Gluten Free Triple Chocolate Kiss Cookies

    

    I think I've mentioned before that I teach homeschool classes from, where else, my home. Two high school biology classes and one cooking class. Turns out half the fun is feeding these kids. You'd think they hadn't seen a homemade cookie in a month of Sundays!
    While I do the overview of the chapter, and before we get to the more fun, hands-on parts (experiments, dissections, etc) they munch on whatever goodies I made and have some milk or sweet tea. But this year I have a little gal who is gluten intolerant. Not only do I hate to have kids sit and listen to me lecture without something to munch on, but I cannot bear the idea of giving something to everyone else and having one sit there with an empty plate. It's inconceivable, to channel my inner Vizzini from The Princess Bride.
    So I have tried various gluten-free recipes this year with varying results. My most successful were Dominique Ansel's Flour-less Chocolate Pecan Cookies. Even the kids who could eat anything liked these, one boy even asked for the recipe. 
    But this batch of sweets was a close second. The recipe came from an ancient Taste of Home magazine that my grandma used to get. I clipped this recipe years ago and stashed it away, only to realize now that it is gluten-free!
    Give credit where credit is due, this recipe is said to come from an Evelyn Lindburg of Shenandoah, Iowa. Thank you for sharing, dear lady!

Here is her recipe, with only a few modifications from me:

Triple Chocolate Kiss Cookies 

2 egg whites

1/4 tsp cream of tartar

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 tsp vanilla (she used almond extract, but I don't care for it)

1 ounce semisweet chocolate, grated

42 dark chocolate kisses

baking cocoa

(note- she used milk chocolate kisses, I used dark. You could even mix it up with almond or mint ones- think of the possibilities!) 

Preheat oven- 325 degrees

In a mixing bowl, beat the egg whites till foamy. Add cream of tartar and beat until soft peaks form. Gradually add sugar, beating till stiff peaks form, about 6 minutes. Beat in extract. Fold in grated chocolate. 

Insert a large open tip (I used a Wilton #2A) in a pastry bag or snipped corner of a Ziploc bag. Fill with the meringue. 

Here's where I went out on my own some. She has you use lightly greased baking sheets and pipe the circles by eye. I traced 42 circles in pencil on parchment paper ( a quarter coin is perfect). I wanted to have my spacing right to get the most on a sheet. Plus I'm not the greatest at staying true to size :). If you choose my way, turn the parchment paper over so the pencil markers are underneath. The carbon can rub off on your meringues.

Now pipe your 42 circles. Place a kiss in the center of each one. Pipe around each kiss in a continuous circle from base to top, covering the kiss. Some of mine had gaps on the sides, but they were just as yummy and no one seemed to notice.

When all your kisses are covered, lightly dust with cocoa powder. I put mine in a fine mesh strainer and tapped the side. You could even just take a pinch and sprinkle with your fingers. 

Bake at 325 degrees for 15-18 minutes or until the edges are lightly browned. Now, I hate dry cookies and so I always take mine out early so they are still squishy. Not with meringue! I always ere on the side of cooking longer than necessary. You want these things as dry as sand so they don't get moist and wilt. 

Remove to racks to cool completely. Really. I succumbed to temptation (nothing new) and threw a vaguely cooled one in my mouth. Big mistake. The hot kiss is like a mini volcano of death. I ate more after they had cooled, but have to say I couldn't taste them anymore. Much sadness.

The kids wolfed these down like, well, like kids. And my gluten-free gal was happy as a bug. You don't have to be gluten-free to like these, but they'll be a great treat for those who don't always get to sample desert!