Thursday, March 27, 2014

Meringue Cookies


If you haven't noticed, I'm all about eating delicious things that are also healthy. For example, making a lighter (315 calorie) version of a classic dish - chicken francese. Or a creamy, rich, flavor-bursting alfredo sauce for only 130 calories. And, one of personal favorites, a dessert that contains only natural ingredients is actually good for you to eat - raw chocolate truffles.

So, how do you feel about cookies that taste amazing and are less than 10 calories each?! If your jaw is hanging open, you're not the only one. When I calculated the nutritional information for each cookie, I couldn't believe it. These cookies taste so good, I can't believe I can eat 4 and still be under 30 calories!


Okay, so let me explain these cookies. First of all, the are so light, you would think they could float. Second, they're dry and hard {this results from the meringues being slowly cooked in the oven for a long time to gradually evaporate the moisture from the meringues}. Third, they taste like toasted marshmallows AND they melt in your mouth. I'm not kidding, this is real.

You would think these cookies have to be made up of a ton of crazy ingredients, but guess what? They're not. Meringue cookies are made with two main ingredients: stiffly beaten egg whites and sugar {yes it's that easy}. Which also means they're gluten-free.

In order to make very stiff egg whites, you can add some cream of tartar. Cream of tartar helps to stabilize the protein in the egg whites and make sure they get super fluffy and stiff. I have an amazing copper mixing bowl that basically whips egg whites perfectly every time without using cream of tartar.

In summary, these cookies are:
  1. Amazingly delicious
  2. SUPER low in calories and have no fat
  3. Ridiculously easy to make
Do yourself a favor and make these. Now. Go.


Meringue Cookies

Yield: 80 one-inch cookies | Prep time: 5 minutes | Total time: 1 hour, 45 minutes (plus drying time)

Ingredients:
  • 3 large egg whites
  • 2/3 cup white sugar
  • 1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 1/4 tsp. cream of tartar (optional)

Directions:
  1. Preheat oven to 200°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
  2. In the bowl of your electric mixer, whip egg whites on low speed until foamy. Add the cream of tartar (if you're using it) and continue to beat egg whites until they begin to hold peaks.
  3. Gradually add the sugar while continuing to beat on medium-high speed until the meringues hold very stiff peaks. Beat in the vanilla extract and any coloring you want {I choose green for the "Late Patrick's Day" party I attended}.
    *If you rub a little of the mixture between your fingers, it shouldn't feel gritty. If it does, that sugar hasn't completely dissolved, so beat the mixture a bit longer until it feels smooth between your fingers.
  4. Fill a piping bag with some of the mixture and pipe 1-inch sized shapes onto the prepared cookie sheets. Alternatively, spoon mounds of meringue onto the prepared cookie sheets. 
  5. Bake the meringues for 1 1/2-1 3/4 hours, rotating the baking sheet about half way through. The meringues are done when they are pale in color and easily release from the parchment paper. The meringues are even better if you let them dry for several more hours - so turn off the oven, creak the door and leave the meringues for a few hours or overnight. 

If you want to be really adventurous, you can dip the bottom of the meringues in melted chocolate!



Nutritional information per serving (4 cookies):
Calories: 28
Total fat: --
Carbohydrates: 7 grams
Fiber: --
Protein: 0.5 grams
Weight Watchers points: 1


Enjoy and thanks for reading!
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