flourless chocolate pecan cookies {brooklyn farm girl cookie swap}

How are you holding up?? Only one week and change to go before the BIG DAY arrives.

This year has been much busier than previous: many cookie swaps; various holiday parties; and school activities aflutter. My 4 year old is much more attuned to the season this year, be it his age or that fact that he is in Catholic school and will be an angel in the school Christmas performance (how cute is that??), he talks about Christmas all the time. It is kind of wonderful, actually. He also says 'actually' all the time (where do you think he got that from?), which is driving my husband crazy.

For yet another cookie swap, organized by Brooklyn Farm Girl, I made some flourless chocolate pecan cookies (photo above) for Shashi at Runnin SriLankan. They don't look great but the flavor is just WOW: super chocolaty, rich and nutty, with a lightness that comes from egg white batter. Sort of like French macarons, but not quite as fussy.

And Shashi sent me these wonderful flourless chocolate cookies in return.

Great minds think alike.

And I made Smitten Kitchen's spicy gingerbread cookies for our little holiday get-together. They turned out really great!! The kids decorated them and had a blast. Royal Icing generally contains raw egg white, which I didn't want to use with the kids. Although, I used a recipe I was not that pleased with - too runny - so I am looking for a better frosting recipe. Anyone know of one, please let me know... it could just be a matter of using less liquid. Ah well, live and learn. The kids had fun, in any case.

Hoping your holidays are full of friends, laughs, joy and wonder.

Flourless Chocolate Pecan Cookies
Adapted from Shutterbean
makes 2 dozen

2 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted

1 cup sweetened cocoa powder

3/4 cup Dutch-process cocoa powder (spooned and leveled)

1/2 teaspoon fine salt

3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips (5 ounces)

1 cup roughly chopped toasted pecans

4 large egg whites, room temperature 

Preheat oven to 325 degrees, with racks in middle and lower thirds. In a large bowl, whisk together confectioners’ sugar, cocoa, and salt. Stir in chocolate chips and pecans. Add egg whites and stir until combined.

Drop dough by rounded tablespoons, 2 inches apart (they spread a lot), onto parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake until tops are dry and cracked, 15 to 18 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through. Let cool completely on sheets on wire racks.