I spent two years thinking my grandma was messing with me when she told me about forgotten cookies. She'd say "Put them in the oven at bedtime and forget about them till morning," and I'd nod along thinking she was being poetic or something. Nope. She meant it literally. You stick cookies in a hot oven, turn the whole thing off, go to bed, and wake up to perfectly done cookies just sitting there. I thought she was either confused or pranking me until I tried it myself at 10 PM on a random Tuesday because I couldn't sleep and had three egg whites left over from making carbonara for dinner.
Why You'll Love These Forgotten Cookies
I make these old fashioned forgotten cookies at least once a month, and it's not because I'm on some vintage recipe hunt. It's because they use up egg whites I'd normally throw away feeling guilty, they're done in the morning without me doing anything after 10 PM, and they last for weeks in a container without getting gross or stale. Plus they look impressive enough to bring somewhere and people think I worked hard on them. The actual work is maybe fifteen minutes of whipping egg whites and folding in chocolate chips. Everything else is the oven just sitting there overnight doing its thing while I'm dead asleep.
What really got me is you basically can't mess these up. I've tried. Left them in the oven twelve hours instead of eight because I overslept? Perfect. Opened the oven at 3 AM because I panicked and had to check? Still fine. Used milk chocolate instead of dark, walnuts instead of pecans, no nuts at all? All turned out good. The meringue base is so forgiving that if you whip the egg whites stiff and don't open the oven for at least six hours, you're getting cookies. liam helped make a batch when he was eight, dropped chips all over the floor, licked the beater, made a disaster, and they were still great.
Jump to:
- Why You'll Love These Forgotten Cookies
- Ingredients For Forgotten Cookies
- How To Make Forgotten Cookies Step By Step
- Storing and Freezing Forgotten Cookies
- Variations
- Equipment For Forgotten Cookies
- Smart Swaps for Forgotten Cookies
- Top Tip
- FAQ
- Go Make These Tonight (Put Them In Before You Sleep)
- Related
- Pairing
- Forgotten Cookies
Ingredients For Forgotten Cookies
The Base:
- Egg whites
- Granulated sugar
- Cream of tartar
- Vanilla extract
- Salt
The Mix-Ins:
- Semi-sweet chocolate chips
- Chopped pecans
- Mini chocolate chips
For Serving:
- Powdered sugar for dusting
- Nothing else, they're perfect plain
See recipe card for quantities.
How To Make Forgotten Cookies Step By Step
Get Your Oven Ready First:
- Preheat your oven to 350°F
- Line two baking sheets with parchment paper
- Set them aside while you make the meringue
- Don't skip the parchment or they'll stick like crazy
Whip Those Egg Whites:
- Put room temperature egg whites in a completely clean bowl
- Add cream of tartar and salt
- Start beating on medium speed until foamy
- Gradually add sugar while beating
- Keep going until stiff peaks form - takes about 5-7 minutes
- The meringue should be glossy and hold its shape when you lift the beater
Add the Good Stuff:
- Pour in vanilla extract and beat for 10 more seconds
- Dump in chocolate chips and pecans
- Fold them in gently with a spatula
- Don't stir hard or you'll deflate the meringue
- Just fold until everything's mixed in
Get Them in the Oven:
- Drop spoonfuls of meringue onto your lined baking sheets
- Make them whatever size you want, they don't spread
- Space them about an inch apart just in case
- Don't worry about making them perfect, rustic looks good
The Weird Part:
- Put both sheets in your 350°F oven
- Close the door
- Set a timer for exactly 2 minutes
- When it beeps, turn the oven completely off
- Do NOT open the door
- Go to bed or leave the house or whatever
- Leave them alone for at least 8 hours, preferably overnight
Morning Time:
- Open the oven door after at least 8 hours
- Your cookies are done
- They'll be dry and crispy and ready to eat
- Peel them off the parchment carefully
Storing and Freezing Forgotten Cookies
Counter Storage (2-3 weeks):
- Let them cool completely first
- Store in an airtight container
- Put parchment paper between layers so they don't stick
- Keep at room temperature, not the fridge
- They stay crispy for weeks
What Kills Them:
- Humidity makes them sticky and gross
