Meringue Cookie Ghosts for Halloween

Meringue cookies are fairly easy to make and mostly just take patience. They are a great alternative to all the chocolate treats that are everywhere during Halloween. Of course, these have chocolate chips in them – but that’s purely for decoration only. You don’t need to eat them. (But, you know you will). Let the kids make them and watch how creative they can get!

You will need ...

Meringue Powder, 1/4 Cup
Water, 1/2 Cup
Granulated Sugar, 1 1/3 Cup
Vanilla Extract, 2 tsp

NOTE: Feel free to substitute any flavoring that you prefer.

Step One

In the bowl of a stand-up mixer, pour in the meringue powder, and water. Whip for a few minutes. Then, pour in the extract and mix again for a few seconds. Then, turn the mixer on medium and slowly add in the granulated sugar. Continue mixing until the mixture forms stiff peaks (see final picture). It should retain its shape when inverted and not droop at all. Be careful not to undermix as it won’t set up properly. Also be careful not to overmix as it will become dry and grainy and loose its shine.

Step Two

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Fill piping bags or Ziploc bags with the meringue mixture. Snip about 1″ off the end (or corner of the bag).

Now the best part about making goodies for Halloween is that most things do not need to be perfect. In fact, the imperfect looks better than the perfect. Hold the piping bag vertical to the parchment paper and about 1″ from the paper. Pipe to create a base, then slowly lift the bag up while still piping out the meringue. When it reaches the desired height, stop squeezing the bag and lift straight up. This will create a pointy peak on top.

Then, take the chocolate chips and create faces on the ghosts. We used two sizes to create the faces. It worked out great. My son even figured out that if you place the chip a certain way, the peak of the chip can be made to look like eye lashes on the eyes. So cute.

My kids had a great time creating all sorts of ghosts and monsters and other creatures. I found that the crazier the shapes, the funner and more “Halloween” they looked.

Step Three

Then, bake them in the oven at 250 degrees for about 60 minutes. It is very important to keep the oven closed the entire time they are baking. After the 60 minutes, turn the oven off, but leave them in there for another hour. Then, remove them from the oven and let them cool on the baking sheet. Once cooled, use a spatula to carefully loosen them from the parchment paper. Enjoy!

These meringue cookies will keep for about 4-5 days in an airtight container.

The Mom Touch