Ways to use your leftover Egg Whites and Chocolate Petimezi Amygdalota Cookies

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Hello from Athens again.

I’ve been trying to write a blog post when I was in Assini for over a week unsuccessfully and I haven’t been visiting my friends’ blogs for quite a long time.  Please forgive me but there are a lot of distractions in the countryside.  You can read a post on our life in Assini here.

Besides the weather is so good that we don’t like sitting home for a long time and we usually go to the beach before lunch and after resting we go to Nafplio or Tolo.

The post describes one of our visits to Nafplio on a Saturday morning.

The other day we walked from the farmers’s market, up to the Catholic Church, then to Syntagma Square and from there we went to the Peloponnese Folklore Foundation Museum.  Both places are so beautiful that even if you just go for a walk there is always something beautiful to see.

After our stroll it was noon and yet we still wanted to go to the beach because it was so hot.  We ended back home at 3 p.m. so what’s easier than a pasta dish, right?  I made Spaghetti Aglio e Olio with Roasted Garlic and Tuna.  By the time we showered lunch was ready.  You can find the recipe for this easy, cheap and very delicious pasta dish in the same post.

We came to Athens a couple of days ago to visit our children and had some other business we had to attend to and waking early in the morning or late in the evening,  I finally managed to update my blogs.

This is an old recipe I made before coming to Assini, using leftover egg whites.  There are many recipes where only egg yolks are used.  So the question is what do you do with your leftover egg whites?

 

I must admit that when I was a novice cook and didn’t know much about cooking, I used to through them away because I didn’t know what to do with them.   I hope that you do not do the same because it’s a shame to waste anything, especially now with the economic crisis.  I try to make good use of everything.

If you do not have the time to use them immediately, you can put them in a small bowl, label them with the number of egg whites or by weight and date and deep freeze them.  Many times, I add more over the original batch and just change the labeling, without of course thawing them.   When I want to use them I remove them from the freezer and when thawed they are just as fresh ones.

I then make meringues which can be stored in air-tight containers and can last for a long time.  I use them to make lots of desserts such as Pavlova,  macaroons or macarons, amygdalota (almond cookies), angel cake and so many other desserts.

If you are on a diet you can make low fat omelettes just the way you make a usual one but only using the egg whites.  If you are not on a diet but want to eat healthier and avoid cholesterol, you can make scrambled eggs or omelettes using only one egg yolk per portion, and add a few extra egg whites to the batch.

 

This time I made a twist to amygdalota which are almond cookies.  I also used one of my favourite ingredients which is “petimezi or epsima, as it is called in Cyprus” which is a condensed grape syrup.  If you don’t have petimezi, you can substitute it with honey, other molasses or with maple syrup.

Christmas is not very far away, so save your egg whites for then.

Chocolate Petimezi Amygdalota Cookies, recipe by Ivy

Preparation time:  45 minutes

Baking time:  15

Makes: about 26 cookies

Ingredients:

• 125 grams (about 4) egg whites, at room temperature
• 80 grams dark cane sugar
• 220 grams icing sugar, sifted
• 150 grams blanched almonds
• 40 grams unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 2 vanillas
• 1 tbsp petimezi (condensed grape syrup)

Chocolate Coating:

• 250 ml heavy cream
• 250 grams dark chocolate chips
• 1 teaspoon honey
• 1 teaspoon petimezi

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 180º C / 350º F and prepare two baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. Blanche the almonds and place on kitchen paper to dry.  In a food processor grind them together with the icing sugar.
3. Beat egg whites with lemon juice until soft peaks form. Gradually add sugar and vanilla and continue until very stiff and firm, about 5 minutes.
4. Sift the dry ingredients and gently fold into the beaten egg whites with a rubber spatula.
5. Place the batter into a pastry bag.
6. Pipe the batter on the prepared baking sheets spaced apart (about 3 cm / 1 inch.
7. Bake the cookies for about 15 minutes, depending on your oven.
8. Set aside to cool completely before adding the chocolate coating.
9. Meantime, over a double bath melt the chocolate and add the cream, petimezi and honey.  Mix until they are combined and smooth.  Set aside for the glaze to cool before using.
10. Transfer them on a tray lined with parchment paper and put the cookies down side facing up. Using a spoon cover them with chocolate and wait until it starts to set.
11. Put the bowl back over the hot water so that chocolate remains runny.  If it becomes difficult to spread, put it back on the heat again (add some cream if necessary).
12. Turn the cookies over and coat them on the other side as well.
13. Refrigerate for a couple of hours until they set and then store them in the fridge, in an airtight container between parchment papers.

Other relevant recipes:

Peach Pavlova with Yoghurt and Honey

Macarons

Mont Blanc

Pastitsia or Amygdalota

Coconut and Almond Macaroons

Strawberry Pavlova

Diet Mushroom and Rosemary Omelette

Kopiaste and Kali Orexi,

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