Egg Whites: Pecan Meringues or Resurrection Cookies

I have to admit I'm a sucker for a name and Resurrection Cookies totally appeals to me. It conjours up images of zombies for me - and while these meringues aren't anything like zombies they are pretty amazing. The term resurrection refers to the fact that once you make the meringue you leave them in the oven overnight to dry out and presto! Out come magnificent sweet pillows of meringue.

Ingredients
1 cup roasted pecans cut finely with a knife.
3 egg whites
Pinch salt
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vinegar



Method
1. Preheat oven to 300°F.

2. Put egg whites into a stand up mixer bowl. Add salt. Start the mixer speed on low, gradually increasing the speed until soft peaks start to become visible and the egg white bubbles are very small and uniform, about 2 to 3 minutes.

3. Increase the speed to medium-high, and slowly add the sugar to the egg whites. Continue to whip the eggs and sugar for a few minutes. Then add the vinegar to the bowl. Increase speed to high and whip the egg whites until they fluff up and become glossy, and stiff peaks form when the whisk is lifted, 4-5 minutes.

4. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold in the pecan pieces. Drop by teaspoons onto a cookie sheets that have been lined with parchment paper or Silpat.

5. Put the cookies sheet in the 300°F oven, close the door and turn the oven OFF. Leave them in the oven overnight. In the morning they should be ready - crisp on the outside, light and airy on the inside. If they are a little marshmallowy or chewy on the inside in the morning, just let them dry out for a few more hours.

Taken directly from the great blog "Simply Recipes" http://www.elise.com/recipes/archives/004371pecan_meringue_cookies.php