Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!
Last Saturday we had our first serious winter snow here in Ann Arbor. It started out lightly in the morning as just a few sprinkles, but picked up by the afternoon and evening. I love snowy days, but I absolutely detest driving around in the snow. That’s why I spent my Saturday tucked indoors doing some of my holiday baking. I made a plate of cookies for our downstairs neighbor as a thank you for collecting our packages while we were out of town. Nothing says thank you like a plate full of Christmas cookies!
Meringue Cookies are so light and airy, sweet and crisp that they seem to just melt in your mouth. I love how the outsides of the meringues are nice and crisp, yet the insides remain wonderfully soft and puffy. There are a few things to keep in mind when making meringue cookies. Cream of tartar is used in the whipping of egg whites to stabilize them and allows them to reach maximum volume. Also, it is a good idea to use parchment paper or aluminum foil to line your baking sheets, not wax paper, as the meringue will sometimes stick to wax paper. Baking the meringues in a slow oven allows for gradual evaporation of the moisture from the meringues. If the oven temperature is too high, the outside of the meringue will dry and set too quickly.
Meringue Cookies
Makes 5 dozen
Ingredients
4 egg whites, at room temperature
½ teaspoon cream of tartar
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Food coloring, optional
Directions
Preheat oven to 225°F. Beat egg whites in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until frothy. (If using a freestanding mixer, use wire whisk attachment.) Add cream of tartar; beat until soft peaks form. Increase speed to medium-high. Add sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating until sugar is dissolved and stiff peaks form. Beat in extract and food color until well blended. Gently stir in chips, if desired.
Drop by rounded measuring teaspoonfuls about 1 inch apart onto 2 large foil-lined baking sheets sprayed with no stick cooking spray. Bake both sheets of meringues at the same time 45 minutes. Turn oven off. Let meringues stand in oven 1 hour or until completely cooled.
Heather’s Helpful Hints
Make sure your beater and mixing bowl are spotlessly clean. Any grease in the mixture will deflate the meringue.To make different shapes of meringue, spoon meringue mixture into large resealable plastic bag. Snip off a corner of the bag and gently squeeze to pipe meringue onto baking sheets. Pipe into various shapes, such as hearts, "kisses," letters, numbers, etc.
Stefano
As Francesca mentioned, I do love them!!! And your meringue cookies look fabulous, Heather. What a wonderful idea and recipe! Now, do you have any delicious amaretti recipe coming up by any chance?... I possibly love those even more than meringue cookies ;-)
Heather @ Sweet Precision
I've never had amaretti cookies Stefano! Now I feel obliged to go online and look up a recipe to see what they're like. Cookie baking is one of my favorite things about the holidays. I'm glad to have a new addition to try out :)
Stefano
Ha! That needs to be rectified asap, dear Heather, as they are delicious! :-) Bear in mind that there are (at least) two types of amaretti, both of which are almond-based: one is a cooky that is soft inside and gently crunchy on the granulated sugar coated outside - the amaretti di Mombaruzzo (a small town in Piemonte) are the perfect example (Saronno is a similar example), check out this link: http://www.amarettidimombaruzzo.com/macaroons.htm
The other type is called Splinsugni (an almost unpronounceable word that in the dialect of Piemonte means "pinches"): these are equally delicious, but different as they are all soft, shaped by pinching them (hence the name) into a sort of triangular shape and covered in confectioners sugar - it is more difficult to find a good link for these - let alone in English, but hopefully this should give you an idea: http://www.bottaroecampora.it/prodotti.html (you can kind of see a picture on the right side).
Now you know everything there is to know about amaretti ;-) I can't wait to see your own take of them!
Heather @ Sweet Precision
Oh these links are fantastic Stefano, thank you so much! I absolutely love new baking adventures, so often I feel like I'm searching for something new to try out. These two types of amaretti cookies look so interesting. I don't think I've had anything like them. I'm tucking these away for the New Year and can't wait to try them!
Francesca
Stefano loves those white treats!!!! And I love those silver sprinkles!!! Such an elegant touch! :-)
Heather @ Sweet Precision
They are such a treat, and not quite as calorie-laden for the holidays! Although I won't claim that copious amounts of sugar are healthy either...
MOM
I love meringue cookies. I remember my grandmother making them when I was little and then making them myself years later. I think your silver sprinkles are grand. Quite the elegant touch.
Heather @ Sweet Precision
Thank you!! I have fond memories of making these cookies with you! I remember the big cookie baking extravaganzas would have in the kitchen :)
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tableofcolors
Your meringues look so pretty and match the snow you've had. Our snow melted away today...we'll see if we have a white Christmas!
Heather @ Sweet Precision
Thanks! Yes, were headed into a warm-up later this week too. It seems so wrong to have all this snow and then have it melt away later. My fingers are crossed for a white Christmas. We're headed back to MN so I figure there's a better chance for that to happen there!
Tracy Lee Karner
Oh, yum! I love the sparkle you put on. Ken did all the baking this year and left nothing for me to do. I'm going to surprise him and make some meringues. I love that you don't need 12 egg whites!
We got snow Saturday, too. It must have been a huge storm to reach all the way from Ann Arbor to here! I don't love the cold, but the white stuff does help me feel Christmassy.
Heather @ Sweet Precision
Last time I made an angel food cake I was left with 12 egg yolks which I dutifully stored in the refrigerator to use in another recipe. Well, somehow they got forgotten in the back of the fridge and I ended up having to throw them out. Since I only needed four egg yolks this time, I didn't feel too guilty not saving them and just letting them go ;)
I heard that the east coast also got quite a bit of snow. I'm just hoping that we get all the snow we can this week and the weather will be fair next week for Christmas. Matt and I are driving to MN and the idea of battling the roads in a snowstorm is not on the top of my list!
Tracy Lee Karner
We were driving around up in the New Hampshire Appalachians when the storm hit. Pretty! But stressful! (There's much less snow down here in Rhode Island).
I wish you fair driving weather.
It's supposed to hit 50 here this weekend!!
Heather @ Sweet Precision
Thanks Tracy! I would have been a complete mess driving though the mountains. We're headed into warmer weather too, maybe even some rain. I guess mother nature just can't make up her mind!
Tracy Lee Karner
Hills. Not mountains. I would have been a quivering mass of jelly had they been mountains. The hills, however, were intimidating enough to make me not to want to ever do THAT again...
And yes, Mother Nature is somewhat schizophrenic these days...
Just Add Attitude
Being indoors all warm and cosy when the cold weather comes is lovely. I love your meringue cookies they are so pretty and the addition of silver sprinkle transform them from pretty to chic and festive.
Heather @ Sweet Precision
I agree that there is nothing better than being tucked inside on a snowy day. Getting up and going to work on a snowy morning is one of my least favorite things! An entire day spent baking, now that is truly a treat! :)
Sherri
Snow!!! How wonderful, and what a perfect recipe to go with it! Heather, I love your posts. They bring joy to my soul, even if I don't have the time to make everything, but I know where to come when I do :-)
Heather @ Sweet Precision
What kind words, thank you so much Sherri! I feel the same way when I read other food blogs. I don't always have the time or ambition to make everything that I read about, but I always tuck the recipe away in the back of my mind and know where to come when I do have time to make something!