Thursday, March 02, 2017

Double-Chocolate Meringue Fudgies


I feel like every recipe I post should be preceded by a colon and the word menopause. "Menopause: Homemade Chocolate Pudding." "Menopause: Double-Chocolate Meringue Fudgies." The turning and turning again towards chocolate feels a little suspect, no? I suppose there's also Trump, as far as explanatory words go. Sigh. But I'm telling you: eat one of these tender, velvety, black cookies still-warm from the oven, and you will forget that your vagina sweats all night in a really unusual way you've never heard about. At least for a moment.

Double-Chocolate Meringue Fudgies
Makes 2 dozen
Total time: 35 minutes

If you've been searching for a rich, chewy, dark, decadent chocolate cookie that's like a cross between a brownie and a black hole, look no further. These are really profoundly chocolatey, and you can even stir in an extra 1/2 cup of chocolate chips if you like, and if you want to call them Triple-Chocolate Meringue Fudgies! I like the smoothness of them without, though.

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
3 large egg whites, room temperature
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar, divided use
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt (or half as much table salt)
1 teaspoon vanilla

Heat the oven to 375, and spray 2 large baking sheets with cooking spray, or line them with parchment. Melt the chocolate chips in the microwave, stirring occasionally, until they are mostly melted, about 2 minutes. Stir until fully melted, then leave them to cool.

Using electric mixer with the whisk attachment, beat the whites on high speed until they just form soft peaks. Gradually beat in 1 cup of the sugar, and continue beating until the mixture gets thick and glossy. Whisk together 1 cup of sugar, the cocoa, cornstarch, and salt in medium bowl to blend. On low speed, beat the dry ingredients into the meringue with the vanilla. Now, with a wooden spoon, stir in the lukewarm chocolate. The dough will be batter-like at first and then, as you stir, it will get very stiff.


Place the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar in a bowl. Roll 1 rounded tablespoon of dough into a ball, then roll it in the sugar to coat it thickly. (The dough can be sticky and awkward to work with, but it's not too bad. I use my cookie scoop to dump lumps into the bowl of sugar, then kind of roll and coat them at the same time, if I were to be completely honest.) Place on prepared sheet, and repeat with the remaining dough, spacing the balls 2 inches apart. Bake until the cookies are puffed and the tops crack, about 10 minutes. Cool on the sheets on a rack 10 minutes, then transfer the cookies to a rack to cool completely.

17 comments:

  1. dale in denver6:02 PM

    I feel like you are lucky with your menopause. I deal with the worst night sweats. It's awful. I wake up drenched, but my vagina is dry as a desert most of the time. #sad

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  2. I hear you, sister. Menopause kicked my ass. But Trump, that's a valid excuse for anything, so don't necessarily blame it on mother nature (what was she thinking anyway?!) Unrelated to the chocolate, but did you know that humans are one of only three known animals that experience menopause? The others are orcas and short-finned pilot whales. Weird, no?

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  3. My night sweats and hot flashes are misery. I am making these this weekend to share with my newly menstruating daughter.

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    1. Tara Bennett11:12 AM

      I am in the exact same boat! It's a hot mess around here. These cookies are in the plans this weekend (If i am not crying or helping my crying (or yelling) daughter). Sigh....

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  4. Tara Bennett4:28 PM

    Thank you for the perfect excuse to spend sometime with myself this afternoon. After a nice long sunny trail run, I came home, dialed up some old Tori Amos on Spotify and made these. They are so good! (and has Tori always been so whinny and why do I still remember every lyric?)

    -- I think next time I make them (is tomorrow too soon?), I might add a little peppermint extract.

    Cheers <3

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  5. You are hilarious. These sound delish. And menopause, damn. Who knew? For me it's the alarming earliness of it. I'm only 44! Sheesh!

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  6. I was checking to see if this could easily be made gluten free. Yes! Win!

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  7. Oh dear, you and other commenters are scaring the daylights our of me re. menopause! YIKES! Anyway... any suggestion of recipes that would use the 3 egg yolks? Please? Thanks!

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    1. Well, thematically speaking, you could try Catherine's Chocolate Pudding recipe (which is enticingly thumb-nailed on the sidebar on this page) and substitute the three egg yolks for the cornstarch. Cook in a double boiler and whisk slowly but constantly with a flat-bottomed whisk until thicker--will thicken more when cooled.

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    2. Ha ha ha, good thinking, kb, and thank you for reminding me to respond to this! Other ideas: I just made this key lime pie. I do whipped cream instead of meringue, so don't need the whites: http://wegottaeat.com/elaine.wencil/recipes/cooks-illustrated-key-lime-pie

      Another thought: Hollandaise. Serious Eats has a good, easy blender version. xo

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  8. Anonymous10:16 AM

    The idea of menopause-inspired recipes gave me a good laugh! The craziness of menopause has caught me surprisingly off guard... with all the health classes we took in school, you'd think someone would have warned us (or maybe I just wasn't paying attention?) And, the fact that we're likely to have kids hitting the teen years just as we're hitting menopause... what kind of cosmic practical joke is that? :) Gonna be a lot of crazy around here for the next few years....

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  9. Anonymous7:38 PM

    I think hot flashes are God's way of saying hahaha and you thought periods were annoying! I prefer the hot flashes actually. Fewer clothes being ruined...

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  10. I happened to have leftover egg whites after making tiramisu, and also needed to make my husband and I our monthly batch of cookies. These were perfect - thank you for the recipe! I love the crispy outside and brownie-like interior. Definitely a make again. And I made these lazily - added chocolate chips instead of melting them and I didn't roll them in icing sugar. No regrets.

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  11. Ikea! Can't wait!

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  12. I'll make these beauties this weekend. For me it's also T*ump, but also depleted vit D and iron. I'm basically bloodless, and craving chocolate all the time.

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  13. Back to ask, when's your MG coming out? Do you have a title/cover/date yet??? I'm anxiously awaiting.

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  14. I will make these. I am committed.

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