Pasencia – Filipino Meringue Cookies
If there is one cookie I’ve had the most of in sheer volume alone, pasencia cookies would easily top the list. This is one of those things you mindlessly snack on while reading a book or waiting for dinner to get done.
This recipe is an easy way to use up those pesky small amounts of leftover egg whites. For larger amounts of about a dozen whites, angel food cake comes to mind. I have yet to see a killer egg white omelet recipe, not that I’ve been actively looking for such a thing.
These fat-free meringue cookies are light and crisp with a hint of vanilla. It’s a lot like making French macarons but instead of almond flour, we use plain old wheat flour.
Pasencia Recipe – Filipino Meringue Cookies
makes about 36 bite-sized cookies
Ingredients Volume Ounces Grams all-purpose flour 1/4 cup 1.1 30 confectioner's sugar 1/2 cup 2.1 60 whites from large eggs 2 2.1 60 lemon juice 1/2 tsp vanilla extract splash granulated sugar 2 tbsp 1.1 30
Special Equipment:
- A pastry bag
- A plain round pastry tip (about 1/4- to 1/2-inch opening)
Notes:
- Have all of the ingredients at room temperature before continuing.
- You can also replace the lemon juice with 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar.
Directions:
Preheat Oven 275ºF / 135ºC
Prepare a half-sheet pan or cookie sheet lined with parchment
paper or silicone.
Mix (Sponge Process - Meringue Method)
Sift together 1/2 cup of confectioner's sugar and
flour. Set aside until needed.
In a clean bowl, whip the egg whites until frothy.
Add the lemon juice, vanilla extract, and granulated
sugar. Whip the egg whites to stiff peaks.
Using a wide rubber spatula, fold in the sifted flour
and confectioner's sugar.
Continue folding until the flour and sugar are
thoroughly absorbed and the meringue is smooth and
glossy. When tilting the bowl, the meringue should
move sluggishly.
Pipe Deposit the batter into a pastry bag fitted with a
round pastry tip (about 1/4- to 1/2-inch opening).
With the pastry tip perpendicular to the sheet pan,
pipe 3/4-inch rounds spaced about 1 inch apart.
Bake 275ºF / 135ºC for 22 to 26 minutes, or until the edges
of the cookies turn light brown.
Cool Let the cookies cool for at least 15 minutes before
removing from the sheet pan. The cookies will be
fragile while warm but will crisp as they cool.
Similar Posts
February 6th, 2009 at 12:37 am
I’ve been looking for a good meringue recipe
This looks great! Very cute cookies.
February 6th, 2009 at 1:08 am
How nice! I really want to try these they re so perfect and light
February 6th, 2009 at 1:48 am
So pretty! These cookies look interesting!
Cheers,
Rosa
February 6th, 2009 at 3:16 am
I haven’t tried these before, but they look very snacktastic!
February 6th, 2009 at 5:17 am
They look so lovely and light! Great idea to help use up the leftover egg whites too
If you find a good egg white omelette recipe I’d love to hear it too!
February 6th, 2009 at 5:26 am
What lovely cookies! I bet they’re delicious with a cup of tea!
February 6th, 2009 at 6:57 am
They look lovely, light and airy… what a fine Recipe!!!!
February 6th, 2009 at 7:46 am
Hi Jude!
I’m sure these crispy airy cookies must taste great at tea time
Is the name pasencia related to “paciencia” in Spanish language (patience in English)?
With very little patience you can eat all of them in few minutes!
February 6th, 2009 at 8:16 am
They kind of look like vanilla wafers, but I’m sure they’re much better and fresher! They also look like they’d be addictive. Are they sturdy enough to soak and use layered in a dessert as you would lady fingers?
February 6th, 2009 at 9:01 am
never seen it or try it before, but I’ll give it a try! Congrats, great pics!
February 6th, 2009 at 10:17 am
I have only made the French and Italian versions that include almonds. I love the sound of these and they look so pretty!
February 6th, 2009 at 10:36 am
This looks delicious and I hope to make these soon!
February 6th, 2009 at 11:03 am
We have a similar Thai version of these meringue “wafers,” too. (And boy, do I know about the mindless noshing …) My favorite neighborhood bakery in Bangkok’s was known for their pasteis de nata, flans, and their custardy ilk. Then there were these delicious meringue things that they sold by the kilo which, thematically, didn’t really go with other things in the store. The egg whites had to go somewhere, I guess.
Growing up graham crackers weren’t readily available in Bangkok, so I pounded these meringue wafers in my granite mortar to make cracker crumbs for cheesecake crust in lieu of the real thing. Worked beautifully.
Great job as always, Jude.
February 6th, 2009 at 12:42 pm
I love it when gorgeous is relatively easy. These are like little buttons of snacking joy.
February 6th, 2009 at 12:57 pm
Light, lovely low fat, sweet snack!
