Candy Corn Meringue Cookies

I came up with Candy Corn Meringue Cookies, purely by accident.  I was in the kitchen, playing Mad Scientist and creating my Chocolate Spice Pumpkin Souffles when my impatience got the better of me.  I was whipping egg whites for the souffle and decided to use my new hand mixer instead of my stand mixture.  I whipped the egg whites until foamy, and added the sugar.  And I whipped and whipped for what seemed like an eternity, but the egg whites never seemed to get stiff.  I assumed that I had inadvertently gotten some egg yolk mixed in.  So I set that bowl aside and whipped up a new batch in my stand mixer.  And I realized that there was nothing wrong with the original mixture, I just didn't whip it long enough.  Not being one to waste a thing in the kitchen, I sat these egg whites aside until I was finished with the pumpkin/souffle project.  I figured the most simple way to use them would be a meringue-style cookie.  Since I had Halloween on the brain, I tried to think of a way I could incorporate my favorite holiday into my concoction.  And then I thought about candy corn.  I wound up with a very simple, but festive Halloween cookie.  Sometimes mistakes can result in the best inventions!

Happy Halloween!

Place orange-tinted egg white
mixture into piping bag.

Pipe orange dollops onto cookie sheet.

Top orange batter with yellow dollops
that are slightly smaller in diameter.

Top yellow batter with white dollops
to create a candy corn appearance.

Bake for 1 hour.

Turn oven off and leave cookies
in oven to dry out completely overnight.

Enjoy!

A perfectly spooky treat
for your trick or treaters!

Candy Corn Meringue Cookies

3 egg whites
1/2 cup granulated sugar
red and yellow food coloring gel

Preheat oven to 250 degrees F.  Beat egg whites until foamy.  Gradually add sugar and continue beating until soft peaks are just formed.  Divide whites into 3 bowls, putting a majority of the batter into one bowl.  Tint this bowl with the red and yellow food coloring until the desired shade of orange is reached.  Tint the batter in the second bowl with the yellow food coloring until desired shade of yellow is reached.  Leave the third bowl of batter white.  Beat the batters with an electric mixer until the egg whites are glossy and stiff peaks are formed.  Place batters into individual bags with piping tips.  Pipe dollops of orange batter on ungreased cookie sheet.  Pipe dollops of yellow batter on top of the orange batter, slightly smaller in diameter.  Top the yellow batter with smaller dollops of white batter to create a candy corn appearance.  Place in oven and bake for 1 hour.  Turn oven off and leave cookies in oven overnight to dry out.  Use a spatula to remove from cookie sheet, be careful because cookies are delicate.

Prep Time:  Approximately 30 minutes     Cook Time:   Approximately 1 hour