Description
Delight in these light and airy Christmas Meringue Cookies flavored with peppermint and decorated with festive red and green colors. Perfect for holiday celebrations, these cookies are crispy on the outside and melt-in-your-mouth soft on the inside, made with simple ingredients like egg whites, sugar, and a touch of vinegar.
Ingredients
Scale
Main Ingredients
- 4 egg whites room temperature
- 1 tablespoon white vinegar
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 cup caster sugar
- ¾ teaspoon peppermint extract
Decoration
- Gel food coloring (red and green)
Instructions
- Prepare Egg Whites: Beat egg whites on high speed until foamy, about 30 seconds, ensuring a good base for your meringue.
- Add Vinegar and Cornstarch: Mix in the white vinegar and cornstarch, then continue beating until soft peaks form, about one minute, to stabilize the meringue.
- Incorporate Sugar and Peppermint: Slowly add caster sugar in a steady stream while beating, then add peppermint extract and continue beating for about 4 minutes until stiff peaks form for a glossy, firm meringue.
- Prepare Piping Bag: Using a pastry bag fitted with a star tip, draw red gel food coloring lines inside the bag for decorative effect, then fill the bag with half of the meringue mixture.
- Pipe Cookies: Pipe one-inch star-shaped cookies onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Repeat this process with the remaining meringue, using green gel food coloring for a festive color variation.
- Bake: Place the baking sheet in a 200 degree oven and bake for about 80 minutes, gently drying the cookies without browning them.
- Cool Slowly: Turn off the oven and leave the cookies inside for 4 hours or overnight to fully dry and crisp up.
- Store: Keep the meringue cookies in an airtight container for up to one week to maintain their crisp texture.
Notes
- Don’t add sugar too soon; wait until egg whites are foamy to help them fluff properly.
- Be extra careful separating egg yolks from whites, as any yolk can prevent stiff peaks from forming.
- Check your oven temperature carefully; too hot will spoil the light texture of the cookies.
- For best flavor and texture, eat meringue cookies within a few hours after baking although they keep up to a week.
- Caster sugar can be made by pulsing granulated sugar in a food processor; do not substitute powdered sugar as it changes texture.
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: 0.2 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