- Storing them in the fridge makes them weep and get soggy
- Leaving them uncovered turns them stale
- Stacking without paper makes them stick together
Freezing (Don't Recommend):
- Technically you can freeze them for 2 months
- They get weird and lose their crispness when thawed
- Not worth it honestly
- Better to just make fresh batches
If They Get Soft:
- Pop them back in a 200°F oven for 10 minutes
- Lets them dry out and crisp back up
- Works if you live somewhere humid
- I do this every summer because my kitchen's damp
Travel Tips:
- Pack in hard containers, not bags
- Layer with parchment or wax paper
- Don't stack too high or bottom ones get crushed
- They travel surprisingly well for something so delicate
Variations
From months of experimenting because I got bored making the same version every time, here are the forgotten cookie variations that actually worked:
Double Chocolate:
- Use cocoa powder (2 tablespoons) with the egg whites
- Add dark chocolate chips
- Fold in white chocolate chunks
- Dust with cocoa powder when done
- liam's current obsession
Peppermint Chocolate Christmas:
- Add peppermint extract instead of vanilla
- Use dark chocolate chips
- Crush candy canes and fold them in
- These are Christmas forgotten cookies at every family party now
- My mom requests them every year
Turtle Style:
- Add chopped pecans
- Mix in chocolate chips
- Drizzle with caramel after they're done
- Sprinkle with sea salt
- Tastes like the candy
Almond Joy Version:
- Use almond extract instead of vanilla
- Add mini chocolate chips
- Fold in sweetened shredded coconut
- Top with sliced almonds
- My sister won't let me make any other kind anymore
Espresso Chocolate:
- Mix instant espresso powder with the sugar
- Add dark chocolate chunks
- Fold in chopped walnuts
- Perfect with coffee in the morning
- Tastes fancy but takes the same effort
Lemon Blueberry (No Chocolate):
- Add lemon zest and lemon extract
- Fold in dried blueberries
- Skip the chocolate and nuts entirely
- Lighter and more summery
- Good for people who don't like chocolate (weird people, but they exist)
Equipment For Forgotten Cookies
- Electric mixer (hand mixer or stand mixer, both work)
- Large mixing bowl (metal or glass, NOT plastic)
- Rubber spatula for folding
- Baking sheets (at least two)
- Parchment paper or silicone baking mats
- Measuring cups and spoons
Smart Swaps for Forgotten Cookies
Egg White Stuff:
- Fresh egg whites → Carton egg whites (works fine, actually easier)
- Cream of tartar → Lemon juice (use same amount, works okay)
- Room temp → Cold eggs (takes way longer to whip but eventually works)
Sugar Options:
- Granulated → Superfine sugar (dissolves faster, makes smoother meringue)
- White sugar → Can't use brown sugar, it won't whip right
- Regular amount → Less sugar makes them less sweet but also less stable
Chocolate Choices:
- Semi-sweet chips → Milk chocolate (sweeter, obviously)
- Chocolate chips → Dark chocolate chunks (my favorite version)
- Regular chips → Mini chips (distribute better throughout)
- Chips → Chopped chocolate bars (fancier but works great)
Nut Swaps:
- Pecans → Walnuts (classic swap, totally fine)
- Pecans → Almonds (slice them thin first)
- Nuts → No nuts at all (makes them crispier)
- Regular nuts → Toasted nuts (way better flavor)
Mix-In Ideas:
- Just chocolate → Just nuts (weird but some people like it)
- Chocolate and nuts → Toffee bits and chocolate
- Standard → Dried cranberries and white chocolate
- Regular → Peppermint chips for Christmas
Top Tip
- I destroyed my first batch of these pecan and chocolate forgotten cookies because I got distracted and forgot to turn the oven off. Not the good kind of forgetting these cookies need - the bad kind where I left the oven running at 350°F all night long. Woke up at 6 AM to the smoke alarm screaming and the whole house smelling like burnt sugar and death. The cookies were black charcoal pucks stuck to the pan like cement.
- That disaster taught me to use three timers. Sounds crazy but it works. Timer one beeps after two minutes to tell me turn the oven off - that's the important one. Timer two goes off thirty seconds later as backup in case I'm in the bathroom when timer one beeps. Timer three is set for eight hours later to tell me the cookies are done and I can open the oven. This system is bulletproof. Haven't burnt a single batch since I started doing three timers.
