Meringue Cookies

Just 5 ingredients create this beautiful, crunchy, sweet, light, low calorie & airy little cookie.

Happy New Year!!

The holidays have officially come and gone, and now begins the long, boring stretch of Winter. This is the time of year I look forward to the least. Not a huge fan of the January, February & March months- I feel like there's never anything to do & nothing ever going on. I'll be counting down the days til Spring! However, the one thing I do work on this time of year (which I suppose is mostly everyone), is getting back on track to healthy, light-eating lifestyle after all the heavy foods over the holiday season (although it may not last long, hah!).

That said, that doesn't mean my sweet tooth disappears! I decided to make some meringue cookies to munch on as I go through holiday eating withdrawal.

I had so much fun making these! These little crisps can be made with different kinds of extracts, or colors, you can make different shapes, you can dip these in chocolate...they're the perfect canvas for anything you want to make of them. I was feeling vanilla, blue & pink. 🙂

They are the perfect cookie for this time of year. If you've never made them before, you should know while they are just 5 simple ingredients, meringues can give you some trouble. Here are my notes to ensure success:

-These take some careful prep time. Make sure you have everything all set before starting.

-Your bowls, whisking attachment need to be absolutely clean- free of moisture or grease. If not, your whites will not whip up properly.

-Make sure there is ZERO yolk sneaking into your whites. Crack your eggs separately into a small bowl before adding them to your mixing bowl.

-The sugar needs to be added VERY slowly. If the sugar is dumped in too quickly, it can deflate your egg whites. I slowly poured a couple of tablespoons at a time (creating a small stream of sugar), waiting about a minute in between the next round while continuing to mix.

-Once you achieve your stiff, glossy peaks, stop mixing! It's easy to over beat- take it from me!

-Store in a airtight bag or container- any moisture will affect the texture of the cookie.

-Be prepared to deal with a sticky mess afterward. 🙂

Recipe By: SugarSpunRun

Meringue Cookies

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Just 5 ingredients create this beautiful, crunchy, sweet, light, low calorie & airy little cookie.

Ingredients

• 4 egg whites (at room temp)
• 1 c of white sugar
• ½ tsp cream of tarter
• Pinch of salt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• Assorted food colorings if desired!

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 225°F. Line baking sheets with parchment.
2. In a stand up mixer or using a hand mixer with a whisk attachment, beat egg whites on medium speed until frothy.
3. Add cream of tartar & salt; increase speed to medium high; beat until soft peaks form.
4. Add sugar, 2 tablespoons at a time, slowly pouring, beating until sugar is dissolved and stiff peaks form.
5. Beat in extract and mix in food color as desired.
6. Put mixture into an extra large piping bag fitted with desired tip. I use a drinking glass to hold the bag as I scoop the meringue into the top- definitely helpful! If you don’t have a piping bag, you can drop onto the tray using a teaspoon or cookie scoop.
7. Pipe or scoop cookies, sizing them at about 1 to 1 ½ inches in diameter.
8. Bake both sheets of meringues at the same time for 1 hour. Turn oven off. Let meringues stand in oven until it is completely cool; do not open the oven at all!
9. Once cooled, remove sheets. The cookies should be crisp all the way through. If they have a bit of chew, bake for an additional 20 minutes again.

Notes

These take some careful prep time. Make sure you have everything all set before starting.

Your bowls, whisking attachment need to be absolutely clean- free of moisture or grease. If not, your whites will not whip up properly.

Make sure there is ZERO yolk sneaking into your whites.

Once you achieve your stiff, glossy peaks, stop mixing! It's easy to over beat- take it from me!

Store in a airtight bag or container- any moisture will affect the texture of the cookie.

Recipe adapted from: SugarSpunRun