Meringues - A little tasty treat from heaven

Anyone who knows me really well knows that my go to cookie of the past few years is the meringue. They're highly versatile and you can do just about anything with them both flavor-wise and decoratively. At Christmastime I pipe them out with little red or green stripes then dip them in minty chocolaty goodness. In the summer I sprinkle them with some of Jell-o's more creative flavors (margarita etc) to create light little summer treats. But, beyond anything else, I love that they're so diet friendly. There aren't a ton of calories, there's no fat, and they're gluten/soy/dairy free.

Yesterday we had a baby shower for one of the gals at work. She's one of my favorite people (a link to her little baby Ewan's blog is on the right) and happens to be gluten intolerant. So, I decided to whip up some meringue cookies to add to the festivities... but do them in the style of baby. I attempted these adorable "rubber duckies" courtesy of celiacfamily.com, however they came out looking less like ducks and more like... well... I'm not sure I want to mention what they looked like.

Regardless, I went back to the drawing board and decided that I wanted to make rattles. A very babyesque design choice. When you see the pictures you're going to think lollipop... and I would have to agree... but they're still stinkin cute! Below you'll find the recipe for the meringues themselves and a picture of the finished product.

Meringue Cookies:
4 large egg whites
pinch of salt
2/3 cup of sugar (I prefer to use baking sugar as it is extremely fine and dissolves faster)
1/2 tsp cream of tartar

• Preheat oven to 200 degrees F
• Using either a double boiler or a bowl on top of a pan of simmering water (water level NOT touching the bowl, just below) beat the egg whites, salt, cream of tartar and half of the sugar together using a whisk..
• Continue mixing/beating until sugar is completely dissolved and the eggs are beginning to look frothy. (The mixture should be slightly warm to the touch)
• Remove from heat and, using an electric mixer, continue beating the mixture until soft peaks form.
• Add the remaining sugar 1 tablespoon at a time, making sure it dissolves before the next addition. (I always need to scrape the sides of my bowl after each addition... y'know so the sugar actually winds up in the cookies?)
• Continue beating until thick and glossy.
• Pipe, spoon... aw heck do whatever you want to get them cookies to the parchment paper lined cookie sheets.
• Put into your warm oven for a total of two hours. If you're using two sheets, be sure to rotate them 2x during the baking process.
• Store your little treats in an air tight container - otherwise they may become gooey... and not in a good way.

For the cookies posted above: I piped them onto the cookie sheet then gently added cookie sticks to them. Because we used different colors throughout, I simply grabbed some paint (cleaned/new) brushes that I use for food coloring and painted a small amount directly onto the cookies. For an even cooler look, use a star tip on your piping bag and paint a couple of lines of food coloring up the inside before you fill it with the meringue.

Your climate/oven etc will affect how your cookies bake. If they are still a bit soft at the end of baking time, I will sometimes simply turn the oven off and leave them overnight.

Also? I have never attempted this recipe in a convection oven.. so I have no words of advice there.

What do you think of them?