FAQ
What are forgotten cookies?
Forgotten cookies are meringue cookies you stick in a hot oven for two minutes, then turn the oven completely off and leave overnight. They "cook" in the leftover heat while you're asleep, which is why they're called forgotten - you literally forget about them until morning. They come out crispy and light with a kinda chewy center, usually with chocolate chips and nuts mixed in the meringue. My grandma made them every Christmas and I thought she made up the name until I found out it's a real actual recipe.
Why are they called forgotten cookies?
Because you put them in the oven at night and forget about them while they slowly dry out overnight with the oven turned off. The name's from the baking method, not because someone screwed up and forgot them by accident. Though I did forget to turn my oven off the first time and burnt them all to black rocks. That's a different kind of forgetting though.
Is Forgotten Cookies Indica or Sativa?
That's a totally different thing - there's weed called Forgotten Cookies. This recipe is just regular meringue cookies with chocolate chips that you bake overnight. No drugs. Just egg whites, sugar, and chocolate. People get these confused all the time when they Google it and I have no idea why anyone named a pot strain after cookies.
What are the six basic cookies?
The six basic cookie types are drop cookies, rolled cookies, pressed cookies, molded cookies, bar cookies, and sandwich cookies. Forgotten cookies are drop cookies since you drop blobs of meringue on the pan. Though the baking method's pretty weird compared to normal drop cookies that actually bake like regular cookies instead of sitting in a dead oven all night.
Go Make These Tonight (Put Them In Before You Sleep)
You've got everything now - the three-timer system so you don't burn your house down like I almost did, why the oven needs to hit 350°F for real before you shut it off, how stiff those egg whites need to get before you dump in the chocolate chips. These forgotten cookies went from being this weird thing my grandma talked about that I thought she made up to something I make twice a month whenever I have egg whites sitting around. They're bizarre, they're stupid easy, they use stuff you already own, and waking up to fresh cookies just sitting there in your oven beats having to actually make breakfast.
Want more stuff that looks way harder than it is? Make our Delicious Gingerbread Snowball Cookies Recipe that dissolve in your mouth and smell like Christmas year-round. Or try the Best Snowy Bavarian Bliss Cake Recipe that's so fluffy and light you're basically eating sweet air. And if you want something warm and sticky that doesn't take forever, the Easy Sticky Toffee Pudding in 5 Simple Steps is what I make when I need to impress someone fast. All three are like these forgotten cookies - look fancy, taste amazing, way easier than they seem.
Share your forgotten cookies! liam gets excited seeing people make "his" cookies even though they're not his, they're everybody's. And if your first batch fails or you forget to turn the oven off like I did, send that disaster picture too. Everyone screws up. I'll help you figure out what happened so round two works.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Rate this and tell me if you already knew about forgotten cookies or if this is brand new to you! I'm curious how many people grew up eating these versus never hearing about them.
Related
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
Pairing
These are my favorite dishes to serve with Forgotten Cookies
Forgotten Cookies
Equipment
- 1 Electric mixer (Hand or stand mixer)
- 1 Large mixing bowl (Metal or glass only)
- 1 Rubber spatula (For folding mix-ins)
- 2 Baking sheets (Line with parchment paper)
- As needed Parchment paper (Prevents sticking)
- 1 set Measuring cups & spoons
- 1 Timer (For the "turn off oven" step)
Ingredients
- 3 large Egg whites - Room temperature
- ¾ cup Granulated sugar - Superfine if possible
- ¼ teaspoon Cream of tartar - Or same amount lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract - Substitute almond or peppermint for variations
- ⅛ teaspoon Salt
- 1 cup Semi-sweet chocolate chips - Or mini chips, chunks, etc.
- ½ cup Chopped pecans - Optional
- Powdered sugar - For dusting after baking
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C) and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Beat egg whites with cream of tartar and salt until foamy. Gradually add sugar and whip until stiff, glossy peaks form. Add vanilla.
- Gently fold in chocolate chips and pecans with a spatula until evenly combined.
- Drop spoonfuls of meringue onto prepared sheets, bake for 2 minutes, then turn oven completely off without opening the door.
- Leave cookies in the closed oven overnight (at least 8 hours). In the morning, remove, peel off parchment, and enjoy.
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