Recipe: Spiced Passover Meringues

Spiced Passover Meringues
Source: Deliciously Healthy Jewish Cooking by Harriet Roth
Yield: 55 to 60 cookies

2 extra-large egg whites, at room temperature
1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 cup superfine sugar
1 1/2 cups finely chopped toasted walnuts or chopped dates (see note)

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees.

Mix cinnamon, allspice and sugar.

Beat egg whites until soft peaks form; add spice mixture by tablespoons to the egg whites while beating. Beat until stiff but still shiny.

Fold in walnuts, dates or combination.

Drop by measuring teaspoonfuls onto a nonstick baking sheet or one that has been lined with parchment paper.

Bake 1 1/4 hours; turn off the oven, open the door slightly (secure with a wooden spoon), and allow the cookies to cool in the oven overnight.

Store in a tightly covered container.

Note accompanying recipe: If you use dates, select soft whole ones from the produce department. Packaged diced dried dates get too hard during the hours in the oven. The test batch used a combination of nuts and dates.