Mexican Chocolate Meringues

I believe this recipe comes from a  Cooking Light magazine.   I cannot date the magazine but I have been making these cookies, particularly around Christmas, for well over ten years.








Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Bake:

1cup slivered almonds

stirring occasionally for 5-10 minutes until lightly toasted.

Whip until stiff:

4 large egg whites
1 t vanilla
1/2 t almond extract
1/4 t cream of tartar

Gradually add:

1/3 c sugar

Sift and then fold into the whipped egg white mixture:

2/3 c sugar
5 T Dutch-process cocoa powder* 
3 T cornstarch
1 1/2 t cinnamon

Then add and fold in:

1/2 cup of the toasted slivered almonds


Drop meringues onto wax paper on a cookie sheet. REDUCE oven heat to 200 degrees F; bake one hour or until meringues sound hollow when tapped on bottom [I often cook 1 1/2 hours]. Turn off oven and let meringues sit an additional hour in the warm oven.

Dip cool meringues in melted
bittersweet chocolate chips (about 1 1/2 ounces) [I use Ghirardelli 60% Cocoa]
then toasted almonds.

Cool cookies with chocolate/nuts on top.

[* I have been using (and still use) Ghiradelli Natural Unsweetened Cocoa, but recently discovered that there is a difference between this and "Dutched" or alkalized cocoa. This dutching process raises the pH to a neutral 7 or alkaline 8 versus that of cocoa which is distinctly acid with a pH around 5. "The result is a cocoa powder with a milder flavor and darker color." This discussion in more detail can be found in Harold McGee's On Food and Cooking, pages 705-706.]