Description
These festive meringue trees are perfect for holiday celebrations!
Ingredients
Scale
- 6 large egg whites (at room temperature, 200g in total)
- ¾ teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1¾ cups + 2 tablespoons granulated sugar (400g in total)
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (or other flavor extract, optional)
- to taste green gel food coloring
- to taste holiday sprinkles
- to taste star sprinkles
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200°F/93°C. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
- To the bowl of a stand mixer, add the room temperature egg whites and the cream of tartar. Beat with the whisk attachment on low speed until the mixture becomes foamy.
- Increase the speed to high, and add the sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, mixing for about 15 seconds between each addition. Once all the sugar is added, continue beating until the egg whites reach the stiff peaks stage and are thick and shiny.
- To check to see that the meringue is ready, rub a small amount of it between your fingers to make sure that it’s not gritty. If there is any grit, continue mixing until it’s gone. Lift the whisk out of the bowl to see that the peaks are indeed stiff, with peaks that will curl over on themselves.
- Add food coloring and vanilla extract and mix until the color is evenly blended.
- Transfer the meringue to a large piping bag fitted with a medium or large piping tip.
- Pipe the meringue onto the parchment lined sheets, making lines in a back and forth pattern to create a triangular tree. Each tree should be no larger than 3 inches tall.
- Add the sprinkles before baking. Place stars at the top and colorful sprinkles for decoration.
- Bake the meringues for 1 hour at 200°F/93°C, then turn off the oven. DO NOT OPEN THE DOOR at any point.
- Leave the meringues in the oven and allow it to cool down completely before removing the cookies. This can take between 1-3 hours. The cookies should be crisp and dry when finished.
Notes
- Note 1: Cream of tartar helps stabilize the egg whites and create volume.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 meringue tree
- Calories: 50
- Sugar: 12g
- Sodium: 5mg
- Fat: 0g
- Saturated Fat: 0g
- Unsaturated Fat: 0g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 12g
- Fiber: 0g
- Protein: 1g
- Cholesterol: 0mg