Candy Cane and Chocolate Meringues

 

Kind of like candy, not really a cookie, these are crispy on the outside, a bit chewy on the inside, and went over well with everyone who tasted them - at least here in my little world.

I wanted to include several wheat-free items in my cookie baskets this year, primarily because my cousin's wife has realized she has an intolerance for gluten, and I didn't want her to lose out on the sweets.

So, in addition to the Almond Stars/Moons that I make every year, I made these and another batch of morsels that I'll get to in another post.

I used candy canes and chocolate, but you could leave out either one and they'd still be tasty.  Meringes are easy to make, and they're fun to play around with, ingredient-wise. 

Here's what I concocted:

I used 4 room temperature egg whites, 1/4 tsp cream of tartar, and 1 cup of sugar, 2 oz bittersweet chocolate (or you could use mini chocolate chips) and 6 small candy canes.

First, I chopped up 2 oz of bittersweet chocolate...

and crushed 6 small candy canes.

 

   

 

I whipped the whites til they were at the soft peak stage, added the cream of tartar (it helps strenghten the whites) and then, with the mixer still running, slowly added in the sugar.  I kept whipping them until the peaks were firm but not dry.  

Once the whites were ready, I just folded in the crushed candy and the chocolate and then spooned the mixture out onto parchment lined sheet pans.

I baked them at 300 for about 20 minutes.  At that point, when I tasted one, the outside was nicely crisp, and the inside was like a marshmallow.  I was tempted to leave them like that - they were really good - but I wasn't sure how long they'd keep like that without getting softer, so I put them back in the oven at 200 for another 20 minutes and that gave me a chewier center that I figured would store longer.

After they'd cooled and dried, I drizzled them with melted bittersweet chocolate.  And that was it. 

See?  Simple!