Peppermint meringue wreath cookies
Ingredients:
Cookies. 2 egg whites, room temperature 1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch 1 1/2 teaspoon white vinegar 1/3 cup sugar 1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract 2 drops of red food coloring
Decorations. 2 teaspoons red colored sugar. 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate morsels 1 teaspoon vegetable shortening Red licorice rope (optional)
Directions:
Prep time: 20 minutes
1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees F. Cut a 10-inch piece of parchment paper. Using a pencil, draw 15 2 3/4 inch circles. Turn paper over and place on sheet pan. Beat egg whites on high speed until foamy, about 20 seconds. Add cornstarch and vinegar; continue to beat until soft peaks form, about 1 minute. (Tips of peaks will curl down when beaters are lifted).
2. While continuously beating on high speed, gradually add sugar in a very, slow steady stream. Add peppermint extract and food coloring. Continue beating on high speed 3-4 minutes or until sugar is dissolved , mixture is glossy and stiff peaks form. (Tips of peaks will remain upright when beaters are lifted).
3. Attach open star tip to decorator; fill with meringue mixture. Pipe circles of meringue onto the circles on parchment paper. Sprinkle red decorating sugar over meringues. Bake 1 hour – 1 hour, 30 minutes or until meringues are dry. Turn oven off, leaving meringues in oven; let stand 1 hour or overnight.
4. Place chocolate morsels and shortening in microwaveable bowl. Microwave, uncovered, on high 2-3 minutes, stirring after each 30 second interval until melted and smooth. Dip bottoms of meringues in melted chocolate, allowing excess to drip off. Return to parchment paper to set (about 30 minutes). Decorate with licorice rope (bow) if desired. Store in an airtight container up to 7 days.
Michelle Wagner
This recipe is one of our favorites to make with not only my children but with my daycare children. This recipe gives us the opportunity to have quality time together laughing, reminiscing about cookie making the year before and the daycare children share their family cookie stories. The children include this recipe in with everyday cookies in their cookie baskets that we pass out to the neighbors as we Christmas Carol and share with the daycare children’s families.
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