Meringues/ Macaroons Cocoa Style

A while ago did a post on Meringues. This is a revision of the same recipe.

I had some left over egg whites, which had been frozen. I defrosted them again to use for meringues. Egg whites are easy to freeze and save for a later use. Just make sure that they are at room temperature for meringues.


I wanted to add a new twist to these so I added cocoa to half of the meringes. It did go a bit more watery (flat), but they cooked fine.

And the final outcome?

I would definetly make these again with cocoa. Cocoa is a good idea.

Chocolate!

Chocolate seems to be one of those things that people tend to get passionate about. It is often the thing that people will compromise their diet over. It is something that a lot of people say they can't live without. While I think that if there is anything you think you can't live without, you should try to take a break from it, chocolate is definitely something that's very nice to have at times.

So when I had to change my eating habits, chocolate was something that I wanted to see if I could make. I had found a great recipe a few years ago for a coconut centred chocolate square thing, (which is excellent), but it also took a few more steps. So I searched the Internet for a general idea of what goes into a good chocolate recipe and mixed a few of them together and by trial and error (it really wasn't too difficult) came up with the main chocolate that I now make. Originally I was trying to make chocolate chips, (which did work out), but then it progressed to a chocolate sauce/fudge thing that depending on the consistency I use for toppings over fruit, cakes/cookies, in banana/chocolate pancakes, or nice and thick for a good fudge with coconut cream or on it's own.

That was all fine and dandy, I knew what I did - it was always some of this and some of that to taste - but then people started asking for the recipe. So one day I had to figure out what amounts I put in so that it could be duplicated. So here it is.

My Chocolate Recipe

1/4 cup almond butter (I like raw, the roasted give too much of an almond taste - taking away from the chocolate)
1/4 cup water

Blend these two together in a small saucepan over very low heat.

Add;
1 tablespoon vegetable glycerin
1 tablespoon extra virgin coconut oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
7-8 drop liquid stevia (start with 7 and taste after each drop!)
1/4 cup raw cocoa

Blend together over low heat. Chocolate burns very easily. When it is all mixed, you can eat as is or play with to make it desirable for different uses. Add more water if you want a nice glaze/sauce. Add some coconut milk and/or nuts if you want another experience. Add dried coconut to make a cookie. Here in Tasmania, almond butter isn't as available, so we substitute peanut butter for it, and that is quite nice too.

Keep in mind I like my chocolate dark. So you may want to add more sweetener. We've also made this a few times (in Canada) with maple syrup instead of the vegetable glycerin and stevia. You'll have to play with that ratio, as I don't remember how much we put in.

Enjoy!

mmmm, those would be good with chocolate on top

This is yet another recipe from Nourishing Traditions. Before my days of eating well, on occasion I would make meringues, that nice soft, yet crunching, melt in your mouth sweetness. I found such a recipe in Nourishing Traditions and couldn't wait to try it out.

In NT, this appears as Macaroons. However, Macaroons to me is unbaked cocoa cookies (and I have made those too!).

Apparently this makes 2 dozen, but we ate them too fast to count.

4 egg whites
pinch sea salt
2 tablespoons arrowroot
1/2 cup agave (originally calls for maple syrup, but that's so expensive here)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 cups unsweetened diced coconut

Line a baking sheet with buttered parchment paper.
Beat egg whites with salt in a clean bowl until they form stiff peaks. Beat in arrowroot and slowly beat in syrup and vanilla. Fold in coconut. Drop by spoonfuls on parchment paper. Bake at 300 F for about 1/2 hour or until lightly browned. Reduce oven to 200 F and bake another hour or so until macaroons are completely dry and crisp. Let cool completely before removing from paper. Store in airtight container. (Here in Tasmania, these get soggy very quickly if not in the fridge - it's very moist here.)

As you can see in the picture some of the agave ran out. It made an extra bonus of toffee, but that was a happy accident. Next time I made the Meringues recipe and it turned out better - also used less agave and was still just as good.

Meringues

6 egg whites
pinch sea salt
3 tablespoons arrowroot
1/4 cup agave (maple syrup)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Line a cookie sheet with buttered parchment paper. Beat egg whites with salt until they form stiff peaks. Beat in arrowroot. Slowly add agave and vanilla, beating constantly. (Continue as above or go on to make nice little meringue cups for fruit).
Cook overnight at about 150 F. Let cool before removing from paper.

Of course I had one right away - before it cooled completely. Very good. However, looking at it again, I thought, "Boy, these would be good with chocolate on top." And that's just what I did.

Yummm!