Note that excessive humidity can ruin the meringues, so do not attempt to make or store them if you live in a very humid environment.
Yield: 24 4-5" Meringue Bones
Ingredients:
- 3 egg whites, at room temperature
- 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 3/4 tps flavor extract, like vanilla, almond, or coconut
Preparation:
1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Place the room temperature egg whites in the clean bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. (Alternately, you can use a large bowl and a hand mixer with whisk attachments.)
2. Turn the mixer to medium-high speed and beat until the egg whites are foamy. Turn the mixer off, add the cream of tartar, and continue beating on medium-high until the whites have turned an opaque white color and just hold soft peaks.
3. At this point, start adding the sugar a few spoonfuls at a time with the mixer running. Once all of the sugar has been added, add any extracts you are using and turn the mixer to high speed. Continue to beat the egg whites until they are very thicky, glossy, and a shiny white color. When you stop the mixer and lift the whisk out of the whites, the whites should have a very stiff peak. This process will take about 5-10 minutes in a stand mixer.
4. Cover two baking sheets with parchment paper. Scoop your meringue mixture into a piping bag fitted with a ½ inch round tip, or if you don’t have this, into a large Ziploc bag with a ½ inch hole cut in the corner.
5. Pipe your meringue into bone shapes: make a small figure eight, then extend a line down about 4 inches from the middle of the eight, and pipe another figure eight at the end. Continue to form bone shapes on the baking sheets until you have used all of the meringue. If your bones are 4-5 inches long, you should get about 24 bones out of this recipe.
6. Bake the meringues in the preheated oven for an hour. After an hour, turn the oven off, close the door, and allow the meringues to sit until completely cool, about 1 hour.
7. Once the meringues are crisp and room temperature, carefully remove them from the parchment paper. For the best taste and texture, serve the meringues on the same day they are made. If you need to store these Meringue Bones, they can be kept in a low-humidity environment in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week.
