So here’s the story… I’ll be honest with you, I didn’t set out this morning to make meringues, it wasn’t on my list today. Actually neither was making mayonnaise, all I actually wanted was a tuna sandwich. But here’s how it happened…
I opened a can of tuna to make a tuna salad sandwich, but then I realized that we didn’t have any mayonnaise. So I thought, “I’m pretty crafty, I can make my own mayo!” So I googled “how to make mayonnaise and found a recipe (with cooked egg yolk- just can’t do the raw egg thing) and, to make a long story short, I followed the directions, but 4 egg yolks later I ended up with a runny yellow liquid that I had no intentions of mixing with my tuna… It was pretty gross, don’t know where I went wrong…

So, I felt a little guilty for pouring the mayo mixture down the sink, but the good news is that I ended up making a great tasting tuna melt by substituting ranch dressing for the mayo. (It was actually really good!)
But, I’ll save that post for another day….
After enjoying my delicious sandwich, I realized that I still had 4 egg whites left over from my mayo disaster. I couldn’t throw them out too! So, I thought, “I’m pretty crafty, I can make something out of these egg whites.” So I googled, “what can I make with egg whites.” And this recipe for meringues came up… So that’s how I ended up making meringues! I can’t tell you how many times I have said this, but how did people survive before Google? Seriously.
This was my first time making meringues, and I was pretty impressed with how easy they are to make!
Start with four egg whites and beat them until they are foamy, which only takes a minute or so.

Then, very slowly, a sprinkle at a time, add two cups of icing sugar…

And beat on high until the egg whites hold their shape when you hold up the beater.

I spooned the mixture into a piping bag, because I wanted them to look a little fancier. Then squeezed out a tablespoon at a time on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.

By the way, here is a great trick I have figured out when using piping bags… Use a plastic clip on the end to stop the icing from squeezing out the end. I can’t tell you how many times I have ended up with a handful of icing without realizing it.

With the clip you can also easily roll it around as you use up the filling inside.

Anyways, it turns out that the piping bag was probably a waste of time because the meringue wasn’t stiff enough to hold the shape. A spoonful would have looked the same.
So I learned that the trick to meringues is to cook them for a long time at a low temperature. So, set your oven to 200 degrees, and the timer for about two hours. Essentially, the oven almost dries out the meringues. Be sure to leave the oven open a bit, I used a wooden spoon to prop the door open.

Then after waiting two long hours, they were ready. Slightly browned and crunchy on the outside. They were delicious!

The recipe actually made a few dozen meringues. I probably made them a little smaller, but still, there were tonnes of them! Next time, I might even halve the recipe. Nah… Who am I kidding….
Enjoy!