Angel Crunch Cookies

Wedding Cake Murder

Yield: 3 to 4 dozen sweet and crunchy meringue cookies that are as light as air and that everyone will love to eat.

## Ingredients

* 3 egg whites ***(save the yolks in the refrigerator to add to scrambled eggs)***
* 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
* 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1 cup brown sugar ***(pack it down in the cup when you measure it)***
* 2 Tablespoons flour ***(that's 1/8 cup)***
* 1/2 cup finely chopped pecans ***(measure AFTER chopping)***

* 3 to 4 dozen candied pecans halves OR 3 to 4 dozen Maraschino cherry halves to place on top of your cookies before baking.

## Directions

* Preheat oven to 275°F, rack in the middle position. (That's two hundred seventy-five degrees F.)
* Before you do anything else, separate the egg whites from the yolks. Place the egg whites in the bowl of your mixer so that they will warm to room temperature. Egg whites at room temperature yield more volume and whip easier than cold egg whites.
* Place the egg yolks in a Tupperware container with a cover. Store the yolks in the refrigerator to add to your scrambled eggs the next morning. ***(My mother always said that there's nothing like a little extra protein for breakfast to give you a head start to the day. I once tried to convince her that cookies had extra protein, but it didn't work.)***

**Hannah's 1st Note: I always use a stand mixer when I make these cookies. It's a lot easier than whisking egg whites by hand in a copper bowl.**

* Prepare your baking sheets by lining them with parchment paper ***(works best)*** or brown parcel-wrapping paper ***(also works, but parchment is preferable)***. Spray the paper with Pam or another nonstick cooking spray and dust it lightly with flour. You can also use baking spray, which is cooking spray mixed with flour.
* Beat the egg whites with the cream of tartar, vanilla, and salt until they are stiff enough to hold a soft peak. Add the cup of brown sugar gradually, sprinkling it in with your impeccably clean fingers by quarter cups and beating hard for ten seconds or so after each sprinkling.
* Take the bowl out of the mixer.
* Mix the flour with the ground nuts. Sprinkle them on top of the whipped egg whites and fold them in with a rubber spatula, keeping as much air in the mixture as you possibly can.
* Drop mounds of dough by heaping Tablespoons onto your prepared cookie sheets. If you place 4 mounds in a row and you have 4 rows, you'll end up with 16 cookies per sheet. These cookies do not spread out very much as they bake.

**Hannah's 2nd Note: I use a Tablespoon from by silverware drawer to drop the mounds on the baking sheets. A cookie scooper doesn't work very well for this.**

* Place one candied pecan or a half Maraschino cherry ***(rounded side up)*** in the center of each mound. Push the pecan halves or half cherries down a bit, but leave them clearly visible.
* Bake your Angel Crunch Cookies at 275°F for approximately 40 minutes, or until the meringue part of the cookie is slightly golden and dry to the touch.
* Cool your cookies on the paper-lined cookie sheets by pulling the paper, cookies and all, over to a wire rack. When the cookies are completely cool, peel them carefully from the paper and store them in an airtight container in a dry place. ***(A cupboard shelf is fine, just NOT the refrigerator!)***