Recipe: Dark Chocolate Meringues :: MMM (Must Make Monday)

June 4, 2012 by Laureen Fox | 14 Comments

I have been a collector of recipes for as long as I can remember but I never manage to find enough time to try all the recipes I collect and that was the reason my MMM (Must-Make-Monday) series was born. The idea was to force myself to choose at least one recipe from my Must-Make-List each week. I would post the results here on my blog. Solid idea, or so I thought, but with my recipe collection growing faster than the speed of light, I could use a month of Mondays and still not get to all the recipes in my collections. That’s the other thing, since I started this series, my collection has become plural. It started with the Must-Make-Page on my blog site but now, I also have a Must-Make Board on Pinterest.

One good thing about my MMM (Must-Make-Monday) series, is that it forces me to follow through and use some of the recipes in my collections. After using a recipe, I check it off my Must-Make-List and add it to my Made-This (TAB). You can view archive postings from my MMM (Must-Make-Monday) series, by clicking on my Must-Make-List page and then clicking on the Made-This TAB.

To start things off this week, here are a few recipes, that I’ve come across recently. I’ve categorized them but they are listed in no particular order. These are recipes that I would love to try but haven’t gotten around to yet. They are to become the newest additions to my Must-Make-List.

Important *** I have not tagged these recipe links as Gluten, Grain, Sugar, Dairy, Egg or Nut Free, nor have I labelled them as Vegan or Vegetarian. Please review and confirm the recipe meets your dietary requirements before you begin baking.

Sweet:

Oven Roasted Rhubarb Strawberry Compote by Beyond The Peel. I’ve got a recipe for some gluten free Crepes that I’ve wanted to try. I think this Compote would be perfect with them. Heck, I might just make the compote to add to my homemade yogurt. Note: the compote recipe linked here is gluten free but the Sprouted Spelt Flour Crepes are not.
Chocolate Dipped Frozen Yogurt Bites by Sensual Appeal. [[not GF]] A simply sweet looking snack! I can easily make it gluten free by using GF Crispy Rice Cereal and GF Chocolate. YUM!
All Natural Frozen Smoothie Pops by Soulicious. I’m sure getting some great ideas for some refreshing Popsicles. Now all we need is for Summer to arrive, it’s rainy and cold here today.

Breakfast:

Mini Ham Cheese Quinoa Cups by Iowa Girl Eats. Like little frittatas with cooked quinoa, zucchini, cheddar and ham, or whatever fillings you happen to have on hand. Naturally gluten free, quick, easy, versatile, protein rich and almost too cute to eat.

Salad:

Black Bean Mango and Quinoa Salad by A Kitchen Muse. I like the mix of flavours in this Quinoa Salad. This food blog is not gluten free but it looks like Linda has some inspirational recipes that will be easy to adapt.
Coleslaw GF SCD by Gluten Free SCD and Veggie. A yummy looking coleslaw and I want to try the cashew based dressing in this salad recipe.
Tangy Carrot Apple Salad by Easy Natural Food. I have all the ingredients on hand, I think I’m going to try this salad tonight.

Savoury:

Salmon With Thai Coconut Curry Sauce by Jeanette’s Healthy Living. I love salmon and I love coconut curry dishes. I will definitely be giving this recipe a try!
Kid-Friendly Broccoli Cheese Bites by Our Nourishing Roots. Kid-Friendly? I bet these would not last until our kids got here.
Brown Rice Sunflower Seed Crackers by Lavina’s Healthy Home. I’ve run out of homemade crackers. Time to try a new recipe!

Miscellaneous:

Make It Gluten Free Tuesdays Carrie at Ginger Lemon Girl has started a new weekly blog event. The idea is to give old family and classic recipes a gluten free makeover. Then share it on Carrie’s blog event. Whether you’re a blogger or not, you should pop on by and say hello. I think it will be fun to see the classic recipes and ideas people come up with.
Summer Salad Sundays, looking for some fresh salad ideas? You should check out this new summer blogging carnival by Easy Natural Food.
Coconut Butter 101 How To Make It And How To Use It. I haven’t used coconut butter but I’ve noticed it popping up in a few recipes lately. It is something new and unfamiliar to me, so I will be checking out Tessa’s tutorial.
Summer Snack Menu Ideas by Grace Laced. Some great suggestions and snack ideas for anyone who has kids home for the summer.

Click here to see a text listing of my gluten free recipes.

Nothing is worth more than this day.

~ unknown

Last week was a busy one in the Fox Kitchen. I must have baked about twenty dozen cookies before I settled on two types of gluten free cookies to hand out at a golf tournament. The two I settled on were my Flourless White Chocolate Macadamia Almond Cookies and a slightly modified version of these Overnight Bittersweet Meringues by Remedial Eating.

I didn’t label the cookies as gluten free, so I doubt people were aware that they were eating something from a recipe that was developed for a special diet. The macadamia almond cookies went over very well and were all gobbled up. The meringue cookies were not as popular but the people who did try them seemed pleasantly surprised and said they loved the cookies.

Have you ever tried meringue cookies? The only time I’ve tried them in the past, was when my mom made her favourite coconut macaroon cookies but these cookies aren’t anything like the puffy, almost hollow meringue based macaroons I remember. These are light as air, but they’re not hollow.

I always try to give credit to the person who originally came up with the recipe and I’ve learned that even if you give credit, you should not copy and paste the original recipe. If I make changes based on my own dietary needs, tastes and ingredients I have on hand, I feel okay about posting my changes.

As meringues are naturally gluten free, there wasn’t much that I had to adjust. I reduced the sugar, added cream of tarter and made sure the chocolate bar I used was gluten free. Maggie adapted the Overnight Bittersweet Meringues from Mark Bittman’s, How to Cook Everything. I don’t have a copy of the book but with the help of my friend Google, I was able to find this recipe for Vanilla Meringues by Mark Bittman. It was published in The New York Times. Through that link, I learned how easily adaptable these cookies are. You can easily switch up the flavours and add colour. Try coconut in place of the dark chocolate bar, experiment with colour. I’ve seen some examples on Pinterest of colourful Meringues to match holiday seasons.

This recipe makes about 3 dozen cookies and they freeze well. In fact, I’ve found they make a nice quick sweet bite straight out of the freezer even when they’re still frozen.

Simple and easy to make but they will tie up your oven for an extended period. They bake at a low temperature for about an hour and a half. If you need cookies in a hurry, these are not the cookies for you.