Meringue Cookies

Here is day 8 of the 12 days of Christmas cookies!

Meringue cookies remind me of snowflakes. They are airy, light, and they melt on your tongue!

Today’s cookie will add a little lightness to your cookie trays and a festive burst of color. A few simple ingredients will give you a delicious cookie. Cool minty flavor with just a hint of chocolate, each bite truly will melt your cares away! (Hmmm…maybe I’ve eaten just a few too many!)

Meringue Cookies
Makes…a few dozen, depending on how big you make them
Prep time: 10 minutes     Bake time: 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 hours

3 egg whites, room temperature
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 cup sugar
Green gel food coloring
1 1/2 teaspoon mint extract
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.

In a stand mixer, beat egg whites and cream of tartar on low-speed until combined. Turn the mixer to high-speed and let the egg whites come to soft peaks (when you pull the beater up, the tip of the egg whites curls back down). Lower the speed just a little, and slowly add in the sugar. Return to high-speed and beat till stiff peaks (after lifting the beater, the tip of the egg whites should stay upright in a peak).
On low-speed, add in a few drops of food coloring (I used green, but you can use whatever color you like), and the mint extract. Turn off the mixer and fold in the mini chocolate chips.

Before you put these on your prepared cookie sheet, you need to decide how fancy you want to make these. You can easily use 2 spoons- scoop up some of the meringue, then push it off with the other spoon. Or, you can use a pastry bag and a piping tip. Just make sure the tip has a large enough opening for the chocolate chips! Another option (which is what I did), is to place the meringue in a zip-lock bag, snip one of the corners off, and pipe circles.  These should not spread, so you can pipe them pretty close together.

Place in the oven and bake for 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 hours. This will be depending on how big you made your cookies. Mine were about 1 1/2 inches around and they took 3 hours. You are really drying these- more so than baking them. The cookies will be done when they easily peel off the parchment paper and sound hollow when you tap them. Remove from oven and let cool completely.

Note: Meringues do not set up well on a rainy or humid day, so plan accordingly.

Meringues- getting ready to make cookies!

Not perfect shaped- but still yummy!

Made with love, not calories!

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