February 6th, 2009 at 1:31 pm
Oh, so that’s what they’re called. I remember eating these by the bagful as a child, but I never knew what they were or what they were called.
February 6th, 2009 at 2:18 pm
Beautiful! I always thought it was made from a whole-egg meringue (a la genoise wafers) but those look perfect, so I guess you’re right
February 6th, 2009 at 4:57 pm
Oooh, I haven’t had these in a long time. Thanks for reminding me, now got to get baking.
BTW, I made your lenguas de gato for Christmas and they were a hit. Now my family is bugging me for puto seco, got a recipe to share?
February 6th, 2009 at 5:08 pm
Great looking cookies, Jude. I’ve never known the name of these cookies, so thanks for clearing it up. It also seems like such a low volume cranks out a lot of cookies! I will definitely be giving these a try, maybe with kalamansi juice instead of lemon.
February 6th, 2009 at 6:21 pm
These remind me of little vanilla wafers – how delicious!
February 6th, 2009 at 6:48 pm
Oh! Pasensya/pasencia!! It’s been a while! I remember going to a bakery with my aunt when I was a wee one and telling her I wanted these (not knowing the name). She kept saying “pasensya” so I thought that she wasn’t going to get me any! “Pasensya nalang.” =D
February 6th, 2009 at 11:07 pm
How cute- They look like foot-less macarons!
February 6th, 2009 at 11:52 pm
Thanks for sharing the recipe & lovely photos! There’s another type of pacencia that I like as well, those with glossier tops & with feet, they look exactly like mini French macarons. I would appreciate if you can also make them as pacencia version # 2. Hope it’s not asking too much. Thanks!
February 7th, 2009 at 2:58 am
these look really good to much on. Beautiful! And I really like the collection of cookies you have down there.
February 7th, 2009 at 8:32 am
upon first glance, these look like little ‘nilla wafers, and to know that they’re actually lighter in texture and certainly more tasty puts a big fat smile on my face.
February 7th, 2009 at 3:58 pm
They look like cute buttons! I attempted a version of uraro cookies but the recipe I used had quite a bit of butter. These look great and something to definitely try.
February 7th, 2009 at 4:07 pm
Egg white omelets – shudder. Give me eggs over easy with that tasty runny yolk please! And if I didn’t currently have a macaron obsession, I’d definitely look into making these – they look wonderful and light.
February 7th, 2009 at 7:59 pm
If only you lived next door. I could give you my yolks and I would take your whites. I have egg whites nearly every morning for breakfast. I never get sick of them.
Once in a while though I think I could give up my omelette to make these yummy little cookies. I love meringue cookies. Ah, yes, and macarons too.
February 7th, 2009 at 10:03 pm
I’ve never met an egg white omelet I liked either.
February 7th, 2009 at 11:23 pm
Delicious little treats! There are always some egg whites leftovers in my fridge. Thank you, Jude, for the recipe!
February 8th, 2009 at 10:41 am
Cute little one. what a neat job you do Jude! The shaped u have dropped there are picture perfect.
February 8th, 2009 at 2:09 pm
The cookies are darling. Love the polka-dot photo of them ready to be baked.
LL
February 8th, 2009 at 8:39 pm
Ok, I’ll take a dozen or two of those. How cute are they and they look so easy to make too.
February 9th, 2009 at 1:19 am
They look so cute, and are all of uniform sizes … very professionally made =)
February 9th, 2009 at 4:39 am
This cookies are so beautiful ! (And I love the soup bowls !)
February 9th, 2009 at 9:55 pm
Wow great piping. They look like perfect little buttons laid out by a machine. And the baked cookies look delcious!
February 9th, 2009 at 10:40 pm
My Norwegian aunt makes something similar to this but they’re spicy, like ginger snaps. We fill jars full of them and I have the hand-to-mouth syndrome for days with those babies.
February 10th, 2009 at 8:56 am
Oh gawd! this is a blast from the past.. i love these cookies too and i ate them often! so funny.. thanks for reminding me.
February 11th, 2009 at 12:53 am
Gera, Yup it’s definitely related. I have no idea how it got its name but your guess sounds good to me.
Lisa, I’m almost sure pasencia will disintegrate if soaked. Worth a try, though
Leela, Sounds like a pretty smart way use up the egg whites. The cheesecake crust idea sounds good.
Caroline, Hmm puto seko. Never seen a recipe for that. I have one for puto maya, though.
ts, I kept hearing that same pasencia line, too. Sucks that it had nothing to do with cookies whenever I heard it
March, I’ve been trying to figure out how to make ones with feet but I can’t replicate it. I’m convinced they have some sort of mini mold to get the feet. I’ll keep trying, though.
February 11th, 2009 at 8:05 am
You had me at fat free. Alright, I drooled over the photos before I knew my hips would love them. And your piping skills are very impressive
By the way, I’m perfecting my mushroom soup recipe just so I can make your bread bowls. See what you’ve done!
