You might be wondering why I am posting a Red, White, and Blue recipe? It’s after Memorial Day, but the Fourth of July is still a month away!
We have another holiday that sits in between…Flag Day! June 14th is Flag Day!
I had some egg whites left over from the ice cream I made the other day, so I decided to make meringue cookies. With a twist! Ha! Get it?!!
These are vanilla bean flavored meringue cookies. I wanted to make cherry flavored, but I found out (the hard way) that you can’t add flavored oils to meringue. It turned it into a runny mess. Note: I should have known this would happen, as most cookbooks that talk about tips for meringue, tell you that your mixing bowl has to be clean and free of oils or grease. So, my bad!
Anyways! These are a fun way to use up extra egg whites, and you can color these however you want! As for a different flavor, well, stick to extracts 
Red, White, and Blue Meringue Cookies
Makes: 2 1/2- 3 dozen, depending on size
Prep time: 15 minutes Bake time: 3 hours
3 egg whites, room temperature
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste
Red and Blue gel food coloring (I use AmeriColor gels)
Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper- set aside.
In a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, whisk together the egg whites and the cream of tartar. Turn the mixer to high speed and let the egg whites come to soft peaks (when you stop the mixer and lift the whisk attachment, the peak falls over). Turn the mixer to medium-low speed and slowly add in the sugar. Once the sugar has been added, add in the vanilla bean paste, then turn the mixer back to high and whisk until the egg whites form stiff peaks (the peak stays straight up when the whisk attachment has been lifted).
To pipe the cookies, use a disposable piping bag (with or without a coupler and decorating tip). In order to get the stripes of color, take a paintbrush dipped in one of the gel food colors and stripe the side (inside) of the bag. Wash your brush out with water, then repeat on the other side of the bag with the next color (see picture below). Fill the bag with the meringue and pipe out the cookies onto your prepared cookie sheet. Note: I did not use a coupler and tip- I just cut off the end of the pastry bag and made swirls with the meringue. Bake for 3 hours or until the cookies sound hollow when you tap them. Cool completely and store in an air-tight container. Enjoy!
Made with love, not calories!
With a twist? I don’t get it.
Ah, sarcasm!