Can you believe it's that time of year with Christmas being a few weeks away? There are so many holiday parties and gatherings happening. These Chocolate Peppermint Meringues would make a great holiday gift for your hostess or would be great as a dessert for your own party. Or who am I kidding, I sometimes make these for myself to have with my morning coffee. These meringues go great with coffee and will soon become one of your favorite Christmas cookie recipes. This is an easy recipe for Chocolate Peppermint Meringue Cookies with a fluffy texture and refreshing peppermint and sweet chocolate flavor.
Chocolate Peppermint Meringues
There is nothing hard about these meringues. I piped them with an open star tip just like this Wilton star tip to get the shape. Anything close to this will work. Use whatever you have. When I was developing the recipe, I didn't bother with the visual and just spooned the meringue out onto the pan. If that's all you can do, they still turn out beautiful and tasty. They are just a bit more rustic. My tip would be to keep them small. These aren't much larger than the size of a quarter. Meringues are crumbly, so the larger they are the messier it is to eat them. Their small size makes them the perfect bite-sized holiday dessert!
Ingredients
- Eggs
- Superfine Sugar
- Bittersweet Chocolate
- Peppermint Candy
For the dark chocolate, use the best you have around. Chocolate chips won't work because you will need to use a grater and grate the chocolate into little shavings. For the peppermint, I used half of a candy cane. You could also use peppermint candies. I put the candy cane in a Ziploc bag and smashed it with a rolling pin until they were basically powder. You could also use a meat mallet if you don't have a rolling pin. Then I measured out a tablespoon for the recipe. You want the peppermint candies to almost be powder, otherwise, the chunks are too heavy for the meringue and sink to the bottom. You want the taste of the peppermint, but not the texture.
How To Make Chocolate Peppermint Meringues
First, preheat the oven to 250°F. Then using a box grater, shred the chocolate. Don’t let the chocolate melt in your hand, so stop for a minute if needed.
In a bowl for a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, beat egg whites on low until frothy. You can use a hand held electric mixer and a medium sized mixing bowl if you don't have a stand mixer. Then increase the speed to medium-high and mix for about 5 to 7 minutes until stiff peaks form when you lift the whisk out. Turn the mixer speed on low and slowly add the sugar one tablespoon at a time. You’ll know the meringue is done when it holds onto the whisk and keeps the shape when you take it off.
Next, gently fold in the peppermint and chocolate using an offset spatula. Do not overmix. Use your piping tip and pipe the meringues, or drop meringues by the spoonful, onto a parchment lined baking sheet.
Bake for 50 minutes or until you can lift the meringues off the parchment without them sticking. Turn the oven off, keep the door closed, and allow the meringues to cool in the oven for an hour.
Mastering the Technique For A Perfect Meringue
Don't be intimidated by these little meringue cookies. These are simple to make and only require a handful of ingredients. The key is to make sure you whip the egg whites to stiff peaks. Once you get stiff glossy peaks, turn off your mixer. Don't overmix this. For example, if you took out the whisk from the mixer, turned it upside down, the egg whites would hold a stiff peak and would not fold over onto itself. That's how you know you've created stiff peaks.
Baking the Meringues
For the baking, I baked these in an extremely low-temperature oven. We cooked at 250°F for 50 minutes. Wait for the oven to reach the proper temperature before putting them in. Once the 50 minutes were up, for best results, I left them in the oven for about 60 more minutes with the oven turned off. After 1 hour, I took them out, let them cool completely, and stored them in an airtight container. They should last for about 2 weeks. A couple of strategically timed batches and they will hold you over for the entire holiday season.
Peppermint Meringues Recipe
If chocolate isn't your thing and you just want peppermint meringues, I can help you there. We did a 12 days of Christmas marathon a couple of years back, and this peppermint meringue recipe was included. All of our Christmas themed recipes can be found under that category if you are looking for more holiday ideas or the perfect Christmas cookie.
Give these chocolate peppermint meringues a try. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do, they are one of my favorite cookie recipes. Happy Holidays!
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Chocolate Peppermint Meringues
Ingredients
- 2 egg whites room temperature
- ½ cup superfine sugar
- 2 ounces bittersweet chocolate shredded
- 1 tablespoon peppermint candy finely crushed
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 250°F.
- Using a box grater, slice/shred the chocolate. Don't let the chocolate melt on your hand. Stop for a minute if you need to.
- In a bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites on low until frothy, then increase the speed to medium high and mix until stiff peaks form when you lift out the whisk, 5-7 minutes.
- Turn the speed to low and slowly add the sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time. You will know this is done when the meringue holds on to the whisk and keeps the shape when you take it off.
- Gently fold in the chocolate and crushed candy canes using a rubber spatula. Do not overmix.
- Pipe the meringues, or drop by spoonful, onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet.
- Bake for 50 minutes or until you can lift the meringues off the parchment without them sticking. Turn the oven off, keep the door closed, and allow the meringues to cool in the oven for an hour.
Notes
Nutrition
Here are a few of our favorite peppermint recipes:
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Ramona says
These look delicious and what a great idea! Will definitely try it this Christmas.
serena says
Enjoy 🙂
Lilly says
These are so perfect for the holidays!
serena says
Thanks Lilly!
Dennis says
I made your meringues yesterday and they turned out perfectly! Thanks for such an amazing recipe!
serena says
Thanks Dennis!