Coffee Meringues

I remember I used to go to Whole Foods when I was younger to get the chocolate or coffee meringues. They were extremely overpriced for what they were, but I didn’t know that at the time, they were just crunchy goodness to me. The only way they can be that expensive is if the people making them use a whisk rather than a mixer, because it is DIFFICULT! What I’m trying to say is…don’t try to make these without a hand mixer unless you have extreme arm strength and you life weights on a regular basis. 😉

I came home for spring break and decided to make these for the first time because I was bored and didn’t feel like wasting my time watching TV shows. I was already set on making them by the time my mom told me that we didn’t have an electric beater, so I decided to use a balloon whisk instead of giving up. I should have listened to the warnings of the Yahoo Answers people and waited until I got back to LA, but when I set my mind on something, I HAVE to do it.

Only make these without an electric beater if you want to get a good arm workout or bruises on your palms from twirling the egg whites so hard. I’m not gonna lie…I was sweating and huffing for a good 20 minutes… #weaksauce

If you do use a whisk instead of an electric beater, just twirl the whisk between your palms as fast as your can around the whole bowl. It will take about 30 minutes for the egg whites to turn stiff. My egg whites never turned as stiff as they do with the electric beater, but they turned out great. Just make sure that the mixture is glossy and thick (you can check to see if it is ready by letting some drop off your whisk. If it sits on top of the mixture without flattening, it’s just about ready)

INGREDIENTS:

• 4 egg whites (NOTE* Make sure you don’t get ANY yolk into your egg whites)
• 2 tablespoons instant granulated coffee (I used Folgers because that’s what I had at home and crushed it into smaller granules with the back of a teaspoon)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Fahrenheit

2. 

   byebye egg yolks 😦

3. Beat the egg whites and salt until soft peaks form (it looks foamy but it sort of holds shape)
4. 
5. Start adding in the sugar a couple teaspoons at a time while still beating until stiff peaks form (shiny/glossy, thick, and holds its shape when you lift your whisk)
6. Mix in the coffee and vanilla extract just until everything is mixed in (do not overmix)

7. 

   coffee granules not completely mixed in. That is OKAY. 🙂

8. Place into a ziplock or piping bag and pipe onto parchment paper in little droplets or any shape you would like
9. You don’t need to place them too far apart because they do not spread a lot when baked
10. Bake for about an hour (a little more is fine too)
11. Other recipes tell you to let them sit in the oven for 3 hours after they are done baking to make sure that they are completely dry, but I took them out an hour after and they were perfect! Just let them cool completely for about 10 minutes before eating them because if they haven’t cooled completely, they can be chewy inside.
12. If you have extra batter and no space on the parchment paper, PIPE AWAY! I piped even small droplets everywhere I could find space, and only some stuck slightly. You can squish these very close together and use the whole batter on 2 pans
13. ENJOY!
14. 

    Does your family have this plate too? I thought we were the only family with the plate but it seems like a lot of people have it!