Boo Meringues!

When you’ve got three kids in school, you’ve got three kids  heading to school Halloween parties and three sign-up sheets for three goodies to send in with them.  This year I lucked out with Jack and just got carrots and juice boxes, Ben’s class requires finger jello (aka Jello Jigglers), and I’ll be making one of our favorites for Maddie’s class:  Meringue Cookies made into ghost shapes. 
Jack was the one who came up with the name Boo Meringues—quite by accident.  He was calling them boomerangs, I guess because he had never heard of plain old meringues…and he thought we were leaving off a syllable.  I think Boo Meringues is a perfect name for a ghostly snack you keep coming back to…get it???
Look at this meringue!  Heavenly!

I scoop the meringue into a gallon ziploc bag and snip a hole in the corner, then squirt the meringue into ghost shapes.  They can be placed pretty close together as they expand only the tiniest bit on baking. 

Add some eyes before you bake.  Mini-chocolate chips, mini-M&M’s, and large sprinkles are good choices.  Here I’ve used pumpkin sprinkles.

Boo Meringues

• 3 large egg whites
• 1/2 t. cream of tartar
• 3/4 c. sugar
• 1/2 t. flavor extract (vanilla, almond, coconut, mint, etc.)
• sprinkles, mini chocolate chips, or mini M&M’s for eyes

-Mix together (at high speed) egg whites and cream of tartar to a thick foam.  Continue to beat adding sugar 1 T every 30 seconds, then whip until meringue holds very stiff peaks.  Beat in flavor extract.
-Spoon meringue into a gallon ziploc bag and cut one corner.  Pipe meringue onto parchment paper-covered baking sheet.  Press in eyes.
-Bake in 200 degree oven for 1 1/4 hours, then turn off heat and leave meringues in closed oven for another hour.
-Make up to one week ahead, store in airtight container.  Ghosts are very fragile!