August 18: Chocolate Nut Toasts

Chocolate Nut Toasts

Ingredients:
1/2 oz unsweetened chocolate
2 large egg whites, room temperature
1/4 cup plus 2 teaspoons (2 oz) granulated sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup minus 1 tablespoon (2 oz) all-purpose flour
1/2 cup chopped almonds or a mix of almonds and other nuts
1/2 cup mixed dried fruit, such as apricots, raisins, and cranberries

1. Preheat the oven to 350 and place a rack in the center. Line 6 muffin cups with paper liners and spray the liners with flour-added baking spray. Alternatively, you can skip the paper liners and just spray the muffin cups.
2. Melt the chocolate in a small, microwave-safe bowl, using 50% power and stirring at 30-second intervals.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment or in a large mixing bowl, using a handheld electric mixer on high speed, beat the egg whites until stuff peaks form. Gradually add the sugar, and then beat in the salt, almond extract, and vanilla. With a large scraper, fold in the flour. Fold in the melted chocolate, almonds, and fruit.
4. Spoon the mixture into the muffin cups, dividing equally among all six, and bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes, or until the "muffins" appear dry and the edges are lightly browned (it's harder to tell with chocolate, but 20 minutes should do the trick). Remove from the oven and let cool slightly, then remove from the muffin cups and pull off the paper liners. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely, then wrap loosely in foil and chill for about 4 hours, or until very cold. This makes the "muffins" much easier to slice.
5. Reduce the oven temperature to 200. Lay the cold "muffins" in their sides, and using a large serrated knife, slice them into thin rounds. You should get at least 3 rounds and 1 stubby-looking top per muffin. Arrange the rounds in one big layer on a baking sheet and bake at 200 for 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until dried out. They'll dry out even more as they cool, so if the centers aren't completely firm after the full baking time, take them out anyway. Let cool completely on a wire rack. Store in a tightly covered container.

Addition of the sugar to the stiff peaks

Addition of the extracts

Addition of the flour

Addition of the melted chocolate

Addition of the raisins

Addition of the almonds

Thoughts: I was going to use a variety of mixed fruit because I thought I had both dried cherries and raisins, but I could only find raisins. I had a hard time yielding 4 slices per "muffin". It was more like 2 plus one stubby. Otherwise it was pretty straight forward recipe....too bad they were gross. I had a hard time trying to convince Patrick to try one, but once he did, he didn't like it at all. I thought he was being crazy, but then I tried it and felt the same way! Eww.