Nigella Just Invented an Ingenious New Christmas Cookie

Move over, Cronut. Nigella Lawson may have just created the hottest new hybrid food. On the most recent episode of At My Table, Nigella Lawson introduced a new Christmas cookie she’s calling the “Merookie” because it’s a combination of a meringue and a cookie.

“At this time of year, I like to have something sweet in a tin,” she explained as she started demonstrating the recipe for her chewy, chocolatey meringue cookies.

The key to a Merookie, Nigella says, is that they must be chewy and crisp at the same time. They’re also richly chocolatey and flavored with pistachio and cardamom.

Nigella starts the Merookie by whipping egg whites and salt into meringue that forms soft peaks, then adding caster sugar until the meringue glistens. Then she adds cornstarch, vinegar, cardamom, mini chocolate chips, and pistachios.

The Merookies are a type of “forgotten cookie,” which means they’re left in an oven overnight to cook. People who are anxious about the idea of accidentally leaving the oven on overnight do not need to worry, though. Nigella’s forgotten cookies are prepared by heating the oven to 350°F, then putting the cookie sheet into the oven, closing the door, and immediately turning the oven off. Your house will not burn down, and in the morning, you will have a tray of perfectly prepared chewy, crispy, chocolatey Merookies that are ready to eat.

Nigella does not say to eat them for breakfast, but if I wake up to find a tray of freshly made cookies in the oven, I am definitely eating one of those cookies for breakfast.

Nigella had an even more indulgent plan in store for those Merookies than eating them for breakfast, because she ended the episode by crushing them into pieces and using them to top a decadent ice cream sundae of salted caramel ice cream, treacle sauce, and crushed Merookies.

In addition to being a great breakfast and sundae topping, Merookies seem like they’d be perfect for eating with tea or coffee, or for putting in cute tins and giving as holiday gifts.

Would you try Nigella’s meringue cookies?