Sunday Fun Day

What a great day, Sunday fun day. I baked for most of the day, then went to the boys' house for dinner. Pete whipped up his famous pizzas, and I provided dessert. My only direction was that it include chocolate, so I did a little digging on Smitten Kitchen. These cookies looked delicious and easy, and they were! Everyone loved them.

Photo credits go to Mr. Ryan Anderson, who has been trying to help me take better pictures to post on the blog. He even sent me an article with tips on how to take pictures of food. Hopefully these turned out better than the usual!

Pete Zambri, "the cookie monster"

Chocolate Chip Meringue Cookies

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

2 egg whites, room temperature

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup sugar

6 ounces chocolate chips or any diced chocolate of your choosing

1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans, try toasting them first

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Beat egg whites until foamy. Add salt, cream of tartar and vanilla and beat until it holds soft peaks. Add the sugar, gradually, beating the batter until stiff. Fold in the nuts and chocolate chips. Spoon batter onto parchment paper-lined baking sheet. (Note: the batter doesn't spread while cooking, so you can play around with the size of your batter to increase or decrease the yield.) Bake for 25 minutes. Underside of cookie should be golden or lightly tanned. Yields approximately two dozen.