Galletas Blancas de Nuez

Name: Galletas Blancas de Nuez
Yield: makes about 4 dozen
Ingredients: 2 1/2 cups finely chopped pecans; 1/3 cup all-purpose flour; 1/2 teaspoon baking powder; Pinch of salt; 4 egg whites, at room temperature; 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar; 1 cup superfine sugar

December 14, 2011

It was dark and chilly outside as my friend Claudia Santa Cruz showed me how to make these marvelous crunchy morsels. As the egg whites whipped, her youngest daughter (about eight years old and a natural-born chef) measured the sugar she would later carefully pour. We moved to the dining room and three generations filled countless trays of the white kisses that would sit in the oven overnight. Claudia’s mother took several to her home because they didn’t all fit in the oven. I woke up around 5 A.M. to take a peek, and there was evidence that someone else had already been there, so I knew it was okay to take one. I took another, and before I realized it, I’d had a full meringue breakfast in the silent morning.

Recipe notes

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