Chewy Flourless Chocolate Cookies
Makes 15 cookies

My mom made these cookies for dessert to go with my “Father’s Day Fiesta” dinner. She stuck to the recipe’s advice and splurged on a higher quality Dutch cocoa made with alkali. The result was a decadent chocolate flavor. Since Poppa has been avoiding nuts lately, she omitted them, swapping them out for white-milk chocolate swirl chips. We all thought they were just barely teetering on the borderline of being overly sweet (if there even is such a thing as “too sweet”) with the chips added. When I make them, I think I will opt for dark chocolate chunks and macadamia nuts. Certainly a wonderful treat for flourless and gluten-free folks!

Note: Mom said that the dough was extremely sticky to work with and advised using an ice cream scoop to form the balls, or putting a tad of butter or water on your fingers.

INGREDIENTS

1 3/4 cups powdered sugar

1/2 cup Dutch process cocoa (made with alkali)

2 teaspoons cornstarch

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 egg whites

1 cup coarsely chopped pecans or walnuts, toasted

INSTRUCTIONS

Step One: Preheat oven to 300F.

Step Two: Mix together sugar, cocoa, cornstarch and salt. Gradually add egg whites, stirring with a spoon until mixture forms a dough. (Mixture should be thick enough to form into balls; if not add more powdered sugar and cocoa). Add nuts; mix well.

Step Three: Form dough into 15 balls. Place on a parchment-lined cookie sheet. Bake 16 to 19 minutes, until glossy and crackled. Remove from parchment paper and place on a wire rack to cool completely.

Source: Relish, June 2010. View the recipe on RelishMag.com.