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Mississippi Praline Macaroons Recipe

From: Matzoh Ball Gumbo , by
Mississippi Praline Macaroons
Total Time: | Makes: 35 to 37 macaroons

This is a favorite dessert [from Ann Grundfest Gerache, Vicksburg, Mississippi] served at community Passover seders sponsored by Vicksburg’s Congregation Anshe Chesed.

Game plan: As soon as the macaroons have cooled, store them in an airtight container to keep them crisp.

Note: Recipes in Marcie Cohen Ferris’s book Matzoh Ball Gumbo were compiled from a diverse mix of Jewish Southerners who have blended religion and region through home cooking.

This recipe was featured as part of our Southern Seder story.

INGREDIENTS
  • 3 large egg whites, at room temperature
  • 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
  • Pinch salt
  • 1 cup packed light brown sugar
  • 1 cup roughly chopped pecans
  • 35 to 37 pecan halves, for topping
INSTRUCTIONS
  1. Preheat the oven to 325°. Grease 2 or 3 large baking sheets or line the sheets with foil and grease the foil.
  2. In a large bowl, with an electric mixer at medium speed, beat the egg whites, cream of tartar, and salt until frothy. Increase the mixer speed to high and continue beating, adding the brown sugar gradually (in small handfuls) and scraping the bowl once, until the whites form stiff, glossy peaks. (This will take a few minutes.) With a large rubber spatula, fold in the pecans.
  3. Drop the batter by heaping teaspoonfuls onto the prepared baking sheets, spacing them 1 inch apart. Press a pecan half into each, flattening the cookie slightly.
  4. Bake until the macaroons are set and feel hard and crisp, about 35 minutes. Transfer to wire racks to cool completely, then store in airtight containers.

From MATZOH BALL GUMBO: CULINARY TALES OF THE JEWISH SOUTH by Marcie Cohen Ferris. Copyright © 2005 by Marcie Cohen Ferris. Used by permission of the University of North Carolina Press.

This recipe, while from a trusted source, may not have been tested by the CHOW food team.

    Write a review | 18 Reviews
  • Mississippi Praline Macaroons Recipe
    4

    Very yummy, but I ended up baking them like you would meringues (i.e. v. low heat all night). FYI, cream of tartar is theoretically kosher for pesach for those of us who eat kitniyot, but you don't need it to whip the eggs (although if ur doing it by hand, it makes it easier). U can just leave it out.

  • Mississippi Praline Macaroons Recipe
    5

    I made these last Pesach (a 1/4 teaspoon of vinegar is fine instead of the cream of tartar) and they were yummy!

  • Be sure to skip the cream of tartar if you are making these for Passover, as the Chow slide show suggests. For the umpty millionth time, cream of tartar is not kosher for Passover because it contains corn starch as an anticlumping agent. I have never seen cream of tartar with a KP hechsher.

  • Would these work if you chopped up the pecans and mixed them in to the meringue?

  • IMHO these are wonderful. I toasted the pecans to up the flavor and used parchment so no butter needed. Cooked perfectly in 30 min.

  • One thing a person who loves to bake and cook should always do is invest in an oven thermometer. You can buy them in Housewares at your local Walmart or Target etc. Always check the temperature of your oven with a thermometer. My brand new expensive Magic Chef Oven is off by 55 degrees! So once you know how hot your oven runs you can calibrate your recipes accordingly and have a much better chance of success when you bake. JMHO:-)

  • A similar recipe from Betty Crocker calls these cookies macaroons as well. She uses white sugar, coconut, chocolate chips and mint extract. As to the comments of burned cookies, Crocker sets temp at 300 and calls for 20-25 minutes. I baked my for 24 minutes and they came out great. I can't speak to the quality of Chow's recipe.

  • i made them much bigger than the teaspoon full size as per the recipe and baked about 25 min before i pulled them out (very well tanned) and they were very crisp and airy. the next day they softened a bit and got a pleasant chew.

  • Arrrrrrrrrgh!
    I gave my mom the recipe and she made them for Pesach.
    The cooking time was way too long and they burnt!
    She was not too happy with me!

  • Meh. The flavor in these was a little underwhelming, although the ones I didn't burn sure were pretty.

  • From Wikipedia: the original macaroons are made with almonds and eggwhite. In North America, the coconut macaroon is the most popular. I guess you learn something new everyday!

  • p.j.,
    These are definitely meringues, but I'm pretty sure macaroons do not necessarily have to include coconut. There are almond macaroons with no coconut. Most of the commercial macaroons available these days, however, are made with coconut. I did find some almond macaroons this year, imported from Italy, which included no coconut.

  • Please note that the cream of tartar isn't kosher for Passover! It's held together with... wait for it...

    corn starch.

  • These sound delicious, but are definitely NOT macaroons, which I understand always contain lots of coconut.

    Are these really called macaroons in the cookbook??
    p.j.

  • Definitely meringues, imo.

  • Thought they were delicious!

  • Or Seafoam?

  • or Meringues?

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