A few chocolate chips and a handful of chopped almonds give luscious flavor to these heart-shaped Meringue Cookies. Drizzled with chocolate, or adorned with a few Chocolate Filigree Hearts, these cookies make a pretty Valentine treat or a thoughtful gift to celebrate a special occasion.
A Favorite Cookie for Valentine’s Day
One of my favorite cookies in winter, or anytime really, are these divinely light, seriously sweet, and satisfyingly filled Meringue Cookies. This recipe came from my mother and has long been a family favorite.
These cookies are easily whipped up from items almost everyone has on hand. Two egg whites, some sugar and a splash of vanilla form the airy meringue. In turn it embraces a handful of nuts and some chocolate chips while adding a dreamy light crunch.
This year as I began to think about Valentine’s Day I had a hard time deciding what to make. It seems like everyone is watching their weight. Many, even my son, are likely to decline the rich chocolate treats I love to bake. But then what is Valentine’s Day without at least a little chocolate?
Heart-shaped Meringue and Chocolate Filigree Hearts
In these cookies a little chocolate goes a long way. Here the synergy of a spare handful of basic ingredients marries the flavors of a few nuts and chocolate chips to produce a wonderfully delicious valentine treat. Piped onto parchment in the shape of small hearts, they are also pretty. Then, when dipped in chocolate, garnished with a chocolate drizzle or packaged with a Chocolate Filigree Heart, they make a lovely homemade treat.
For heart-shaped Meringue Cookies, I varied the recipe slightly from the original. Here I added almonds instead of walnuts. I also ground them first in a food processor. This made the nuts bits small enough to easily pass through the opening of the piping bag. This recipe also uses mini chocolate chips for the same reason.
Enjoy!
Valentine Meringue Heart Cookies & Chocolate Filigree Hearts
Course: Cookies and Candy, DessertCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Easy36
cookies20
minutes19
minutes40
minutesA few chocolate chips and a handful of chopped almonds give luscious flavor to these heart-shaped Meringue Cookies. Drizzled with chocolate, or adorned with a few Chocolate Filigree Hearts, these cookies make a pretty valentine treat or a thoughtful gift to celebrate a special occasion.
Ingredients
2 egg whites, at room temperature
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup sugar
6 ounces semi-sweet mini chocolate chips
1/4 cup almonds, chopped fine
1/2 cup chocolate chips, melted
- Filigree Hearts
½ chocolate chips, melted
Directions
- Beat together egg whites, salt, cream of tartar and vanilla until soft peaks form. Add sugar gradually beating until peaks are stiff. Fold in the 6 ounces of mini chocolate chips and the almonds.
- Scoop the meringue into a gallon sized Ziploc freezer bag. Seal it, then cut a 1/2 inch opening across a lower corner of the bag. Use it like a pastry bag to pipe meringue hearts onto parchment paper lined baking sheets.
- To form the hearts, hold the pastry bag from the top with one hand. Position the open tip of the bag near the parchment paper, but not touching it. Gently squeeze the bag with the other hand forming a round dollop of the meringue on the parchment. Now relax the pressure on the bag as you draw it toward yourself forming the first half of the heart.
- Lift the pastry bag away from the parchment paper and reposition the tip a small distance away from the first dollop of meringue. Form another dollop and draw the bag toward the bottom of the first dollop while relaxing the pressure on the bag. The meringue should form into a rough heart shape or a sort of V.
- Repeat until heart shaped dollops of meringue cover the cookie sheet.
- Bake at 300F for about 20 minutes or until set and beginning to brown slightly.
- Remove from oven and allow to cool on a wire rack.
- When cool, dip the lower half of each cookie in melted chocolate allowing the excess to drip back into the pan before placing the dipped cookie on a parchment lined cookie sheet to set. When the cookie sheet is full place it in the refrigerator for a few minutes until the chocolate is firm.
- Or, place the melted chocolate in a small Ziploc freezer bag and snip ¼ inch from a lower corner of the bag. Drizzle the chocolate over each cookie in a zigzag or other design. Place cookies in the refrigerator until the chocolate is firm.
- If you have melted chocolate left over after drizzling the cookies you might want to pipe filigree hearts to dress up a Valentine dessert or to tuck into a small box of valentine meringues you are sharing with a friend.
- Chocolate Filigree Hearts
- Place the melted chocolate in a small Ziploc bag and snip ¼ inch from a lower corner of the bag.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Beginning at one corner of the pan carefully pipe the outline of a small heart, one or two inches wide, in one continuous motion. As you keep moving gently swirl the piped chocolate in a random design filing in as much of the area inside the heart as desired. Make the swirls touch the outline of the heart in at least several places. Lift the point of the bag and then begin another heart close beside the first.
- Continue piping until the pan is covered or you run out of chocolate. Place the pan in the refrigerator briefly to set the chocolate. Once firm, carefully peel the hearts away from the parchment and store them in an airtight container until ready to use.
Notes
- Meringue cookies can be used as a crunchy sweet layer in an easy and elegant parfait. Layer them in a pretty stemmed glass with fruit or Brownies and Whipped Cream and garnish with a Chocolate Filigree Heart, for another pretty and delicious dessert variation.
Just wanted to say I love your site! I saw your galumpki recipe on Pinterest. I'm making it right now. While it's baking I decided to check out some more of your recipes. This one looks awesome! Pinned it to try later as I decided to bake chocolate chip cookies while the galumpki baked. I will be back to check out more of your recipes and let you know how the galumpki turned out. I love saying galumpki.
That is *such* a good idea for upping the decadence quota just a little bit for meringues! Yum, I'm definitely going to try this… maybe with my peppermint meringues, too!
These are so cute and festive – perfect for Valentines Day!
Super classy! I am planning on makining some valentine meringue cookies too but different than yours.
aw lisa, these are so pretty and delicate! they're perfect for both someone concerned about avoiding rich desserts and someone who eats every tasty treat in sight (that would be me…). 🙂
These meringue cookies look divine! Chocolate and meringue — you can't go wrong.
They both look so beautiful! I love the idea of something light that holds my favorite food… chocolate.
I'm so impressed. These are so cute, and I know they taste good!
Love your meringue hearts, Lisa. And the little chocolate hearts are a great way to dress up a dessert for Valentine's Day. Thanks for the idea.
These are so cute! Perfect!