Nanny’s Overnight No-Bake Cookies
I don’t know where this recipe originated. One summer, when I was around 11 years old, my Nanny started making them, calling them overnight cookies. Until that point, I’d never seen a white cookie that wasn’t slathered in some sort of icing. My experiences with meringue were limited to the quasi-jiggly sort on top of pies. These “no-bake cookies” combined both cookies and meringue, but were somehow neither of them at the same time.
Full Disclosure
Calling them “no-bake” is only partly true, because the cookies are “baked” in the oven overnight. You preheat your oven, make your meringue, and then turn the oven off just as you put the cookies in. I’m not sure it they are slowly cooked with the heat that remains in the oven after it’s shut off, or if it’s magic.
The cookies aren’t really like any other meringues in my opinion. Some of them, like the aforementioned pies, can have a weirdly jiggly texture and an outer “skin”. Baked Alaska’s meringue reminds me of a toasted marshmallow, burnt quickly and crunchy on the outside but still raw on the inside. Both are sweet, but still sort of flavorless. These no-bake cookies, with their chocolate chips, have flavor, but a texture that’s not like the other meringues I’ve mentioned. Outside, on the surface, the cookies are slightly tacky to the touch without being overwhelming sticky. The insides are fluffy and soft and just completely melt when you pop one (or two, or three) in your mouth. The chocolate chips, because they’re not baked, don’t get soft. So you have this cloud of sweet meringue, which is slow-cooked but feels decadently raw, enveloping what is essentially unbaked dark chocolate chips, which are a total guilty pleasure to steal out of the pantry. It’s a double dose of forbidden sweetness.
And if you don’t want to waste the egg yolks, you can make these on the same day as our pasta carbonara! Both recipes are whipped up quickly enough; prepare your dinner, setting aside the two egg whites, and then whip up the no-bake chocolate chip cookies before you do the dishes.
Fun fact: I actually used this recipe for my final cooking project in my seventh grade Home Ec. class. Due to my class schedule at the time, I was able to make them in my last period class on one day, and take them out of the oven during first period class the following day.
Nanny's No-Bake Overnight Cookies
With just four ingredients, you can whip up these cookies in no time, and absolutely no effort. This recipe will make about 30 little clouds of sweet and creamy, melt-in-your-mouth cookies.
Ingredients
- 2 egg whites
- 3/4 cup white sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup dark chocolate chips
Instructions
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Preheat your oven to 350°.
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Beat your egg whites until they are stiff and dry. Gradually add the vanilla extract and sugar, continuing to beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form, then gently fold in the chocolate chips.
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Drop tablespoon-sized dollops of the mirengue mixture onto an ungreased foil-lined baking sheet. You should end up with about 20-30 "cookies". Turn off your oven and allow cookies to "bake" overnight. DO NOT OPEN THE OVEN. Doing so will let the heat out and stop the "baking".
Recipe Notes
The cookies hardly spread on the foil, so you don't need to worry too much about spacing them apart; I usually end up with about 15/sheet. Cookies will come out of the oven with a slightly shiny, slightly tacky surface.
The Tart likes to eat, cook, and bake things. She eats to work out, and she works out to be able to eat.
