Light, airy, melt-in-your mouth and gluten free, meringues are surprisingly simple to make! The secret to crispy meringues are whipping the egg whites to a creamy, white firm peak. You can either use a standing mixer with the whip attachment, or a hand mixer. Although, when I was in cooking school we had to whip the egg whites by hand — it builds muscle! The key steps are to whip room temperature egg whites until they’re a little creamy, slowly adding the sugar, and then stabilizing the whites with a little bit of cream of tarter or white vinegar. These meringues are a perfect treat for the holidays. Once cooled, the cookies will keep in an airtight container for a week.
Ingredients
- 4 large egg whites at room temperature (about 1/2 cup)
- 1/8 teaspoon cream of tarter
- Pinch of Kosher salt
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup dark chocolate chips
Servings: cookies
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 225 degrees (use convection setting if you have it). Position the racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven. Combine the egg whites and cream of tartar in a clean dry bowl of a standing mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, or use a hand mixer. Start whipping the egg whites on medium speed until the eggs start to foam and then increase the speed to high. Add the pinch of salt. As the eggs start to turn white and come together add the cup of granulated sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time. Continue to beat the eggs until they become stiff and shiny. You are looking for stiff peaks. You can remove the whisk attachment and hold it up to test the peaks. Carefully, fold the chocolate chips into the batter.
- Drop generous tablespoons of the meringue 1 1/2 inches apart on the lined cookie sheets. Make sure all the batter fits on the two sheets, so they all can be baked at one time. Bake for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, rotating the pans from the top to the bottom and front to back, halfway through the cooking time. This will ensure even baking.
- The best way to test if the meringues are done is to taste one. Let it cool and take a bite, it should be dry and crisp. Turn off the oven at this point, and let the meringues cool completely in the oven. If the tasting yielded a soft and chewy meringue, then bake for another 15 to 30 minutes, before cooling in the oven. Store the meringues in an airtight container once cooled, for up to a week.