Giant Pistachio Meringues
A little bit of heaven! That’s what these Giant Pistachio Meringues are!
Light and puffy with chewy outsides and soft, marshmallow-like interiors! Get ready for all the gasps and oohs and aahs! Pure drama!
And guys, these have the most divine flavor! While most meringues are made by beating sugar with room temperature egg whites, this recipe has you beat the whites with hot sugar instead which gives the finished cookies an irresistible caramelized, almost-cotton candy-like taste!
Plus, there are pistachios. I mean, really, how is a person supposed to have any willpower against all of that?!!
Not me. When I pulled them out of the oven, I could not stop trying them!!! And they are HUGE!!!! Which means you can keep on trying and trying and trying!!
What’s more—they’re also easy to make—the prep part is a snap and then you just let them sit in a low oven for a couple of hours, walk away and allow the transformation to begin.
They’re perfect for Passover, gluten-free eating or anytime you want to experience the magic of meringue!
Seriously, if you ❤️ meringues, or know someone who does, you need to whip these up asap!!
Looking for other meringue recipes? How about these Candied Almond Meringues, Chocolate Swirled Meringues, Peanut Butter Meringues, and Meringues with Walnuts and Chocolate.
And looking for what to do with all those leftover egg yolks? Try this Lemon Curd (it uses 6), Caramel Ice Cream (it uses 7), S’mores Ice Cream (uses 5), Classic Chocolate Ice Cream (also 5), Dark Chocolate Creme Brulée (uses 4), Coffee-Caramel Custards (uses 7), Double Chocolate Pots de Créme (uses 6)
Giant Pistachio Meringues
Makes 12 enormous meringues
Prep Time: 25 minutes; Bake Time: 2-2 ½hours
Ingredients
3 cups superfine sugar (you can buy this or just whizz regular sugar in a food processor for 10 minutes until it’s powdery. Measure again after you blend)
10 large egg whites ( about 1 ½ cups), room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup shelled and roasted pistachios, roughly chopped
The Recipe
1. Preheat oven to 400ºF. Make sure two racks are evenly spaced in the oven. Line a rimmed sheet pan with parchment paper and spread the sugar evenly out across it. Bake for 8-11 minutes, until the edges start to just begin to get golden brown. Really keep your eye on this—it can go from just right to burnt in a flash. Remove the pan and lower the oven to 250ºF.
2. While the sugar is cooking, place the egg whites in the large bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. If you only have a handheld, that’s fine—you just may need to beat for a longer time. Just before the sugar is ready, beat the egg whites on high for 1 minute until they’re frothy. Now turn the mixture to low and gradually add the hot sugar to the whites, spooning it in carefully. Eventually, you can lift the paper and pour the sugar in slowly if that’s easier for you. Add in the vanilla and turn the mixer to high and beat the whites for 10 minutes, until they are thick and glossy and are cooled to room temperature.
3. Line 2 large rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper. Use 2 large spoons to scoop 6 very large and freeform ovals of meringue onto each sheet, spacing them a few inches apart because they will spread. Sprinkle the chopped pistachios on top of each cookie.
4. Bake both sheets at the same time for 2 -2 ½ hours, until the outsides of the meringues are crisp and barely colored and the centers are still sort of soft. Let cool on the sheet on a wire rack and then peel off the paper. These are best on the day they’re made but if you leave them uncovered, they are still fairly amazing on day 2 and 3. Covered, they will get soggy.
Enjoy!
Note: Recipe adapted from Modern Comfort Food by Ina Garten. The original recipe calls for 9 extra large eggs but I never use those so I scaled it to regular large eggs—these are great to make when you have leftover egg whites—every two egg whites is about ¼ cup so you need about 1 ½ cups for this recipe. I also upped the amount of pistachios and cut the fleur de sel—I’m not a huge fan of salted desserts and I baked these longer too.
