I can't believe how much my kids love meringues! They actually seem to love the plain white kind. I like them a little fancier and that's why I tried making these Christmas wreath meringues. We enjoy an old fashioned Thanksgiving in a restaurant in Northern Wisconsin and these are what my kids crave from the dessert table. Not the cheesecake, not the chocolate cake or any of the wonderful pies. Nope, they go after the lumpy white (vanilla flavored) meringues.
Below, is the printable recipe. But, I thought I'd give you a few tips on how to make your Christmas wreath meringues making experience pleasant.
You will need a piping bag and piping tip. Buy the bigger bags. And, get disposable ones. It makes cleanup much faster! I'm no expert but I practice on a few and then away I go! Make sure you are piping onto either parchment paper or silicone mats. No issues with sticking at all then! I wish I would have bought these silicone baking mats years ago!
Scoop the meringue into a large ziplock bag. Cut a big hole in the corner and then fill up the piping bag using the ziplock bag. This keeps everything neater and less sticky. I have never been able to neatly get the meringue directly into the piping bag from the bowl. If there is a way, I don't know it!
Make sure you have all your ingredients ready to go. The mixer does all the work but you need to be ready to scoop in the sugar at the right times. Remeasure and you are good to go!
Also, I made two types of wreaths. One where you made the little buttons and the other where you just piped a circle. They both look and taste good! Obviously, I also added some confectionary sprinkles. Just the kind you can get at any grocery store.
Sprinkle them on prior to baking and most will stay on then. Don't you think the sprinkles make the wreaths look pretty? All ready and decorated for Christmas!
I did leave some of the simple circle wreaths plain. But some I decorated. Take a look at the directions. Easy! Just give yourself a bit of time and make sure you have all your ingredients premeasured and ready to go.
Ingredients
- 3 egg whites room temperature
- ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
- ¾ cup super fine sugar regular sugar is ok but you need to beat longer
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- Food coloring I used about a dozen drops to get the shade of green I wanted. If you want darker, I would recommend going to a gel food color.
- Sprinkles to decorate optional
Instructions
- Preheat to 225 Fahrenheit
- Line baking pan with silicone mat or Parchment paper
- Add cream of tartar to egg whites and beat until foamy
- (Best to use a stand mixer. A hand mixer works, just takes a little longer)
- Add sugar, a couple of tablespoons at a time, to egg white mixture, beating constantly. Beat to dissolve sugar before adding more sugar.
- After mixture reaches the stiff peak stage, add vanilla and food coloring.
- Beat until well mixed in.
- Bake at 225 Fahrenheit for 1 ½ hours. Turn oven off but leave meringues in the oven for at least 2 - 3 hours. (I leave them in overnight).
- Store in a sealed container. Waxed paper is recommended between layers. If your meringues get sticky, bake for about 15 minutes at 225 and they should dry out again.
- Adapted from a recipe at Incredibleegg.org (lots of tips there if you have never made meringues before).
Meringues are actually very easy to make. There are very few ingredients and the recipe above shows how easy they are to make. But, there is a big rookie mistake that many make. Much to my shame, I made it a couple of weeks ago. Do not make these Christmas meringues, or any other meringues when it is humid. The egg whites just don't fluff up like they need to. It's a frustrating experience. Other than that, these are easy! It's amazing that basically 3 egg whites and a little less than a cup of sugar makes about three cookie sheets worth of treats.
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