Peppermint Meringues

Easy and beautiful peppermint flavored meringues are perfect for the holidays!

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 2

Total Time 2 20

Servings merinuges

Calories 14

Author Annalise Sandberg

Preheat the oven to 175°F and line 2 sheet pans with parchment paper.
Put the egg whites and sugar in the metal bowl of a stand mixer. Place over a pot of simmering water and stir occasionally until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture is warm, about 3 minutes.
Return the bowl to the stand mixer and beat on high with a whisk until the meringue reaches stiff peaks, about 5 minutes. Add the peppermint extract.
Use a small paint brush to paint the inside of a pastry bag fit with a medium star tip with 3 stripes each of the red and green food coloring.
Fill the pastry bag and pipe into 2 inch sized stars on the prepared sheet pans (Note, the first little bit of meringue to come out of the pastry bag will not have the stripes because it was inside the tip and not the bag. Pipe it out into a bowl until you see the stripes, then begin piping the stars).
Bake for about 2 hours until meringues are crisp but not browned. They should peel off the parchment easily. Let cool and store in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

Your mixer bowl and whisk attachment need to be clean and completely free of any grease or fat or your egg whites will not whip up properly.
To properly separate your eggs, making sure no yolk (i.e. fat) contaminates your whites, see my tutorial here.
Gel food coloring is required for this recipe, as liquid food coloring won't stick to the sides of the piping bag.
I prefer to use a stand mixer when whipping meringues, but a hand mixer would work too.

Adapted from Joy the Baker.