Jennifer Garner and her mom shared a five-ingredient cookie recipe on Instagram.The recipe comes from a vintage West Virginia community cookbook.Keeping the oven door closed is key to their light, chewy texture.
The only thing better than a beloved family recipe is one that comes with a good story. On her Instagram #PretendCookingShow, actor Jennifer Garner and her mom just shared a simple dessert recipe that’s been part of their family for quite some time. The chewy, meringue-based cookies came from a vintage community cookbook and it has the sweetest origin story.
“Welcome to Meringue Chews, because guess what? My mom is here,” Garner says at the start of the clip as she points to her mom, Patricia Garner. “Patricia, let me give you some egg whites.”
“Shall I tell the history of the Meringue Chews?” says Patricia. “I used to live in Rolling Hills subdivision [in Charleston, West Virginia] and we published a cookbook. In the first issue, Marge Aldredge put Meringue Chews.”
“It’s a cookie,” she adds, “I made it dozens of times, and then I made a failure. I’d opened the oven door to check on them—you absolutely have to keep the oven door closed! Instead of coming out light and fluffy and like a meringue, it comes out in a puddle.”
“Can you imagine?” Garner says in mock horror, “A Marge Aldredge Meringue Chew in a puddle?”
We simply can’t imagine it, but we can envision whipping up a batch of these delicious, five-ingredient desserts in our own kitchens. The ingredients for Marge’s Meringue Chews are oh-so-simple: 3 egg whites, 1 cup sugar, 1 tablespoon corn starch and 1 cup each of chopped dates and pecans. (Garner says any type of nut will do.)
Start by placing the egg whites, corn starch and sugar into a double boiler over boiling water and beat the mixture with a hand mixer for seven minutes. Then, mix in the dates and nuts and drop the mixture into cookie-like portions on baking sheets. Bake at 325 degrees F for 20 minutes and remember: Do not open the oven!
“They taste like church. They taste like growing up. They taste like Marge,” says Garner when she tries the finished product. “I remember now.”
This recipe sounds delicious, and we also love just how easily it all comes together. Plus, it’s always nice to include some nutritious ingredients in a favorite sweet recipe, and pecans and dates both have some health benefits to offer.
If this vintage cookbook find isn’t enough for you, check out some of our other favorite vintage cookbook finds, like Betty White’s five-ingredient chicken dinner. There’s also Julie Andrews’ vintage carrot cake recipe and Carol Burnett’s vegetable medley side dish—definitely enough to inspire a vintage recipe-themed dinner.
Whatever old-school dish you decide to try, be sure to follow the rules outlined in the recipe, especially since they come with years and years of experience. In addition to her “do not open the oven” rule when making Marge Aldredge’s meringue cookies, Patricia insists on adding the sugar, corn starch and egg whites at the same time and using a double boiler to prepare the mixture.
After all, no one wants a Marge Aldredge Meringue to come out of the oven in a puddle!
Dining and Cooking