Hooray! The weekend is over which means Blogmas continues. Happy day 3, everyone. Today, I want to share a recipe that is PERFECT for a holiday party, cookie exchange, or simply to enjoy at home with the family. I call them Peppermint Bark Meringue Cookies!
I see many recipes for meringue cookies, but none that incorporated two of my favorite flavors: chocolate and peppermint. This time of year, I eat WAY too much peppermint bark. I wanted to change things up a bit. Let’s get started, shall we?
Peppermint Bark Meringue Cookies
Image Source: faithfulelephant.com
Meringue Ingredients:
4 egg whites (at room temp)
1 cup powdered sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cream of tarter (optional)
splash of vanilla extract
red food coloring
Chocolate Buttercream Ingredients:
2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 stick of butter
1 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp of vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
3-4 tbsp almond milk
*A lot of this recipe I simply eyeball until my desired consistency. It is very easy to add more or less of a particular ingredient. I recommend starting with a half a stick of butter and adding the rest of the ingredients as you go until it is as perfect as you desire.
At the very end, you will need crushed candy canes. I put 2 candy canes in a ziplock back and used an empty wine bottle to crush them haha.
Meringue Cookie Instructions
For the meringue cookies, I couldn’t believe how easy it was. Honestly, I was concerned I would fail at this. Preheat your oven to 200 degrees F. While the oven heats, beat the egg whites until very stiff while gradually adding in your cup of powdered sugar. The salt and vanilla extract can be added during this time, too. I added them once the cup was empty.
Continue beating the mixture until peaks are formed. It will look similar to whipped cream. (At least, that’s how it looked to an amateur baker!) Once stiff peaks are formed, I put a few drops of red food coloring into my star-tipped piping bag, then added the mixture into that bag as well. The goal here is to have streaks of red, much like a candy can. It does not have to look perfect. The imperfect look gives it character. *If you do not have that, just use a zip-lock bag and cut the corner. The star tip is just my preference. You can keep it simple with a round tip.
Image Source: Finecooking.com
On a cookie baking sheet (I have two, 9 by 13) lined with parchment paper or a silpat baking mat, begin piping your cookies. This is another opportunity to get creative. I made circles of several different sizes. Just remember to do two of each size because they will be sandwiched together in the end. Perfection is NOT mandatory. Have fun with it. See photos to the right for an example of size.
Once the cookie halves are piped onto the baking sheet, pop them in the preheated oven for 90 minutes. During this 90 minutes, watch a movie. The time flies by when you are having fun! When 5 minutes remain, I recommend starting your buttercream. It is so quick to whip up, so don’t feel stuck to that time frame. Let those cookies cool while you are finishing your buttercream.
Chocolate Buttercream Instructions
In a medium sized bowl, begin mixing the butter and gradually beat in the powdered sugar and cocoa powder. I used a standing mixer on low-medium speed, but you can do this with a spoon, too. Add the vanilla and pinch of salt. Begin gradually adding in almond milk until you reach your desired consistency.
*Again I want to mention that I do not measure for this at all. I eyeball everything here. I recommend doing this as well. I start with half a stick of butter, vanilla, salt, then add a little bit of powdered sugar and cocoa powder at a time. During this I also slowly beat in splashes of milk until the consistency is exactly how I want it. For this recipe, I like the frosting to be relatively thick since it will be sandwiched between two cookies.
Put it all together!
Image Source: faithfulelephant.com
Take two meringue cookies that are similar in size. Coat one side with the buttercream frosting. Sandwich the frosting with the second cookie and squeeze gently so the icing slightly oozes out the sides. Use that as your “glue” for the crushed candy canes. Dip the cookies into the candy canes and VOILA! You have your “Peppermint Bark” Meringue Cookies!
As I stated above, none of this has to be perfect. I used basic meringue and buttercream recipes and made them my own by adding the crushed candy canes, chocolate, and food coloring. I truly believe the beauty part of baking is being creative! So, use this recipe as a base and get wild with it. Throw in some green. Put peppermint extract in the meringue. Do whatever pleases your soul.
I also recommend melting white chocolate and dipping the meringue halves into that, then dipping into candy canes. Mix it up! Have a blast. Get baking!
xoxo,
Kristin
