Meringue Ghosts are fun and easy to make for Halloween. They are also good for people who can't eat flour! I tend to use vanilla extract but have considered trying another flavor this year.
NOTE: Requires electric hand mixer (or stand mixer) and parchment paper (buy near the tin-foil in the supermarket)
Yield: about 18 ghosts
Ingredients:
- 2 egg whites, room temperature <-- This is important
- 1/8 tsp cream of tartar
- 3/4 cup powdered sugar
- 1/2 tsp flavored extract (I use vanilla)
- semi-sweet chocolate chips (I've also used milk chocolate)
Preparation:
1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Place the room temperature egg whites in the clean bowl and use a stand mixer or hand mixer with a whisk attachment.
2. Use the mixer at medium-high speed and beat until the egg whites are foamy. Turn the mixer off, add the cream of tartar, and continue beating on medium-high until the whites have turned an opaque white and hold soft peaks.
3. Start adding the powdered sugar a few spoonfuls at a time with the mixer running. Once all of the sugar has been added, add the extract and turn the mixer to high. Continue to beat the egg whites until they are very thick, glossy, and shiny white in color. When you stop the mixer and lift the whisk out of the whites, the whites should have a very stiff peak like snow-topped mountains.
4. Cover two baking sheets with parchment paper. Scoop your meringue mixture into a piping bag fitted with a ½ inch round tip, or if you don’t have this, into a large Ziploc bag with a ½ inch hole cut in the corner. ( I do zip-lock!)
5. Pipe your meringue into ghost shapes about 1-1/2 inches wide and 2 inches tall. You can either do this by squeezing the bag and pulling up gradually, making one big “blobby” ghost, or by making a series of concentric circles spiraling upward.
6. Put two eye chocolate chips on them. (If doing plain cookies not ghosts, just fold ½ cup or 1 cup chips into meringue mix carefully.)
7. Bake the meringues in the preheated oven for an hour. After an hour, open the oven door an inch or so and continue to cook for 30 minutes. Touch one at this point, they shouldn’t be gummy or wobbly. If they are still too moist, leave them in the oven until they aren’t. Then turn the oven off, close the door, and allow the meringues to sit until completely cool, about 1 hour.
Store your Meringue Ghosts in an airtight container at room temperature.
