These strawberry meringue cookies are the perfect mixture of crunchy, chewy, and fruity!
I was strolling through the grocery store when something caught my eye: liquid egg whites. A 16-oz container is equal to about 10 eggs which made it one of the cheaper egg options on the shelves. I am a person who prefers egg whites to full eggs, so this felt like a great alternative.
But I’m also obsessed with cookies. And my first thought was what can I do with egg whites to make cookies. The most classic egg-white cookie is meringue. I didn’t feel like that was fun enough though which got me thinking. What can I do to make this a little more exciting?
The easiest solution for modification was to add in some sort of flavoring. A lot of flavorings come from extracts or adding the ingredient directly. But when it comes to direct adding, the consistency of the batter runs the risk of being changed. I wanted to make strawberry meringue without extract, so I decided to go with powered freeze-dried strawberries to preserve texture while adding in flavor. And the result was delicious!
Check out the Make section of MCG for more fun recipes like desserts and savory dishes.
Ingredients
One of the best parts about strawberry meringue cookies is that they need very few ingredients. Honestly, meringue cookies are one of the lowest ingredients count cookies that I know of! The core of the dish is egg whites, sugar, and cream of tartar. I also like to add salt to slightly cut how sweet these cookies tend to end up. And the freeze-dried powdered strawberries are for flavor. The recipe does not naturally call for extract, so I wanted to stick to the sugar textures when adding flavor.
Process
Whip It!
The main method to make strawberry meringue cookies is whipping. I wouldn’t be surprised if these cookies were more air than anything else. I started in a large bowl of egg whites and whisked until they reached soft peaks. The soft peaks stage is where the egg whites start to hold shape, but they don’t keep the shape.
Then I added sugar, cream of tartar, salt, and strawberry powder. Because there was quite a bit of powders, I instinctively added them in small amounts while the whisk was going. I didn’t want the weight of the powders to deflate the air I had already whipped in.
Keeping the whisk running continuously keep the air flowing through the mixture. The strawberry powder added a natural red / pink tint to the cookie batter which I really liked. I contemplated adding some food dye, but I think the fruit achieved what I wanted naturally.
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The dough for the strawberry meringue cookies end being in the hard peaks stage where it holds and keeps shape. This makes it great for piping. It can be as detailed or as simple as you want.
I decided to end up somewhere in the middle. I used a ridged piping tip to give the cookies some texture, but I piped each into a circle. I like cookies being circular. And square. Okay, fine, I just like cookies. But can you blame me?
One of the most interesting aspects of strawberry meringue cookies is that they cook for a long time at a low temperature. This process is more about taking the liquid out of the cookies rather than injecting heat.
The cookies are mainly egg and cooking them too quickly can result in a weird sweet, scrambled egg mixture that isn’t exactly pleasant. Don’t ask me how I know. One of the bonuses of this recipe is getting a very pleasant, light smell of strawberries filling the house.
Reflections
I really love this recipe. The texture of the strawberry meringue cookies is crunchy on the outside and chewy on the inside. And it just reminds me how much I love meringue. The variation of texture really brings so much to the table, but the cookies are also so light and airy. I never got weighed down from eating too many. Whether that is a good or bad thing is a different argument.
Lessons
How to Cook Meringue
content
recipe
Strawberry Meringue Cookies
Ingredients
- 4 Egg whites
- 1 ½ Cup Sugar
- ½ Teaspoon Cream of Tartar
- ¼ Teaspoon Salt
- ½ Cup Freeze Dried Strawberries
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit
- In a blender or a food processor, blitzed the freeze-dried strawberries into a powder.
- In a large bowl, whisk the eggs until they reach soft peaks. Add sugar, cream of tartar, salt, and strawberry powder.
- Whisk until the mixture reaches hard peaks. Make sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl.
- Place the mixture into a piping bag with desired design tip. Pipe out mounds onto a lined baking sheet. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes.
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