Vanilla Meringue Cookie Recipe | Easy Cookie Recipes

Ok. I admit. I m not a cookie fan. No. No…… dont get me wrong. I love munching cookies just like every other person. What apprehends me is the baking. No. Wait. Its not even the baking. Its the wait. In a normal cookie, that is. The wait where you have to aimlessly wander around your house dusting the already dust free furniture while the cookie dough sits in the fridge relaxing and chilling out. I mean, i find that wait tormenting. Well. I ve never been fond of waiting. So its not unnatural for a person like me to feel that way. But cookie dough tests my patience monumentally.

But then, a meringue cookie. Awww… that s a totally different ball game. It doesnt need to sit in the fridge at all. In fact there is no dough in the traditional sense. There is only eggs and that too whites. Of course, the ominous question as to what can be done to the yolks remains. But then, that s a small compromise for a person who avoids cookie dough chilling like the plague. Last months Good Food magazine was a package of inspiration. In terms of everything but mostly these meringue cookies. And that s how the bug bit me. The rest, of course is history. Get ready for some heavy duty egg beating, wont ya!

Recipe For Vanilla Meringue Cookies
( Egg whites beaten with sugar and baked)

Prep Time: 40 mins
Cook Time: 35 to 40 mins for the baking and 1 hour for resting
Yields 5 dozen cookies

Ingredients

Eggs 3 medium
Sugar 1/2 cup minus 1 tbsp powdered
Vanilla extract 1 tsp
Cream of tartar 1 tsp
Salt a small pinch

Directions

Separate the eggs and let stand the egg whites at room temperature in mixing bowl for about 30 mins.
Before you begin the whipping process, line a baking tray with parchment.
To the whites, add cream of tartar, salt and vanilla and beat till soft peaks form.
Now, add sugar by the tbsp and beat further till the whites are stiff and peaky. An electric beater works best for this. There s really no substitute for cream of tartar in a meringue cookie for anything else will change the taste a slight bit.
Once the whites are whipped,  preheat the oven to 120 C for 10 mins.
Spoon the whipped whites into a piping bag or a zip loc pouch. Cut a small opening by the side and pipe the meringue into 1.25″ diameter cookies onto the parchment.
Bake in the preheated oven for about 40 mins. Keep an eye after 30 mins. If the meringues start browning, you can put off the oven.
At the end of the baking, switch off the oven completely and leave the baked meringues in it for an hour to dry.

You may have to bake the cookies in two to three batches. While doing so, make sure you refrigerate the remaining meringue while the batch bakes.
After an hour, remove the cookies from the oven, take them carefully out of the parchment and store in an airtight container.

I made meringue kiss cookies with nutella too. I smeared about a tsp of nutella on one cookie s base and stuck one more to it. Really no big deal. You can give it a shot too. Try more flavors or fillings!