Recipe: Hazelnut Meringue Kisses

Yield: About 40 cookies

Prep Time: 45 minutes + cooling time

Cook Time: 1½ hours

These two-bite, gluten-free treasures might just steal the show on the cookie tray. You’ll have more orange caramel cream than needed to fill these sandwich cookies. The leftover cream can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks and used however your heart desires.

Ingredients:

• 8 tbsp unsalted butter
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• ¼ tsp fine sea salt
• ⅓ cup whole milk +  more as needed to thin
• 1 tbsp finely grated orange zest
• 2 tsp vanilla extract, divided
• 2½ cups icing sugar, sifted, divided
• 4 large egg whites,  at room temperature
• ¼ tsp cream of tartar
• Pinch fine sea salt
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 cup toasted and skinned hazelnuts, chopped to a mix of fine  and pea-sized piece

Method:

1. Start by making orange caramel cream. In a medium, heavy-bottomed saucepan, add butter, brown sugar and salt. Place over medium heat and let mixture melt together, stirring often with a whisk.

2. Once melted and well combined, increase heat to medium high and, continuously stirring, bring mixture to a boil. Remove from heat and slowly whisk in milk and orange zest. Return saucepan to medium high and, whisking constantly, bring mixture back to a boil. Remove from heat, stir in 1 tsp vanilla extract and set saucepan aside for 25 minutes.

3. Transfer cooled mixture to bowl of a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment. Add 2 cups icing sugar and mix on low speed, scraping down sides of bowl as needed, until mixture is smooth and creamy, with the consistency of frosting. If orange caramel cream is too thick, add more milk, 1 tsp at a time, until you achieve a thick but spreadable consistency. Set aside.

4. To make hazelnut meringues, start by placing oven racks in upper and lower third of oven before preheating to 250°F. Line two baking trays with parchment paper and set aside. Prepare a piping bag with a large star or circle tip. (Take care to make sure piping tip is large enough for chopped nuts to pass through.)

5. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, add egg whites, cream of tartar and salt. Mix on medium speed until egg whites are loose and foamy (2 to 3 minutes). Increase speed to high and gradually add granulated sugar 1 tbsp at a time until egg whites are stiff and glossy. Add remaining 1 tsp vanilla extract and whisk until well incorporated. Remove bowl from stand mixer and, with a rubber spatula, add remaining ½ cup icing sugar and cinnamon. Gently fold in until mostly incorporated. Add hazelnuts and gently fold until everything is just combined.

6. Transfer meringue to the prepared piping bag. Pipe scant tablespoon mounds of meringue onto prepared baking trays, keeping each meringue about 1 inch apart. Bake meringues for 1 hour before turning oven off and letting meringues cool in the unopened oven until crisp and easily removed from parchment paper (about 1½ to 2 hours).

7. When ready to serve, pair similar sized meringues together. Smear some orange caramel cream onto one half and sandwich with another meringue on top. Repeat with remaining meringues.

8. Hazelnut meringue cookies will last for up to two weeks in an airtight container. If they become soft, re-crisp them in an oven at 200°F for 10 minutes. Turn off the oven and let them cool in unopened oven for an hour or so.