Meringue Cookies

hI eVeRyBoDy!
Lately, I've been into meringue cookies, that I created my own recipe! Please try it out and comment on how you did. You can also post pictures of them on the commenting section. I would <3 to see your recreations!

Meringue cookies are whipped up egg whites baked with a little flavoring. There are many variations such as lemon meringues, vanilla, orange, and more. This three ingredient recipe is so easy. Basically, a meringue cookie is crunchy on the inside, and fluffy and gooey on the inside. Some people prefer crunchier ones which takes a longer process, but this is how I like mines.







Recipe:
3 egg whites
pinch of cream of tarter(you can substitute with either salt or vinegar)
5 tbs of sugar

Step 1: Separate the eggs making sure the yolk doesn't spill in or touch the egg whites.

Step 2: Put the egg whites in a bowl along with the cream of tarter. Make sure that you bowl and attachments/whisk is clean. You can assure this by dipping a paper towel in vinegar and wiping up the equipment. If your bowl is not clean or there is other particles in the egg whites(besides the cream of tarter) they will not whip up. 

Step 3:Whip up the egg whites with a whisk, electric mixer, or stand mixer.(I preferably use my kitchen aid stand mixer or sometimes just a hand held electric mixer. It take a long time to whip up the egg whites with just a whisk.) 

Step 4: 

Once you egg whites are foamy like this, add in your sugar one tablespoon at a time. 
Make sure that you gradually add it in. If you don't, they will have more trouble whipping up.






Step 5: 

These are the stages of your egg whites. At this point they should be at stage three, stiff peaks. Your egg whites should not be wilting like soft peaks, or over whipped. If they are over whipped, they will turn out wrinkly after baking.
At this point if you want to add your own little touch of flavor, you can put in an extract such as lemon extract or raspberry, or you can add zest and a little bit of vanilla..







Step 6:

Put your egg whites in a piping bag. I prefer to fit with a star tip to get a nice effect, but you could pipe it out with just the bag, or a Ziploc bag.
Another way to do this is to take two spoons and spoon it on.






Step 7: Pipe your meringues onto a tray lined with parchment paper. Before you do that, you can preheat your oven. If you want crunchy meringues, preheat your oven to 125 degrees F. If you want light meringues with a crisp outside and gooey inside, preheat to 300 degrees F.

Step 8: If you're going for crunchy, bake for 1 hour and open up the oven and leave it in there for 3 hours or overnight. If you're going for the inside outside contrast, bring down the oven heat to 275 degrees F and bake for fifteen min. or until lightly browned.

Step 8: Let the meringues cool for a few minutes and enjoy!