Meringue Spice Cookies - gluten-free cookie

 I wouldn't go so far as saying these cookies are good for you, they are packed with sugar, but they are gluten-free and are really yummy. If you need to bring some treats for a holiday party these are a great alternative. They also make a great almost guilt-free dessert present.

I came up with the recipe for these cookies by accident. I was trying to make organic cookies, so I used fresh organic eggs and organic turbinado sugar (raw sugar).  Turbinado sugar tastes like molasses similar to brown sugar, but brown sugar is made by adding molasses to refined sugar. Turbinado sugar is (according to wikipedia):

produced by extracting the juice from sugar cane, heating it to evaporate water and crystallise the sugar, then spinning in a centrifuge to remove some impurities and further dry the sugar. 

Needless to say the cookie batter turned out smelling very molasses-y so I added some pumpkin pie spice that I had around (we put it on our squash) to make them into a quick spice cookie. Now they are my favorite meringue cookie! -- Nicole

Meringue Spice Cookies

Ingredients:

• 3 egg whites
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
• dash of salt
• 3/4 cup turbinado sugar
• 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

Preheat your oven to 225 degrees.

You need to grind the sugar smaller

Turbinado sugar comes in large crystals so you will need to grind it smaller so it will dissolve in the egg whites and not make a grainy cookie. I use my little Cuisineart 1 cup food processor. If you don't have one but have a coffee bean grinder you can use that. Just grind it until the grain is about 1/4 the size. Add 1/2 ts of pumpkin pie spice to the sugar, and mix well. Set aside until the last step.

Now that all your ingredients are ready, put the wisk attachment on your mixer. In the bowl you should have your 3 egg whites and then add 1 1/2 tsp vanilla, 1/4 tsp cream of tartar, and a dash of salt and wisk on medium until stiff peaks form.

Start adding your sugar and spice mixture one tablespoon at a time on high speed. Wisk until it gets very stiff and has a very glossy sheen.

the batter wet

You can either spoon or squirt out your batter to make the meringue forms. I use a pastry bag with a standard circle opening. You can also use a ziploc bag with a corner cut off. Squirt you mix onto a parchment or foil lined baking sheet in 1.5" button shapes. I like to go around in a spiral and then leave a little peak at the top. You may not like this form though - my daughter informs me it looks like a pile of P**P so you may have a better idea.

Bake at 225" for about 45 minutes. It should be perfectly stiff when finished but not browned. Allow to cool for a few minutes and then it  will peel right off the liner. If you do it too soon it will stick.

Here are some products that I used to make these cookies:

I have both a large and this small one cup food processor.

Its great for small tasks like grinding the sugar or small batches of pesto or other sauces. 

I love using my cookie press instead of a pastry bag. I just seem to make less of a mess. 

This one is like mine with both the cookie press attachments and the icing ones. 

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