Nigella Lawson Forgotten Cookies

Nigella Lawson’s forgotten cookies are a cross between a meringue and a cookie, flavoured with cardamom and studded with chocolate chips and pistachios. The batch makes 12 to 14, from her book At My Table.

A friend described them as tasting like a cookie within a cookie, and at home they’re known as “Merookies”, immensely popular and ideal with coffee after dinner. The key, Nigella says, is that they’re chewy and crisp at the same time.

They’re called “forgotten” because they aren’t really baked. You put them into a hot oven, immediately turn it off, and leave them overnight to set in the fading residual heat. No active baking, just patience.

Nigella Lawson Forgotten Cookies

Recipe by Pinch Perfect

0.0 from 0 votes

Course: Dessert, SnacksCuisine: BritishDifficulty: Easy

Servings

12-14

servings

Prep time

15

minutes

Cooking timeminutes

Calories

95

kcal

Total time

15

minutes

Nigella’s “Merookies” from At My Table: a meringue-cookie hybrid flavoured with cardamom and studded with chocolate chips and pistachios, set overnight in a turned-off oven. Makes 12 to 14.

Ingredients

• 2 large eggs (at room temperature, whites only)

• 1 pinch of fine sea salt

• 100g caster sugar

• 1 teaspoon cornflour

• 1 teaspoon cider vinegar or white wine vinegar

• ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom

• 75g mini chocolate chips

• 75g finely chopped pistachios

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Directions

• Heat the oven:Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/350°F.
• Whisk the meringue:In a grease-free bowl, whisk the egg whites and salt to soft peaks. Whisk in the sugar a little at a time until thick and gleaming.
• Fold in:By hand, fold in the cornflour, vinegar and cardamom, then gently fold in the chocolate chips and most of the pistachios.
• Shape:Spoon mounded blobs, 4 to 5cm across, onto a large baking sheet lined with parchment. Sprinkle with the remaining pistachios.
• “Forget” them:Put the cookies in the oven, shut the door and immediately turn the oven off. Leave them in the turned-off oven overnight.

Notes

• (don’t forget them for real): Nigella finds it all too easy to actually forget them, so she sticks a Post-it on the oven to remind her they’re in there, so she doesn’t burn them to a cinder by preheating the oven for something else the next day.
• (make ahead / store): Best eaten within 24 hours, but keep up to 5 days in airtight containers. Don’t pack too many per container, as they crush easily, and they soften as they’re stored, faster in humid conditions.
• (freeze): Freeze in rigid airtight containers, with parchment between the cookies, for up to 1 month. To defrost, transfer to a plate at room temperature for 30 to 60 minutes, then eat soon, as they soften quickly once defrosted.
• Oven time: Overnight (in turned-off oven)

FAQs

Why are they called “forgotten” cookies?

Because of the hands-off method: you heat the oven, put the cookies in, immediately switch the oven off, and simply leave them overnight in the fading residual heat to dry out and set, rather than actively baking them. By morning they’re done, with no watching or timing. You quite literally forget about them.

Nigella’s one warning is to not forget them too well. She finds it genuinely easy to leave them in and overlook them, so she sticks a Post-it note on the oven door, so she doesn’t accidentally burn them to a cinder by preheating the oven for something else the next day. A sensible precaution worth copying.

What’s a “Merookie”, and what texture should I expect?

“Merookie” is Nigella’s home name for them, a cross between a meringue and a cookie, which is exactly what they are, described by a friend as tasting like a cookie within a cookie. The slow overnight drying gives them a crisp, light meringue-like shell with a slightly chewier, softer centre, rather than a crunchy-all-through meringue or a dense cookie.

Nigella says the key is that they’re chewy and crisp at the same time. The chocolate chips and chopped pistachios folded through give little pockets of texture and richness against the sweet meringue. They’re light, so you can happily eat a couple with coffee.

Why the cornflour and vinegar?

These two are classic meringue stabilisers that give that chewy-centred, marshmallowy quality rather than a cookie that’s crisp and dry all the way through, the same trick used in a pavlova. The cornflour helps keep the inside soft and slightly chewy, while the vinegar (cider or white wine) stabilises the whisked egg whites and keeps them from weeping or collapsing.

Fold them in gently by hand after whisking in the sugar, so you don’t knock out the air. Make sure your bowl and whisk are completely grease-free first, or the whites won’t whip to stiff, glossy peaks. A tiny amount of each is all you need for the right texture.

Can I change the flavours?

Yes, the cardamom, chocolate and pistachio combination is lovely and gives a warm, fragrant, slightly exotic note, but the recipe is a flexible template. You could swap the cardamom for a little vanilla, cinnamon or rosewater, use different nuts like almonds or hazelnuts, or vary the chocolate.

Keep the quantities of add-ins roughly the same so the meringue still holds together and sets properly, and chop nuts finely so the blobs spoon out neatly. For a richer coffee-after-dinner treat, Nigella even crushes these over an ice cream sundae. They’re in the same light, chocolatey league as her salty chocolate cookies.

My oven cools quickly. Will they still work?

They should, since they need only gentle, fading heat rather than sustained high heat, but ovens do vary. A well-insulated oven that holds its warmth for a few hours after being turned off is ideal, drying the cookies slowly overnight. If yours cools very fast, they may stay a little softer or stickier in the middle, which isn’t a disaster.

Don’t open the door overnight, as that lets the heat out. If they’re not quite dry by morning, you can give them a short blast in a low oven (around 100°C) for a few minutes to finish, watching closely. Making them on a dry, non-humid day helps too, since humidity softens meringue.

How do I store them, and can I freeze them?

They’re best eaten within 24 hours, when they’re at their crisp-chewy best, but keep up to 5 days in airtight containers. Pack only a few per container, as they’re fragile and crush easily, and expect them to soften over time, especially in humid conditions, so an airtight tin and a dry spot help.

They also freeze for up to a month in rigid airtight containers, layered with baking parchment to protect them. Defrost on a plate at room temperature for 30 to 60 minutes, then eat them soon, as they soften fairly quickly once thawed. There are more Nigella bakes on the Nigella Lawson recipes page.