Strawberry Meringue Cookies

I'm starting to get fancy!  In name only, I promise, these cookies were a snap to make!  Meringue is made from stiffly whipped egg whites, sugar, cream of tartar to stabilize, and flavorings.  I have never made a meringue before whether pie or otherwise so I tried out a traditional sugar and vanilla extract version on Sunday.  Too sweet, too vanilla-y, and just not right for my taste.  I made a tangy yogurt dip with some macerated strawberries to make the puffy cookies more palatable and ended up dreaming of a more understated strawberry version.  Hence, strawberry meringue cookies were born!

Macerated strawberries are super simple, just hull and slice up some strawberries and add a little sugar.  Not only does this help the berries last longer in the fridge but they create a delicious strawberry syrup.  I reduced the amount of vanilla extract then added the strawberry syrup to the egg whites.  I used a hand mixer with regular beater attachment to whip up the eggs until soft peaks were formed, adding the sugar a tablespoon at a time during the process.

As the egg whites were almost ready, I added a pinch of salt.  Adding the salt any earlier will make beating the eggs more difficult.  Once the egg are shiny and have stiff peaks (you should be able to hold the bowl over your head), spoon carefully into a piping bag or large zip top bag.  Squeeze out as much air as you can for even piping of silver dollar sized cookies.  Baking low and slow ensures an impossibly light and airy texture with the taste of strawberries.  Delicious!



Strawberry Meringue Cookies
3 egg whites
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons syrup from macerated strawberries, at least 24 hours macerating
1/3 cup of confectioners sugar
pinch of salt

Preheat the oven to 200 F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.  Separate the whites from the yolks (save the yolks for a curd!) and begin beating with a hand mixer until the egg whites are just foamy.

Add in the cream of tartar, the vanilla extract, and strawberry syrup.  Begin to beat until the volume doubles.

Begin to add in the confectioners sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time.  Continue beating until there are soft peaks formed in the egg whites.

Add a pinch of salt and finish beating until stiff peaks are formed.  You should be able to hold it above your head!

Pour into a pastry bag or large freezer ziptop bag (using the bag in a glass technique as seen here) and squeeze out as much of the air as you can.  Pipe out silver dollar sized cookies onto the parchment-lined cookie sheets.

Bake at 200 F for 2 hours.  I added an extra 15 minutes for the humidity in the DC area.  Turn off the oven and let sit for at least an hour before removing.  Serve with the macerated strawberries or just plain!  Airy, delicious, and ADDICTING!