absolutely delicious, despite me.
I made these for Christmas dessert. Since we have nut allergies, I used a raspberry syrup to color them a beautiful shade of pink and gave them a great flavor. Then drizzled with a bit of dark chocolate. Yummy. They lasted 10 seconds on the plate.
Well my children just ate the entire batch in one go, so I presume that means they were a hit! Certainly very easy to make. A much more fun way to use leftover egg whites.
These are absolutely amazing! I love chocolate and cardamom so used 1x15ml tablespoon in place of the cornflour (informed by Nigella's chocolate raspberry pavlova). It worked wonderfully.
I love making meringue cookies -- they're so easy and so delicious! I have dark chocolate that I'll grate instead of using chips, and blitz white sugar in my coffee grinder to get the superfine texture. I'll even add espresso powder to the egg whites along with the sugar.
I 've made them many times. They are like a sweet cloud. It's impossible to eat just one! Every time I have egg whites that's the recipe that comes to my mind!