Hi, all! I hope you all are having a great February and that you enjoyed your Valentine’s Day! We had a V-Day party at my work so I got to eat a ton of delicious food, but also got to try out this new recipe! I was hunting for a dairy-free recipe for my friends with dairy allergies, and realized that meringues are dairy-free (and also gluten-free) and figured I would give them a try. Meringues are known to be fairly tricky to make, but this recipe worked well for me- as always, I’ve included pictures for reference if you need it!

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup superfine/caster sugar (100g for those using a food scale)
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar (100g)
• 3 large egg whites (100g)
• 2 tbsp cocoa powder
• pinch of salt (~1/8 tsp)

Preheat the oven to 250ºF. Mix the two sugars together in a small bowl. In a mixing bowl with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt. When the egg whites begin to form peaks (instead of just being frothy), add the sugar mixture a spoonful at a time. Note- you really need to go slow with adding the sugar and make sure each spoonful is fully incorporated before adding the next, or else your meringue will become gritty. As you add sugar, your egg whites will become glossy and smooth.

Once all the sugar is added to the eggs, continue to beat them on medium to medium-high speed until very stiff peaks form. Note: “very stiff peaks” means that when you drag the whisk through the egg whites and pull up, the mixture should stay standing straight up. If you haven’t whisked the mixture enough, your meringues will melt. 

Sift and fold the cocoa powder into the meringue mix using a spatula. You want to be very gentle in this process so that you don’t knock the air out of the beaten egg whites.

Transfer the mixture into a piping bag. Pipe into various shapes onto a baking sheet lined with wax paper. I tried making meringue hearts but quickly learned I’m not very good at piping hearts, so I ended up making a hodge podge of shapes. You can also just dollop the mixture onto the baking sheet using a spoon if you don’t have a piping bag.

Leaving the oven door cracked open so that steam can escape, bake the meringues for 90 minutes. Then, turn the oven off and leave the oven door cracked slightly, and let the meringues cool completely in the oven. They should be very dry and fragile.

And that’s it! These cookies are so light and airy and delicious, and the chocolate flavor is so perfect in them. You can also omit the cocoa powder and add a teaspoon of vanilla extract for vanilla meringues, which are just as delicious. Enjoy, and happy baking!