Empty Tomb Resurrection Cookies
These Empty Tomb Resurrection Cookies provide a fun and creative way to engage children in the Easter story. The recipe is perfect for little hands and gives you an opportunity to teach the children about Jesus. Refer to the blog post for scripture readings and talking points about how the ingredients symbolize some of the elements of Easter. The cookies are light, airy, and crisp on the outside, with a soft, slightly chewy center. They melt like marshmallows in your mouth. Check the notes for flavor variations.The empty tomb means He is risen!
Servings: 14 to 16 cookies
Ingredients
- 1⅓ cups malted milk balls or whole pecans
- 1 teaspoon white vinegar
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 4 egg whites
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract or see notes for more flavor ideas
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 275°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
- Place the candy (or nuts) in a resealable plastic bag. Use a meat mallet or rolling pin to pound them until they look like fine gravel.
- Place the vinegar and salt in a large glass or metal mixing bowl. (Make sure there is no greasy residue in the bowl).
- Add the egg whites to the bowl and beat them with an electric mixer on high speed. When the egg whites get foamy, slowly pour in the sugar with the mixer running.
- Continue beating the egg whites until they get to the stiff peak stage (they will look shiny and have pointy mounds that will stand upright when you lift the beaters). Once you reach this stage, beat the egg whites for 15 to 20 more seconds. At this point, you can also add flavorings like vanilla extract, almond extract, or mint extract.
- Dump the crushed candy or nuts into the whipped egg whites. Use a wide spatula and use a gentle folding motion to mix them into the whites. When they are well distributed, give the batter two or three more stirs (a few extra stirs will slightly over-mix the batter, and make sure the cookies have a larger hollow pocket).
- Drop 1-tablespoon sized mounds of the meringue onto the baking sheet.
- Place the baking sheet in the hot oven and immediately turn the oven off but keep the oven door closed.
- Let the cookies stay in the oven overnight or for at least 6 hours.
- Keep the oven light on and peak at the meringue cookies after the first 30 minutes. If you notice tiny droplets of liquid on the meringues, that is a sign that your oven was not preheated enough. You can turn the oven back on at 250°F for 15 to 20 minutes, then turn the oven off but don't open the door.
- In the morning, open the oven and remove the cookies. When you take a bite, the cookies will be hollow.
Video
Notes
- If you don’t have a meat mallet, you can use a rolling pin or wooden spoon to crush the candy or nuts.
- Make sure your bowl and beaters are perfectly clean. If you have even a small amount of grease or residue on the beaters or bowl, the egg whites will not whip up properly. Use a glass or metal bowl because plastic bowls are susceptible for retaining unseen grease.
- To maintain the texture, as soon as the meringue cookies cool, store them in an airtight container. They do not need to be refrigerated. The interior will get slightly crisper each day you store them unless they come in contact with humidity. Humidity will make them wet and sticky.
- Stiff peak stage: Egg whites will be at the stiff peak stage when they look shiny and you can see pointy peaks stand up straight when you lift the beaters.
Variations:
Add the following additions for different flavors.- 1 cup toasted, smashed pecans and ½ teaspoon of almond extract.
- Crushed Girl Scout mint cookies and ¼ teaspoon peppermint extract.
- Crushed crispy lemon cookies and ½ teaspoon lemon extract.
Nutrition
Serving: 1 | Calories: 63kcal | Carbohydrates: 14g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 1g | Sodium: 31mg | Sugar: 14g
