a ghostly treat

Meringue Ghosts

These festive meringues are not only tasty but are also quite fun to make. My two little boys and I had a lot of fun trying to pipe out ghostly shapes today after school.

Ingredients
3 large egg whites (room temperature)
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
miniature semisweet chocolate chips
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1. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper, or butter sheets and dust with flour.
2. In a deep bowl, with a mixer at high speed, whip egg whites and cream of tartar to a thick foam. Continuing to beat, add sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, then whip until meringue holds very stiff peaks.

3. Beat in vanilla.

4. Spoon meringue into a pastry bag fitted (or, like I did, spoon into a gallon-size Ziploc bag and cut off 1 corner to make a small opening).

5. Pipe meringue onto baking sheets into ghostly shapes about 1/2 inch thick. Place them about 2 inches apart. To make eyes simply press chocolate chips lightly into meringue.
6. Bake in a 200° oven until meringues begin to turn pale gold and are firm to touch, 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours (1 to 1 1/4 hours in a convection oven); switch pan positions halfway through baking. Turn off heat and leave meringues in closed oven for 1 hour.

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