Getting back on track...

I know it's been forever and a day since I've posted one of these. I'm a little ashamed. And I apologize wholeheartedly. I can offer excuses...blah blah, work, blah, sister's wedding, Christmas, so on and so forth. But honestly, I just haven't given it much thought. But I'm through with that! I'm back and my goal is to try and post something every week. Feel free to yell at me if I fall behind :) the motivation will help. So Merry Christmas to everyone. I hope you all are enjoying your holiday. Here is a fun little treat that I made for my work people a few days ago. If you like meringues, you absolutely must make these. They melt in your mouth and the peppermint is a delightful and unexpected twist on a traditional meringue. In the future, I plan on doing a few variations of this recipe. It's super easy as long as you have a mixer. I used a pastry bag and a star tip to make mine, but you can cut the corner of a ziploc and do essentially the same thing.

It takes them a couple of hours to bake but I promise the result is worth it. BEWARE humidity. It doesn't ruin them, but we had the windows open and they got very sticky when they were cooling. I just popped them back into a warm oven for a few minutes and they crisped right back up. Then I dumped them immediately into a ziploc bag and suck the air out with a straw. Overcautious maybe, but they didn't get sticky!

Also, in the magazine, they were cute pink and white swirled. I tried their recommendation to get the desired swirl, but mostly they just turned out solid pink. Still cute.

Happy Holidays!

Peppermint Meringues
Makes about 60 small ones

Ingredients
3 large egg whites, room temperature
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/8 teaspoon peppermint extract
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
12 drops red food coloring

Preheat the oven to 200 and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Beat the egg whites and salt on medium high speed in the bowl of an electric mixer, until white and foamy, about 1 minute. With the mixer on, add the 1/3 cup sugar in three parts, beating for 2 minutes in between, and 2 minutes after you add the last batch, until stiff peaks form. You should be able to take the whisk, dip it into the meringue, and turn it upside-down. The meringue should stay standing fairly straight up. Add the powdered sugar and peppermint and vanilla extracts. The meringue might soften up a little bit. Don't get scared. Mine did too.

Dot the food coloring on the surface, without stirring. Spoon into plastic bag or pastry bag with 1/2 inch tip. Pipe into 1-inch mounds on parchment paper, about an inch apart. Mine were closer together than this. They don't spread at all.

Bake for 2 1/2 hours, until meringues are dry. Let cool completely and store in an airtight container at room temperature. If they get sticky while cooling, I popped mine back into my barely-warm oven for a minute then put them right into a container.

Recipe courtesy of Bon Appetit Magazine

Enjoy!