PEPPERMINT MERINGUE COOKIES

Name: Peppermint Meringue Cookies
Yield: 36 meringues
Ingredients: 3 egg whites; Pinch salt; 1/4 tsp cream of tartar; 3/4 cup superfine sugar; 1/4 tsp peppermint extract; 1 tsp gel red food coloring

With all the delicious food that we eat during the holiday, here’s a dessert that is light yet still satisfy your sweet tooth!! Peppermint Meringue is the first cookie for the 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS BAKING!!

Seasons have it’s own food. Spring has Mangoes, Summer has Peaches, Fall has Pumpkins and Winter has Peppermint!! Whenever I see candy canes and peppermint, it just reminds me that Christmas is near.

When I used to teach preschoolers, we used to give the kids some candy canes at the end of the Christmas party. I usually don’t eat them (I’m a snickers fan) but it’s the one time I always sneak one for me. I call it “Quality Control” 😛

The recipe starts by making a soft peak. It’s made by beating the egg whites with salt. It might sound weird having salt in this but it really brings out the flavor in the cookies. This is what it should look like.

The next step is to add the sugar. With other recipes, you can just dump the sugar into the bowl. Well, this is not one of those recipe. You need to gently put in the sugar and adding it a tablespoon at a time. You need to be really gentle with the egg white.

After adding the sugar, the cream of tartar and the peppermint extract, you will beat the egg whites some more and then you should have a stiff peak form. Here’s a fun way (at least I think it is!) to test if the egg white is stiff peak yet or not. Ta da ….. You flip it upside down!!!

Gently though!!! Not like flipping pancake!!! 😛 Now when it stays and it has the beautiful peak, that means it’s ready to go.

With this post, I used the open star tip. You can also use the round tips. You can also change the colors according to the season. Since I am using the peppermint extract, I thought I would use the red and white stripes to resemble the peppermint candy cane.

What’s great about this cookies is with only 3 egg whites, you can get a lot of meringue out of it. One recipe can fill 2 baking sheets. It only takes very little ingredients, yet it makes lot’s of cookies!!

Tips for making this PEPPERMINT MERINGUE COOKIES:

This cookie needs time to dry out. You can either bake it the night before or early morning.
When making the meringue, make sure that the bowl is clean and grease-free.
Room-temperature egg is the best way to make meringue.
After it’s dry, put it in an airtight container. It will get soggy if you leave it out.

Happy Baking!!!

Peppermint Meringue Cookies

These peppermint meringue is light and sweet and a great holiday treat. A great company for tea and hot cocoa.

Servings

36 meringues

Ingredients

Servings

36 meringues

Ingredients

Instructions

Preheat oven to 250 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a stand mixer bowl using a whisk attachment, beat the egg whites and salt until foamy.
Add cream of tartar and beat until it becomes soft peak form.
With the mixer on, add sugar a tablespoon at a time. Beat until it becomes stiff peak. Add the peppermint and beat again. To test if it's ready, you can flip the bowl upside down. The egg whites should stay in the bowl.
Brush 4 sides of tip-filled pastry bag with food coloring. Fill with the egg whites.
Pipe the meringue 1 inch tall and 1 inch apart. Bake for 1 hour.
Open the oven for a few minutes, turn off the oven and close the oven door. Leave the meringue in the oven for 2 hours. Store the meringue in an airtight container.