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Sunday, January 17, 2016

Meringue Cookies

Meringues are like biting into a crispy cloud (at least that's what it's like for me). I've purchased these several times but this time I decided to try these out for myself because the ingredients are very basic and it seems relatively simple to make. Also, these things last a really long time based on my past meringue experience.


Ingredients:

4 large egg whites at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
Pinch of salt
1 tsp. vinegar or lemon juice
1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips and/or sliced or chopped nuts (optional)
1 tsp. zest of any citrus fruit (optional)
Food coloring (optional)
(Zohn 128)


To start off, I gathered all the ingredients together. The first step in the recipe was to, "Preheat the oven to 250° F. [Then,] line the baking sheets with parchment paper" (Zohn 129). The next step was to whisk the egg whites in a bowl then to slowly add the sugar until stiff peaks formed (Zohn 129). Although this step called for room temperature eggs, I didn't have the time nor the patience to wait for the refrigerated eggs to become room temperature. I just used the refrigerated ones and hoped it would turn out alright.


After that, I added salt, vinegar, and vanilla extract to the mixture until it turned glossy and then added in the chocolate chips (Zohn 129). Next, the recipe said to, "Place meringue in a piping bag and pipe them onto the prepared baking sheets" (Zohn 129). I didn't really have a piping bag so I just used a spoon and put little meringue blobs onto the baking sheet which surprisingly didn't look that bad.

Finally, I put the meringues into the oven then lowered the oven to 200° F and baked for 1 hour 30 minutes (Zohn 129). Done!

Overall, I would say that this recipe was a success despite my impatience with the egg whites. I am not quite sure what bringing the eggs to room temperature was supposed to do but it didn't seem to have an affect on the outcome of the meringues.


Do you prefer to follow a recipe exactly or do you prefer to change it and make it more unique?


Zohn, Alexandra. Baking. New York: Penguin Group (USA), 2014. Print.

4 comments:

  1. When I try a recipe for the first time, I usually follow the recipe exactly. After I've made the dish a few times then I might change things to fit my tastes more. I'm glad your meringue cookies turned out well. They sound good!

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  2. Thanks for the comment! I sometimes change the recipe if I don't like an ingredient or don't have it on hand and it (usually) turns out ok. For this recipe it seemed to be ok but if I don't have to, I usually wouldn't just change a recipe just because I feel like it.

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  3. I agree with Danica. If I know the recipe well, I like to make my own variation. That way, it tastes better, and it has my own personal touch as well.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for commenting! I think that it
      s good to change things a little but you probably shouldn't change it too much

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