Meringue Drops

Okay...get ready for an overload of recipes!! Over the next few days I'll be blogging about all the goodies I made this weekend for my housewarming party. I look forward to having many more parties as this apartment is great for entertaining. My evil plan has worked!!

At any rate ... the list of items baked for this weekend was extensive. Some are things I've blogged about before, so you won't see updated recipes...but those would include my Parmesan crisps, gluten-free apple pear crisp, etc. Some are favorite recipes that I don't think I've had the opportunity to blog about yet, so yay!! Now I can blog about them! Many of them I forgot to photograph, or the photos aren't on my computer yet so those will be forthcoming.

Enough about my party ... you probably want to know about these meringue drops I made. I actually made chocolate chip meringue drops, and there's another variation I did not make but am dying to try ... I'll tell you how to make it here!!

So about these meringues, they are incredibly light and airy. I've had store-bought meringues before and have loved them, but these I love even more. They are super easy to make but do take a bit of a commitment with the oven as they cook at a low temperature and need to then sit in the oven, while it's turned off, for at least 2 hour after you are done with the baking. The other glorious thing about them is the lack of ingredients, they are low-fat, and depending on the type of chocolate you use they are gluten-free. So many positives in one little baked good, how can you say no?

Chocolate Meringue Drops
Active Prep Time: 10 minutes
Inactive Time: 3 hours
Total time from start to in your mouth deliciousness: about 3 hours and 10 minutes
Yields: 40 cookies

Ingredients

• 2 large egg whites
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 TBS unsweetened cocoa powder (check to see if it's gluten-free if you want this to be a gf recipe)
• 1/2 cup mini-semisweet chocolate chips (again...check to see if it's gluten-free...)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment and set aside.
2. In large bowl of a mixer, beat the egg whites at moderately high speed until they hold stiff peaks. Beat in the sugar one tablespoon at a time, then beat in the vanilla extract. Reduce speed to low and beat in cocoa powder. With rubber spatula, fold in the chips.
3. Drop mixture by the rounded teaspoonful onto baking sheets, spacing one inch apart and bake for one hour. This yields a more rustic meringue, for a more uniform meringue use a piping bag and pipe a teaspoonful on the parchment.
4. After baking for an hour, turn off the oven and dry the cookies in the oven for 2 hours longer. Remove pan and store in an air tight container.
   

Variation
Instead of making these chocolate with chocolate chips, subtract chips and use 1/2 cup of chopped pecans. Also add a pinch of nutmeg & cinnamon to the egg whites.

Enjoy!!