Cookie exchange, December 13, 2015!

I hosted my 2nd (next year, annual) cookie exchange and it was a great hit! I served various appetizers and this fall sangria.

 The cookie exchange winners...

• Prettiest Cookie:  Tonya, Christmas Tree Meringues (see below)
• Tastiest Cookie:  Mary, Chewy Almond Cookies  (and also very pretty!)
• My Cookie (and 2nd runner up to Tastiest):  Fudgy Meringue Cookies

An interesting fact is that none of the cookies have flour!  Under certain cookie nazi rule books, cookies without flour WOULD NOT be allowed at a cookie exchange.  

 

 

 

Christmas Tree Meringues

Ingredients

• 4 Egg Whites
• 1 1/3 Cup Sugar
• 1/4 TSP Salt
• 1/4 TSP Cream of Tartar
• Green Gel Food Coloring
• Parchment Paper
• Piping Bag
• Large Star Tip
• Sprinkles & Stars (I ordered Wilton gold stars online)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 150-170 degrees. In the bowl of an electric mixer place egg whites. Let the whites come to room temp.
2. Beat egg whites until white and foamy. Mix in 1/4 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp cream of tartar until soft peaks form. Set timer for 7 minutes. Slowly add in sugar a bit at a time taking the entire 7 minutes to do so.
3. Add food coloring and mix well.
4. Fill piping bag with meringue using a large star tip (I used Wilton #1M). 
5. On a parchment paper lined cookie sheet pipe small mounds of meringue, moving in a tiny circle. 
6. Add sprinkles and stars. If placing stars on the soft meringue is too difficult, you can also add them with a small dab of royal icing after baking.
7. Now bake at a very low heat (about 150-170) for about two hours to two and a half hours until they are nice and crisp. I just checked on mine every so often to make sure they haven’t started to brown. Every oven is different. I have found in the past that a low temp for a much longer time is far better then a higher temp with a risk of browning.