Meringue Cookies!

Meringue(pronounced as muh-rang) is nothing but egg whites whipped with fine sugar. Meringue can be dried in a low temperature oven to make meringue cookies or use as a topping for pies, cupcakes etc. Meringue cookies are one easy way to use up those leftover egg whites. You can flavor the meringue with chocolate, vanilla, nuts etc., or even add food coloring to make it prettier. You can use a pastry bag with icing tips to pipe beautifully shaped meringue cookies.

The one you see in my picture is plain, white meringue cookies. These are made with just a few ingredients. Just egg whites and sugar! You can add a pinch of cream of tartar as well which helps in stabilizing the egg whites.

So, here is the simplest way of making meringue cookies:

Preheat the oven to 200 degree F.

For each egg white, you will need ¼ cup of super fine sugar.

Take the egg whites(at room temperature) in a clean large bowl. Using an electric mixer, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Add cream of tartar if using and continue beating. Add sugar, 1 tbsp at a time, and continue beating until very stiff peaks form. Meringue is ready when it holds shape. Take some meringue on your fingertips and make sure there are no sugar grains left.

Take a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Using two spoons, take approximately 1 tbsp of meringue, and place it onto the prepared cookie sheet. As I have already mentioned, you can also use a pastry bag fitted with icing tips and pipe the cookies. Put the cookie sheet on the center rack of the oven, and bake it for nearly 2 hrs. Turn off the oven and let it cool in the oven for about another hour or so.

Once they are completely dry and cold, remove from the cookie sheet and store in an airtight container. These cookies are sweet, weightless, and they just melt in the mouth!

Meringue cookies are also known as forgotten cookies because some people leave it in the hot oven overnight (after turning off the oven) to finish the drying process.

Some good-looking Meringue Cookies! :)

A video clip that shows how these cookies are made. Watch it. It's good. :)