If you are looking for a fun little treat to bring to a cookie exchange or to gift co-workers, friends, or family members this Holiday season, you should consider these cute, crunchy, and flavorful little meringue drops. They look adorable when packed in a clear cellophane treat bag with a festive ribbon, sitting in a bowl on a holiday buffet or even to prepare in advance to decorate last minute holiday cakes. They are extremely easy to do and will keep for several weeks when using Chefmaster Deluxe Meringue Powder instead of raw egg whites.

Ingredients:

• ¾ cup Granulated Sugar
• ½ cup boiling water
• ¼ cup Chefmaster Deluxe Meringue Powder
• ¼ tsp Peppermint Extract (more if you desire a stronger flavor profile)
• Chefmaster Holiday Red Liqua-Gel® food coloring or Chefmaster Super Red Gel food coloring

Tools & Utensils:

Measuring Cups & Spoons

Small Sauce Pan (or Hot Water Kettle)

Stand Mixer with a whisk attachment

Decorating Pastry bag with a coupler and round decorating tip (#1A or similar recommended)

Rubber band (or flat plastic bag clip)

Small paintbrush (either new or used exclusively for food application)

Small plate

Spatula (or large spoon)

Baking Sheets

Parchment Paper

Tall wide Glass or small flower vase (optional)

Preparation:

1. Prepare and measure all your ingredients.
2. Heat oven to 250°F (225°F for convection oven). 
3. Put water to boil.
4. Add granulated sugar to the mixer bowl. 
5. Pour boiling water on the top of your sugar and stir on lowest setting until fully dissolved. 
6. Let mix cool off completely. During that time, line your baking sheets with parchment paper.
7. Once simple syrup is fully cooled, add your meringue powder. 
8. Beat at medium speed for a few minutes, then high speed until high, stiff peaks form. 
9. Mix in the peppermint flavor until well blended. 
10. Put a little bit of Chefmaster Red food coloring of your choice onto a small plate.
11. Dip small paintbrush into food coloring and saturate brush.
12. Fold the top of a pastry bag down a few inches. It is easier to set your pastry bag inside a tall glass with the tip down and fold over the sides of the glass than to hold the bag with your hands.
13. Use your paintbrush to brush a stroke of red food coloring along the inside of the decorating bag starting from the decorating tip all the way to a few inches from the end.
14. Repeat to make 3 more stripes evenly spaces inside the bag. Re-saturate the paintbrush with red food coloring as needed.
15. Use a spatula to carefully transfer meringue mixture into decorating pastry bag. 
• Try to fill the bag by spooning as much into the center as possible and avoiding smudging your food coloring strokes by touching too much the sides of the bag.
• Close your decorating bag by twisting the top and sealing with a strong rubber band or plastic bag clip.
16. Pipe drops of meringue about 1 inch wide onto a paper lined baking sheet. Leave about 1 inch in between each drop.
17. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes (oven times may vary). To finish baking let the cookies sit 1-2 hours inside oven without opening the door (or open oven door slightly and leave in the oven for 6-8 hours). 
18. Let your meringue drops cooled completely before bagging or storing into an airtight container for a few weeks.