The Perpetual Feast

These are lighter than air cookies that still have a bit of crunch to their outer shell.  They are also reasonably chocolaty and very low in fat. These cookies are meringues, which are essentially egg whites and sugar, and so they are very easy to make.  They say not to make meringues on a humid day, so do this when it’s not humid…I’ve never encountered this because I live in a rather dry climate.  The original recipe came from Cooking Light, but I think a similar recipe exists in several other places, since I have been to potlucks where other people brought them and they say they are not from the same source.  At any rate, they make a nice item to take to a potluck, or just for a snack.  How often do you get chocolate in a very low fat format.

Chocolate Chip Meringue Cookies

3 large egg whites
¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
3 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
3 Tablespoons semi-sweet chocolate minichips

Preheat oven to 300°.  Cover two cookie sheets with parchment paper.  I usually spray the baking sheet lightly with cooking spray to hold the parchment paper down – but don’t spray the parchment paper.

Beat egg whites, cream of tartar, and salt at high speed in a mixer until soft peaks form. Add sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating until stiff peaks form and all the sugar is incorporated. Sift cocoa over egg white mixture and fold it in thoroughly. Fold in minichips.

Drop batter by level tablespoonfuls onto prepared baking sheets. Bake at 300° for 40 – 50 minutes or until crisp. Cool completely on pan on a wire rack.. Store in an airtight container.  Makes 36 cookies with .4 grams of fat each.  That’s right, less than a half of a gram of fat each!