French Meringues

I'm not very fond of meringue cookies from the very few times I've had them and the one other time I've made them. However, it's just one of those things that if you like to bake, you have to try to make them right at least once. Upon further research, I stumbled upon this Authentic French Meringue recipe. It's so simple it only calls for two ingredients: egg whites and confectioners' sugar. I had to give it another try.

3 egg whites (or 1/2 cup egg whites) and 1-2/3 cup confectioners' sugar.

Preheat the oven to 200°F.

In a glass or metal bowl, whip egg whites until foamy using an electric mixer. Sprinkle in sugar a spoonful at a time, while continuing to whip at medium speed. When the mixture becomes stiff and shiny like satin (at least 15 minutes), stop mixing.

Transfer the mixture to a large pastry bag. Ziploc baggies work too. Just snip off one of the bottom corners.

Pipe the meringue out onto the prepared baking sheet using a large round tip or star tip. My meringues were about 1-1/2 inches in diameter.

Bake for 2 hours, or until the meringues are dry, and can easily be removed. Allow cookies to cool in oven for 1 hour. Completely cool before storing in an airtight container at room temperature.

These french meringues were completely dry on the inside and very crunchy and very sweet. Perfect for anybody who has a sweet tooth. =)

I've also read that meringues are supposed to be marshmallow-y on the inside so I thought a s'mores version would be interesting. FYI: If you want your meringues to be marshmallow-y on the inside, your meringues need to be bigger than bite size.

Graham crackers and butter for crust.

Add the meringue mixture.

Drizzle on some melted chocolate.

3 hours later. Looks tasty, eh?

These are to be saved for this Saturday's mini backyard bbq, but who knows, I might just snag one before hand.

Here are other meringue cookies that I was considering:
Meringue Cookies ("Forgotten Kisses") by Emeril Lagasse
Meringue Smooches by Sandra Lee
Mint Chocolate Chip Meringues by Gale Gand

FYI: I'm still not a meringue lover, but at least I made this one right. The previous ones I made were slightly browned and had a gritty texture due to the use of granulated sugar...