My friend Nicole wanted to make cookies with me, so we set a date for today. I asked her what she wanted to make and she asked, “Can we torch anything?” She has a torch and apparently is obsessed with fire. I decided on meringues. They were the opposite of fire.

These look kinda weird. Since there are 3 or so meringue cookies in the app, I had to get started sometime. I told her I was afraid of meringue and she said something along the lines of “I’m not.”

You’ll notice a change of scenery. We used Nicole’s kitchen this time! The lighting is much better than mine.

Step 1: Gather ingredients: salt, corn starch, instant espresso powder, cocoa powder, egg whites, sugar, chocolate chips.

Wait…no flour? No butter? I’m not used to this.

Step 2: Whisk together sugar and corn starch.
 

First, what is this flat whisk, Nicole? She said she loved it. I’m not sure what’s so special about it. Saves space? Doubles as a pancake flipper?

Second, Nicole’s sugar is organic so that’s why it looks brown. Fancy.

Step 3: Beat egg whites and salt until frothy.

I saw bubbles.
Me: Is that frothy.
Nicole: Not even close.

I’m glad she was there or I could have screwed that one up.

Me: Is THAT frothy?
Nicole: Yeah!
Me: Whoo hoo!

Side note: isn’t her green Kitchenaid cute?

Step 4: Add sugar mixture, one tablespoon at a time.
 

Step 5: Beat until stiff peaks form, 6 to 8 minutes.
 

Me: Are those stiff peaks?
Nicole: No. Once it forms a “mountain” and doesn’t fall down, it’s stiff.

Nicole took control at this point and scraped down the sides.

Not sure this is a mountain, but it’s not moving! Perfect!

Step 6: Add espresso powder and cocoa.
 

Step 7: Fold in chocolate chips.
 

After I stirred for a few seconds:
Nicole: Do you know the proper way to fold?
Me: Obviously not since you’re asking.

I was instructed to cut down the center, fold, turn the bowl and repeat. It worked.

Step 8: Drop batter by level tablespoons onto a baking sheet.
 

Both of us knew this would be trouble since the batter was so sticky. Yeah, it didn’t come out of the measuring spoon.

Nicole gave me her cookie scoop and it worked much better.

After I filled my first sheet, I let Nicole do the other one.

She had problems.

Step 9: Bake for 40 minutes until crisp.
 

40 minutes! We’d be here forever only doing one sheet at a time. Nicole insisted on putting both in.

Me: Wait! The bottom ones will burn!
Nicole: No they won’t.

I knew she’d be wrong on this one. I have experience here.

Oh…they didn’t burn.

Nicole was very sure of herself for most of this experience. She was right all of those times.

These are good, but like nothing I’ve had before. Crispy/crumbly on the outside and chewy in the middle.

Link to original recipe

Yields: 48
I got: 32 (That scoop was larger than a tablespoon.)

Start time: 4:30
End time: 5:45 (1 hour, 15 minutes)
Martha’s estimated time: 1 hour (not bad!)

What did I learn?

• Don’t talk back to Nicole. She is a pyro.
• “Frothy” really means frothy, not bubbly.
• “Stiff peaks” means it doesn’t break off of the whisk.

What do I need to learn?

• How does Martha expect us to get level tablespoons of this batter? We thought spraying the spoon with cooking spray would ruin them.
• Why didn’t the bottom tray burn when all my other cookies do that?

I may have given Nicole a hard time in this post, but I’m very appreciative of her tips and hospitality…

…and I’m not only saying that because she yields flame.