Meringue Christmas Tree Cookie
I’ll show you how to make a meringue Christmas tree. But first, let’s talk about what this is. Meringue is a sweet dessert that is common for covering pies. It is made of beaten egg whites then baked until it is crisp. The result is a hard, yet fragile (yes, it’s Italian – If you got that joke, leave a comment), cookie that melts in your mouth. A good meringue will taste like a combination of cotton candy and marshmallow. Today, we are piping this batter into a couple different types of Christmas trees for both a sweet treat and a table decoration.
This recipe has affiliate links to products shown in the video.
One Minute Video
Printable Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 Egg Whites
- 1/2 Tsp Cream of Tarter
- Pinch of Salt
- 3/4 Cup Sugar
- 1/4 Vanilla Extract (to taste)
Instructions
- Separate the egg whites. Any yolk will screw up the recipe.
- Add the egg whites, cream of tarter, and salt in a bowl and mix with a hand mixer until it becomes foamy.
- One spoonful at a time, add the 3/4 cup sugar. *I have a tip of how to do this on the blog.
- Pour in the vanilla extract. This is a good time to add any food coloring if desired.
- Continue to mix on high until stiff peaks develop. If they slump, when you turn over the beater, go a little further because they will slump in the oven.
- Put in a bakers bag and pipe them onto parchment paper.
- Bake at 225 degrees for one hour.
- Turn off the oven and leave the cookies in the oven to cool for another thirty minutes to an hour.
Equipment Used in This Recipe
- Hand Mixer – https://amzn.to/2z9EHEO
- Glass Bowl – https://amzn.to/2RST2vU
- Parchment Paper – https://amzn.to/2RSnuq7
How to Make Meringue Christmas Trees
There are two main steps, make the meringue, and then make the design you want. I’ll put some tips in to help you make a great fluffy and firm meringue.
Make the Meringue Base
With a hand mixer, beat the egg whites, cream of tater, and salt until it is foamy.
Add the sugar one spoonful at a time. Here’s a tip – make sure the sugar of each spoonful dissolves into the eggs before the next spoonful. If you have great lighting, you can visibly see the grains of sugar, if you can’t see them, taste it or touch it. If it is grainy, it isn’t ready yet. In my experience, it takes 20 to 30 seconds for this to happen.
Add Color and Vanilla
Now that all the sugar is in the mix, pour in the vanilla and any food coloring you desire.
Continue to mix until stiff peaks form. A stiff peak is one where if you turn it upside down, the peak will keep its shape. Don’t do any less or any more.
Pipe the Meringue into Trees
I tried two different methods for making a tree. My first batch was green and I made three dimensional trees.
My second batch was just vanilla colored and had more of a classic look. You can see how versatile the meringue is just be looking at these two different batches.