brown sugar meringues

I've always been a fan of meringue anything and everything. Just the word meringue insists sophistication and challenge. The ambiguity of 'what constitutes soft peaks' and 'what constitutes stiff peaks' always used to throw me off when working with egg whites. Sometimes they still appeared frothy even after 20 minutes of whisking, and other times they magically turned glossy and smooth as they should. I believe experience is key.


Egg whites are definitely one of my favorite things to work with while baking. It'll take a while to get the hang of it, but soon you'll get a feel for the egg whites. You feel it from the tip of the whisk through the handheld electric machine, all the way to your fingers and palm. You feel the gooey egg whites mesh around in the bowl when you first start whisking. You feel and see it become frothy. And after adding in ingredients, you again feel the meringue emerging, the soft mixture stiffening as it churns, smooth and glossy under the light, beginning to slightly stick to the edge of the bowl.

I also love seeing people's faces when they take a bite out of a meringue. The light crisp seems to catch them off guard and their eyes widen and it's pretty funny but satisfying too cause who doesn't enjoy a melt-in-your-mouth meringue cookie? :)

 

These brown sugar meringues are basically, pretty healthy: egg whites, brown sugar, PINCH of salt, and air. GUILT-FREE haha but yeah moderation is still key. That didn't work out for me because I ate an entire platter...

They're light, airy, crisp, and they melt in your mouth. They're not too sweet and actually have a somewhat bitter, coffee-like taste that is extremely addicting. You really can't just have one. But again, moderation. 

Brown Sugar Meringues

adapted from Hungry Girl

yields about 36 small meringues

Ingredients:

2 large egg whites

1/2 cup brown sugar (dark or golden, whichever is fine, I used dark so my meringues came out darker)

pinch of salt

Directions:

- Preheat the oven to 300° F and line a few baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats. 

- In a medium to large bowl, whisk the egg whites with an electric handheld mixer until the whites become frothy. Add the pinch of salt and continue to whisk until soft peaks form. This should take about 2-3 minutes.

- Then add in the brown sugar tablespoons at a time and continue to whisk until the brown sugar is incorporated and until the egg whites hold stiff peaks. The egg whites should look glossy and smooth, and while you are whisking you should feel the egg whites sticking to both the whisk as well as the bowl. 

- Take your favorite pastry tip (I used Wilton M1, but you don't have to pipe them into stars you can just cut a hole in a Ziploc bag) and fill a pastry bag with the meringue. Pipe the meringues onto the parchment paper or silicone mats and leave about 3/4 inch between each meringue (meringues usually don't spread, but just to be safe). 

- Bake the meringues for 30 minutes until they turn a golden brown (I used dark brown sugar so mine came out a darker brown) or until they are no longer sticky (to check this, open your oven and take a toothpick and lightly tap the side of one meringue, don't pierce a hole in it, just tap it to check that it's not sticky and doesn't press down). 

- Remove and serve, or store immediately in an airtight container so they do not catch moisture overnight and become sticky. If they do become sticky, just pop them back in the oven for a few minutes before serving so they can crisp up.