Neighborhood Gift Idea #16: Gluten-Free Meringues

I’ve been dieing to see if beating powdered egg whites from my food storage actually works (especially, since a local tv chef told me it wouldn’t…) and I was so pleased to see that it DOES! Since then, I’ve tried it in these cookies, Divinity (will post on that later), waffles, and soon a Lemon Chiffon cake. So if any of you are brave enough to diet through the holidays, are trying to give up gluten, or are looking for a creative and easy alternative to rice krispy treats…this is the cookie for you! Don’t believe me? Check out all the reasons why I love this cookie!

1. GLUTEN FREE
2. Very low calorie. You can have FIVE for the price of ONE chocolate chip cookie.
3. Few ingredients (only 6 to be exact)
4. Low-fat
5. Can be made entirely from your pantry! (No refrigerated ingredients required)
6. Gourmet looking and tasting.

Plus, don’t they look really delicious? (Think a cookie that melts in your mouth!) Because beating egg whites can be scary (it was for me, for an embarassingly long time…*ahem* you know..until I tried it in powdered form) so I also made a how-to video so you can see how truly easy these gourmet cookies are to make!

GLUTEN-FREE FOOD STORAGE MERINGUES

3 egg whites (1 T. powdered egg whites + 3 T. water)
1/8 t. cream of tartar
1/8 t. salt
1 t. vanilla
3/4 C. sugar
1 C. mini chocolate chips (or nuts, dates, raisins)

Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Beat egg whites with cream of tartar, salt, and vanilla until soft peaks form. Mix in sugar 1 T. at a time until stiff peaks form. Using two spoons, drop spoonfuls of meringue on parchment lined cookie sheet. Bake for 45 minutes. Then turn oven off and allow to sit in oven for 90 minutes. Store in air tight container.

If you’re wondering where to get powdered egg whites, currently you can get them from Honeyville Grains.