Description
These Christmas Meringue Cookies are light, airy, and perfectly sweet with a festive peppermint flavor and colorful swirls. Made from whipped egg whites and sugar, they bake at a low temperature to achieve a crisp, melt-in-your-mouth texture perfect for holiday celebrations.
Ingredients
Scale
Meringue Base
- 4 egg whites room temperature
- 1 tablespoon white vinegar
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 cup caster sugar
- 3/4 teaspoon peppermint extract
Decoration
- Gel food coloring (red and green)
Instructions
- Beat Egg Whites: Beat the egg whites on high speed until foamy, about 30 seconds, to begin incorporating air and creating a light texture.
- Add Vinegar and Cornstarch: Add the white vinegar and cornstarch to the foamy egg whites and continue beating until soft peaks form, which should take about one minute.
- Add Sugar and Peppermint: Slowly add the caster sugar in a steady stream while beating, then stir in the peppermint extract. Beat for about 4 minutes until stiff peaks form, indicating the meringue is glossy and holds its shape.
- Prepare Pastry Bags: Using a pastry bag fitted with a star tip, draw lines inside the bag with red gel food coloring. Fill the bag halfway with half of the meringue mixture.
- Pipe Red Cookies: Pipe one-inch star-shaped cookies onto a parchment-lined baking sheet from the mixture with red coloring.
- Prepare Green Cookies: Repeat the coloring and piping process with the remaining meringue mixture using green gel food coloring.
- Bake: Place the baking sheets in a 200 degree Fahrenheit oven for about 80 minutes. The low temperature gently dries the cookies rather than bakes them.
- Cool and Dry: After baking, turn off the oven and leave the cookies inside for 4 hours or overnight to fully dry and crisp.
- Store: Once cooled completely, store the cookies in an airtight container for up to one week to maintain their crispness.
Notes
- Don’t add the sugar too soon; wait until the egg whites are nice and foamy to ensure proper fluffiness.
- Separate the egg yolks carefully from the whites to avoid any yolk that can prevent stiff peaks.
- Check oven temperature carefully since too hot can ruin the texture by baking instead of drying.
- Meringue cookies are best eaten a few hours after baking but can be stored up to a week airtight.
- You can make caster sugar by pulsing granulated sugar in a food processor; do not use powdered sugar as it is too fine.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 20 kcal
- Sugar: 3 g
- Sodium: 5 mg
- Fat: 0 g
- Saturated Fat: 0 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 0 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 5 g
- Fiber: 0 g
- Protein: 1 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
