Meringue Kisses

Meringue Kisses – melt in your mouth mini meringue cookies that are light as air, naturally low calorie, dairy free, gluten free and soy free.

These little meringue kisses are so adorable and so yummy. Crunchy on the outside yet slightly soft on the inside, they melt in your mouth like a little ray of sunshine. Coming in at only 26 calories per cookie, these treats are naturally low calorie, fat free, dairy free, gluten free and soy free. Despite all that, they’re delicious! Bag them up with a pretty ribbon and gift tag for a sweet little gift for teachers, neighbors and hostesses. Sprinkle a few onto your Christmas cookie tray for added color, use them to top off your favorite cake or cupcake, or go all out with the Cream Tart Tree Cake I shared last week.

HOW DO YOU MAKE MERINGUE COOKIES?

Traditionally, meringue cookies are made using raw egg whites and sugar, gradually adding the sugar into the egg whites as they’re whipping. The cookies are baked low and slow to essentially dry them without overheating or browning. The result is crisp, delicate and heavenly.

ARE MERINGUE COOKIES SAFE TO EAT?

I am a super freak when it comes to raw eggs in real life, and even more so when it comes to recipes I share here on the blog. I made the first batch of these following a traditional meringue cookie recipe but started second guessing wether the cookies ever got hot enough on the inside to ensure they were safe to eat. Now I know that salonmella is typically found in egg yolks not egg whites and most eggs are safe to eat. However, you don’t know if an egg is contaminated with salmonella until it’s too late. Having spent days in the hospital very ill with food poisoning back in 2007, I’m just not one to mess around with raw eggs. That’s why I started adding the requirement in our Swiss meringue buttercream recipes to heat the egg mixture to 160F (the temperature needed to pasteurize a raw egg) years ago. Back then I scoured the internet to find a SMBC that noted a temperature and could NOT find a single one! I read article after article on egg safety and finally decided that I was going to heat to 160F and update all of our recipes to include this step. I see this step in so many recipes now and am thrilled that more pregnant women, small children, elderly and immune compromised individuals can safely eat Swiss meringue buttercream without worry.

So when it came to these cookies, I decided to make a second batch that followed our standard process for Swiss meringue — heated to 160F — then whipped, tinted, piped and baked. Some of you are certainly going to say that a tad overboard on the safety protocol. If that’s you, go with this traditional recipe and you’ll love the results. If you’re like me, you’ll want to give my recipe a try. The meringue is stable to work with, baked up beautifully, tasted exactly the same and gave me piece of mind. All can enjoy these meringues without worry!

TIPS FOR MERINGUE COOKIE SUCCESS:

• Be sure your bowl and whisk attachment is clean and free of any grease, oil or water.
• Make sure egg whites are free of any yolk.
• Limit the amount of liquid added – go light on any flavorings or extracts and use a gel paste food color. Too much liquid will cause the meringue to flop.
• Lengthen the baking time if the weather is humid or rainy.
• Store finished meringues in an airtight container at room temperature for up to two weeks.

Meringue Kisses

Print Recipe

Melt in your mouth mini meringue cookies that are light as air, naturally low calorie, dairy free, gluten free and soy free.

• Author: Carrie Sellman
• Prep Time: 40 minutes
• Cook Time: 50 minutes
• Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
• Yield: 48 cookies
• Category: Dessert
• Cuisine: Cookie

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar (300 g)
• 5 egg whites (150 g)
• leaf green gel paste food color
• yellow gel paste food color
• pink gel paste food color
• Baking Tray  (2)
• Parchment paper
• Piping Tip 1M
• Piping Tip 1A
• Piping Tip #867

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Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 200F. Line two baking trays with parchment paper.
2. Place egg whites and sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk until combined.
3. Place bowl over a pan of simmering water to create a double-boiler. Whisking constantly, heat the egg mixture until it registers 160 degrees on a candy thermometer. Carefully transfer the bowl onto the stand mixer.
4. Using the whisk attachment, beat the egg white mixture on high speed for 8 to 10 minutes until the bowl is no longer warm to the touch and the meringue is fluffy, glossy and holds a stiff peak.
5. Tint meringue as desired. See notes below.
6. Place meringue into a piping bag fitted with one of the pastry tips listed above. Pipe rows of small stars, drops or swirls onto the baking tray lined with parchment paper. The meringue will not spread or grow during baking, so it’s safe to place them close together.
7. Bake at 200F for 40 to 50 minutes until the cookies easily remove from with parchment paper.
8. Cool completely. Enjoy immediately or store in an airtight container for up to two weeks.

Notes

• To tint the meringue, divide the finished meringue equally into four bowls.
  • To create the kelly green color, mix 3 drops green gel paste and 1 drop yellow gel paste into one bowl of white meringue.
  • To create the light green, steal a small scoop of the dark green that you just made and mix it into a different bowl of white meringue.
  • To make the solid pink, mix 3 drops of pink into one bowl of white meringue.
  • Leave one bowl white to make the pink striped meringues as follows:
    • Using a small food grade paint brush or toothpick, paint stripes of pink gel paste color on the inside of your pastry bag. Fill bag with white meringue. When you pipe your meringues they will come out striped with pink.
• Liquid is the enemy of a stable meringue so be sure to use a gel paste food color and go light. Too much liquid will break your meringue.
• When piping the cookies, I found it helpful to place a small dab of meringue under the parchment paper in each corner of the baking tray to hold the paper in place.
• To pipe the tree shaped meringues, use the 1M pastry tip and swirl upward.
• Store meringues in an airtight container at room temperature for up to two weeks.
• Use as toppers on your favorite cake or my Cream Tart Tree Cake!

MORE CHRISTMAS RECIPES TO TRY:

• Cream Tart Tree Cake
• Decorated Sugar Cookies with Christmas Trees
• Birch Log Cake
• Mini Ornament Cakes
• Winter Hat Cake