Peppermint Meringue Cookies
Crunchy and light meringue cookies are flavored with a hint of sweet peppermint, and swirled with red coloring. They are dipped in smooth chocolate and then sprinkled with peppermint pieces for flavor and crunch.
Servings: 60 servings
Calories: 52kcal
Ingredients
- 5 large egg whites room temperature
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp peppermint extract
- red gel food coloring
- 1 cup dark chocolate chips melted
- 1 cup crushed peppermint
Instructions
Prepare
- Preheat oven to 200°F and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
- Check that the mixer bowl and attachment are completely free of moisture or oil.
Beat eggs
- Add egg whites to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a wire whisk attachment. Beat on MED speed for about 30 seconds or so, until tiny little foam bubbles appear.
- Add salt and cream of tartar, then beat again on MED speed for about a minute, until the foam increases in volume a little.
- Keep the mixer going on MED, and slowly pour in the sugar. I know it's a pain to do this slowly, but it does make a difference in the final product, so just take your time.
- Once all the sugar has been added, add the peppermint and vanilla extracts and keep beating on MED speed. You'll see the mixture go from foamy and translucent to white and opaque. Your meringue batter is finished when it is thick, white, glossy, and marshmallowy.
- Check for stiff peaks by turning off the mixer, and removing the whisk attachment. Turn it upside down so the whisk is pointing towards the ceiling. If the meringue batter stays pointing up, and doesn't fold back on itself, those are stiff peaks, and your batter is ready.
Pipe
- Fit a piping bag with an open star tip (I've linked to the one I use below in the "chef tips" section). Use a butter knife or toothpick to spread 3 thick lines of red gel food coloring on the inside of the piping bag, spread out so there is an even amount of space between each line.
- Fill the piping bag 2/3 or 3/4 of the way with the meringue batter. Hold the piping bag directly over the top of the prepared baking sheet.
- Pipe any shape you'd like. I prefer to hold the bag about 1/2 inch above the baking sheet, and just gently squeeze the bag, lifting as you squeeze, then stop squeezing but keep lifting to finish and give the meringue a "chocolate kiss" like shape. Keep about an inch in between each meringue to make sure adequate air flow will get to all sides of the meringues in the oven.
- Repeat with all the batter.
Bake
- Add baking sheets to preheated oven and bake for 1 hour. Once the baking time has elapsed, turn off the oven and keep the door closed, but leave the meringues in there for another 1-2 hours. This ensures they are fully baked without getting browned.
- You'll know the meringues are ready to come out of the oven when they are light, dry, and come off the baking sheet very easily.
- Add meringue cookies to a wire cooling rack to finish cooling (if they aren't cooled already).
Dip
- Add a piece of two of parchment paper to your cutting board, counter, or other flat work surface. Dip the bottoms of the meringue cookies in the melted dark chocolate, then into the crushed peppermint. Place on the parchment paper, then repeat with remaining cookies.
Notes
- This is the tip I use to pipe my meringue cookies (amazon link).
Meringue Tips
- Mixer - a stand mixer is super helpful here, with the wire whisk attachment. However, you can use a hand mixer instead, it will just likely take longer and be a bit of an arm workout. It's not advisable to make meringue cookies with no mixer at all.
- Preparation - have all your baking sheets set out and lined before starting. Also make sure your oven is already preheated. Once you have the meringues ready to go, you want to get them piped fairly quickly, since the longer the batter sits, the more unstable and less pipe-able the batter will become.
- Mixing bowl - make sure that both the mixing bowl and wire whisk are completely free of any moisture or oil before starting this recipe. The smallest amount of grease or moisture can ruin your meringues.
- Egg whites - even the smallest bit of yolk can cause problems with meringues, so for the best results, separate one egg at a time in a small bowl, then transfer that egg white to the mixing bowl. Repeat with all eggs.
- Mixing speed - as tempting as it can be to increase the mixer speed to get through whipping the egg whites faster, don't go above a medium speed. You want small bubbles, and increasing the speed to high will incorporate too much air and make your meringues harder to set up and pipe.
- Adding the sugar - for the best texture, add your sugar slowly. Either a little bit at a time, beating in between each addition, or a slow, steady stream of sugar added as your mixer is running.
- Humidity - if you live in a very humid climate, or your home has a lot of humidity, it will be pretty difficult to make meringues. The moisture in the air can make the egg whites not quite as stable, which means they won't hold their shape as well.
Nutrition
Calories: 52kcal | Carbohydrates: 7g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 2g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 1mg | Sodium: 15mg | Potassium: 28mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 1IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 15mg | Iron: 1mg