February 15th, 2009 at 4:08 pm
How sweet. Didn’t realise from the first photo how tiny they are…just a nice little nibble. Lemon, vanilla, a bit of crunch. Bet they would be great with tea, too.
February 17th, 2009 at 7:34 pm
delicious! pretty easy to make, although i could use some more experience with the pastry bag. waiting for a batch to cool .. had one already, though. delicious. so light, so airy, so refreshing. thanks for the recipe!
April 1st, 2009 at 12:25 am
i love pacencia. specially when it melts in my mouth.
April 18th, 2009 at 12:42 am
Oh my goodness…
I just made these right now, and considering the simplicity of the recipe these taste so good!
I also had some leftover mixture in the pastry bag so I ended up piping the rest into one muffin tin.
The result was almost a light, airy and just right souffle like texture! It was really really soft and had the right amount of the egg-y taste of a souffle, and it was so delicious. Next time, I’ll try piping all of the mixture into the muffin tray and see what happens
Thank you so much for sharing!
April 19th, 2009 at 9:57 pm
Nancy – Glad to hear they turned out well! Interesting tip with using a muffin pan. I’ll have to try that out.
May 5th, 2009 at 10:43 pm
I’m from the Philippines and I used to buy these cookies all the time when I was in gradeschool! A company packages them here in and sells them in stores, calls them “eggnog cookies.”
May 13th, 2009 at 5:46 am
Im bookmarking this recipe because me and my son are both crazy about pasencia
Thanks for sharing the recipe!
August 17th, 2009 at 6:53 am
Do post the recipe for the ‘footed’ pasencia when you crack the secret (they’re called Pasencia White (wheat drop cookies) on the La Pacita label). I grew up on these cookies and would love to learn how to make them for my kiddies. I will give your posted recipe a go and with bated breath I shall await your recipe for the delicately white-domed and footed version. As it’s been said, patience is a virtue. Your photos look good enough to eat, btw, and a big thanks for sharing the goods.
June 19th, 2010 at 12:09 am
Thank you for this great recipe. Really one of my favorite. i wonder how can we get rid of small bubbles at the top of the cookie when already cooked? Has anyone encounter that?
October 24th, 2010 at 2:07 pm
Hello, your blog is very interesting. The content is really interesting, but sorry i don’t like your website theme, maybe you find better wp themes when you search on yahoo for “the best wordpress themes”.
November 25th, 2010 at 2:17 am
wow thank you for this recipe. they look delicious. this has always been my childhood favorite snack. i have always mistaken eggnog cookies for this one. i will surely try this recipe this weekend. cheers to all those who brought back childhood mem’ries of pasencia cookies!
December 12th, 2010 at 12:09 pm
I made these and they were yummy! My son & I couldn’t stop eating them. They are light and crisp with a chewy center. Quick to make and mine disappeared very quickly!
May 5th, 2011 at 5:33 pm
Its like you read my mind! You appear to know so much about this, like you wrote the book in it or something. I think that you can do with some pics to drive the message home a little bit, but instead of that, this is great blog. An excellent read. I’ll definitely be back.
August 7th, 2011 at 4:26 pm
Attractive section of content. I just stumbled upon your weblog and in accession capital to assert that I get in fact enjoyed account your blog posts. Anyway I’ll be subscribing to your augment and even I achievement you access consistently rapidly.
March 15th, 2012 at 9:46 am
Hi,thanks for your post and luckly to comment in your site!Nike Zoom Vapor VI Tour Men`s tennis shoe is a wonderful shoe well-known in the tennis courts. Mrs Remi Tinubu’s campaign often touted the word, ‘Liberation’. We may not all agree with the?socialist country?Obama is trying to build, but we will agree that the man has pushed that lofty American ideal of democracy and the choice of the people much more than any recent American president. Dansko’s Professional clog is perfect for the man who can’t be slowed down by discomfort. Compared to the shoes for the girls, boys tennis shoes are more durable and do not have a size for the girls. If you are not the ‘high heeled’ person, your wedding might not be the best time to try one out as all eyes would be on you as you glide uncomfortably down the aisle.
March 16th, 2012 at 2:23 am
kostka harmony
April 9th, 2012 at 3:59 pm
Absolutely pent content, Really enjoyed examining.
July 25th, 2012 at 1:00 pm
[...] Adapted from here [...]
October 5th, 2012 at 1:39 pm
[...] to have cookies that tasted like coffee and funny me, I want my cookies snappy or crunchy, like paciencia biscuits. I also experimented on a recipe based on a recipe that I found on Baking [...]
May 14th, 2013 at 11:16 pm
Shopping for a new or used car can be a difficult process if you do
not know what you are doing. By educating yourself about
car shopping before you head to the dealership, you can make
things easier for yourself. The following tips can help your next shopping trip be more enjoyable.