pecan meringue cookies

i made a batch of Elise's Pecan Meringue Cookies last night, and this is the outcome. they are not as pretty as Elise's, but they don't taste too bad. even my husband, who isn't a fan of meringue, tried them and said they were good!

the cookies on the lower tray in the oven, however, turned out a little chewy in the middle. my post baking research tells me that my oven was probably too hot. my mistake was leaving the oven on for about 2 minutes after i had put the cookies in. i waited until the thermostat returned to 300 degrees before shutting it off.

also, my cookies look gritty and i'm not sure if it's a result of the pecans being ground too fine in my blender or that the sugar was not completely dissolved. [post edit/Apr 5 - i've conferred with Elise about the grittiness of the cookies and she agrees that the pecans should never have been pulverized in the blender; best to crush into small pieces. the meringue will probably hold up better, too.] in any case, this calls for another attempt to see if i can make them look more like the fluffy clouds i always think meringues should look like. i used a handheld mixer and it whipped up the egg whites nicely, but maybe i need to whip them a little longer...

the reader of Elise's Pavlova post who shared this recipe called these "Easter cookies" and they are supposed to be hollow when you bite into them, a good reminder of the empty tomb of Jesus on Easter Sunday after the resurrection!