Christmas Cookies --> Five Ways To Make Overnight Meringues

I grew up with my mother, Karen, making the best desserts in 97 counties, so I can never go wrong with taking out my family cookbook and stealing one of her recipes. This year, I decided to make a peppermint chocolate version of her OVERNIGHT MINI CHIP MERINGUE COOKIES. They turned out FLAWLESS!

One of the best things about this recipe is how cheap they are to make. With little more than just two eggs and some sugar, you can make about 36 bite size cookies, or 24 larger ones.

You can make them white, or add a tiny drop of red or green food coloring. You can leave them plain, or add holiday sprinkles on top. You can spoon them onto parchment paper, or you can pipe a shape with a pastry bag and tip. Just make sure the tip has a large opening. I've included a photo of how one baker got creative by piping a Christmas Tree shape.

RECIPE:

• 2 Egg Whites, Beaten

• 3/4 Cup Sugar or Sweetener of Choice

• Pinch of Salt

• 1/2 Tsp Vanilla

To complete recipe you'll need to fold in one of these FLAVOR COMBOS:

Chocolate Pecan

• 1/2 Pecans, Finely Chopped

• 3/4 Cup Semi-Sweet Mini Chocolate Chips

Chocolate Peppermint

• 1/3 Cup Crushed Peppermint Pieces

• 2/3 Cup Semi-Sweet Mini Chocolate Chips

Tropical

• 1/2 Cup Dried Fruit, Finely Chopped ... such as Pineapple or Unsweetened Coconut (can't be moist or gooey)

• 1/2 Cup Finely Chopped Nuts of Choice, such as Pecans, Almonds, Macadamia or Pistaccios

Chocolate Cherry

• 1/3 Cup Chopped Dried Cherries

• 2/3 Cup Semi-Sweet Mini Chocolate Chips

• Substitute Vanilla Flavoring for just 1/8 or 1/4 tsp Almond Flavoring

Almond Joy

• 1/3 Cup Unsweetened Coconut, Shredded

• 1/3 Cup Semi-Sweet Mini Chocolate Chips

• 1/3 Cup Almonds or Pecans, Finely Chopped

DIRECTIONS:

Perheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat egg whites, sugar, vanilla and salt until mixture forms stiff white peaks. Fold in Flavor Combo of choice. Drop by small spoonfuls, or pipe dollops of mixture with a pastry bag, onto parchment paper on two lined baking sheets. Place two baking sheets onto two oven racks. TURN OVEN OFF. Do not open again until the following morning (6-8 hours). Cookies will be cooled and ready to place in airtight container or tins. Unless your oven is wonky, these should turn out slightly crunchy on the outside and perfectly chewy on the inside.

For fun, when you're not in a rush and can afford to make a bad batch, you can experiment with this meringue recipe by folding in nut butters or jams, but make sure the oil and moisture content is low, and that you drizzle it in as you fold sparingly. I haven't tried this myself, but I've seen it done with other meringue recipes.

Merry Christmas!

*photos courtesy of stock images