Chewy Flourless Chocolate Cookies

By Hklbrries

"The Neiman Marcus Chocolate Chip Cookie has nothing on me. My cookies cost $400. Let me explain.

On a recent visit to San Francisco, a friend introduced me to big, dark chewy chocolate cookies sold at her local supermarket. The ingredients label listed no flour or oil - the cookies were made of egg whites and flavored with sugar and cocoa.

Back in New York, I was determined to duplicate the cookies and saw this as my chance to get the high-end mixer I had wanted for years. I had my eye of the $279 model, but my husband talked me into buying the $400 one. Men.

With mixer in hand, I beat egg whites every which way from Sunday. I tried hard peaks. I tried soft peaks. I tried rolling hills. Some of the cookies were pretty good, but none was what I wanted. Then, on a whim, I tried no peaks; in fact, I didn't beat the whites at all. When the cookies came out of the oven, I knew I'd hit on the secret. A few more iterations and I had it.

They're great cookies, even if they did set me back $400. Luckily, you can make them for pennies.'

Story and recipe by Tamar Haspel, a food writer in Marstons Mill, MA.

[The famous Neiman Marcus Chocolate Chip Cookies urban legend goes like this: A customer loves the cookie she ate at the upscale department store so much that she requests a copy of the recipe. The clerk tells her that the recipe is "two fifty." Assuming that it was $2.50, she purchases it only to find out upon receipt of her credit card bill that it was $250.]


Tips from the Test Kitchen

My eggs were quite large (fresh eggs from a friend) so I had to add another 1/4 cup of powdered sugar and a tablespoon or so of cocoa. The dough never really formed balls; more like a stiff drop cookie. Wonderful to have a gluten-free recipe to serve my wheat sensitive friends! Rich, chocolatey cookies that are nearly fat free. — Nancy Ward

To die for chocolate!!! The pecans were a great addition. Matched the description at the end of the directions. Very glossy and cracked. Incredibly chewy. One whole cup of chopped nuts was too much. I used only about 2/3 cup. The mixture was incredibly sticky, both on my metal spoon and my hands. You might want to add a note advising to grease hands. I also use a small scoop instead of trying to pry the dough off the spoon. It worked great, and I was able to get 20 cookies. They were smaller but had wonderful flavor. I think a larger cookie would have been too much chocolate (is there such a thing?). — Relish Recipe Tester Jackie Bozeman

All the adults thought these tasted good. The children were not as excited. Overall, I think this is an easy cookie to make. — Relish Recipe Tester Adrienne Lee