Forgotten Cookies Are The Retro Treats That Are Made With An Unconventional Baking Method

Whether you're baking snickerdoodles, gingerbread, or chewy pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, nothing feels longer than the period between when you put your cookies into the oven and when they're ready. But what if we told you that you could go to bed at night and wake up to an oven full of freshly baked cookies? Enter forgotten cookies, a retro meringue-based chocolate chip cookie named for its unconventional baking method: You leave them in a warmed (but powered-down) oven overnight.

Also known as nighty nites and no peeks, these easy cookies are made with egg whites, a pinch of salt, sugar, vanilla extract, semisweet chocolate chips, and, depending on the recipe, nuts. Like other retro desserts your grandparents enjoyed, forgotten cookies are a mid-century recipe that's become a staple at potlucks and church picnics – and for good reason. Similar to no-bake snickerdoodle cookie dough balls, they're super easy to put together.

You start by beating the egg whites and salt until frothy, then gradually fold in the remaining ingredients. Add small mounds of the mixture onto a nonstick baking surface and preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. As soon as the cookies are inside, turn off the oven and let them cook slowly for 8 hours, or overnight.

This unconventional technique works because the cookies are meringue-based. Meringue requires a low-and-slow baking environment, such as the residual heat from a gradually cooling oven, to dry out and achieve an irresistible, crispy yet melt-in-your-mouth texture. It's also the perfect baking technique for whipping up a batch of cookies late at night, then enjoying them with your morning coffee or packing them up to bring to a social event.

While forgotten cookies are pretty easy to bake, you can't rush them. Make sure your oven is preheated to the correct temperature before you put the cookies in, then turn it off. Also, meringue cookies need hours to properly dry out, which is why leaving them in the oven overnight works. If you remove them from the oven too soon, they'll end up with a sticky texture. Humid conditions can also affect the texture, since the sugar in the meringue absorbs moisture from the air.  If you've removed your forgotten cookies from the oven and they feel sticky, put them back in the oven and bake for 5-10 minutes at 300 degrees Fahrenheit, or until they are crispy.

Once you've mastered the baking technique, forgotten cookies are easy to tweak and customize. For example, there are divinity cookies, which use the same recipe but forgo chocolate chips in favor of pecans. But really, you can add nearly any kind of chopped nut and it would taste delicious — even better if you throw in some chocolate chips or drizzle the tops of the finished cookies with melted chocolate.

You don't have to stop there. You could also experiment with different flavors of chips — think caramel or white chocolate — swap out the vanilla extract for another flavor entirely, or add food coloring and sprinkles to coordinate with holiday colors. Whatever you choose to add to your cookies, this is an excellent recipe for those busy times when you need an easy-to-make dessert for the next day.