Vanilla Meringue Swirls for Halloween

Now I love chocolate but how about a Halloween treat that's a little lighter... Meringue! They are very pretty and are great for an adult party or as gifts for the neighbors. You are only limited by the colors of the food coloring paste/gel you have on hand... I would have liked to make these orange and black but didn't have black, so I decided orange and green would work just fine:@)

This is actually a combination of two recipes, I used the meringue recipe from Taste of Home and the great swirl idea from Martha Stewart. Martha omitted the extract and used vanilla beans and 1 tsp finely grated  orange or lemon zest. I've seen everything from chocolate to raspberry meringues.

Vanilla Meringue Swirls
3 egg whites, room temp
*1 1/2 tsp clear vanilla extract-I used regular vanilla and would cut back next time
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
dash of salt
3/4 C sugar
Icing Coloring paste/gel-I used Wilton

1. Add vanilla, tartar and salt to egg whites and beat till soft peaks form.
2. Gradually beat in sugar (about 1 Tblsp at a time) until stiff, glossy peaks form. Approx 7 minutes on high.
3. Add an icing tip to an icing bag or into the corner of a Ziplock bag (you can Google how folks do this). This calls for an Ateco #805 tip, any round opening tip will work-I used a Wilton 2A. You can't  go wrong here folks, if you only have a star tip-use it. If you don't have any tips, clip a small hole in the corner of a bag and free form them. 
4. Use a small paint brush and add three thin lines of icing coloring gel to the inside of the icing bag. Technique here. Fill with dough. 
5. Pipe 1 1/4" cookies onto to a parchment lined cookie sheet. Try to keep them small and bite size.
6. Bake at 250 degrees for 40-45 minutes or until set and dry. I found this too hot for my oven and I'd use 200 degrees for an hour or so (which is what Martha suggests) the next time.
7. Turn oven off and leave the door closed, remove cookies after one hour.
8. Cool and store in an air tight container. Makes approximately 5 dozen.

Notes:

• Do not make these on a humid day! By the time I got to filling the second piping bag my dough had deflated a bit, then add the heat from my hands... 
• *While these are very tasty, I've never seen a meringue recipe that called for this much extract before. For the sake of making a tighter batter and more defined cookie I'd cut back next time. Most recipes call for 1/2 tsp, I'd try 3/4 tsp at the most.
• If you use brown vanilla don't panic as I did when you first add it to the egg whites, the mixture will get whiter as it inflates.
• Use a very thin paint brush for the food coloring gel, I think the green stripes are perfect. If you want bright vivid cookies, once the first bag is empty, use a new bag and repaint the lines. I used 12" Wilton Disposable Icing Bags and this recipe will fill two bags.
• While they don't puff up much they do expand a bit, so leave a good inch of space around each one.
• Work quickly, it just makes them prettier and talk about a thrifty gift... 3 egg whites and 3/4 C sugar!

Have a happy day:@)

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