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Pecan macaroons made with whisked egg whites, boiled maple syrup and cinnamon, gluten-free, without flour or refined sugar. Low FODMAP without almonds, a snack and Christmas bake for your cookie tin.
Preheat the oven to 150 °C (130 °C fan). Roughly chop 15 pecan halves for decoration, finely grind the rest of the nuts and mix them with the cornflour and cinnamon.
Whisk the egg whites with the salt until stiff.
Boil the maple syrup hard in a small pan for 3 to 4 min until it bubbles and thickens slightly.
Pour the hot syrup into the egg whites in a thin stream, whisking all the time for 3 min until the mixture is glossy.
Fold in the nut mixture, use two teaspoons to place 30 small mounds on a baking tray lined with baking paper and press a piece of pecan onto each.
Bake the macaroons at 150 °C for 22 to 25 min until firm on the outside, and leave them to cool on the tray. This makes about 30 macaroons (3 per portion). They keep for about 2 weeks in an airtight tin somewhere cool and dry.
Good to know
Macaroons need sugar to hold their shape – here hot maple syrup does that job, poured into the egg whites as for an Italian meringue. Pecans instead of almonds give the macaroons a caramel-like flavour.
Swaps
Pecans → walnuts. Cinnamon → gingerbread spice. Maple syrup → coconut sugar (sprinkle it into the egg whites).
Cooking tips
The syrup must be hot when it goes into the egg whites, or the mixture will collapse. A grease-free bowl is a must for stiff egg whites.
Storage
Keeps for 2 weeks in a tin; damp air makes them soft.
Allergens
Contains pecans (tree nuts) and egg. Gluten-free. If you are pregnant, bake them all the way through.
