Candy Cane Meringues

These little beauties are perfect for the holidays because they’re easy to make, you can make them in advance, and they’re so festive and delicious! I found this recipe from The Cilantropist (awesome blog name, by the way!):

– Whip egg whites until they form soft peaks (I used 3 egg whites and ended up with about 50 small meringues)
– Beat in about half the amount of powdered sugar that you plan to use total (I used about a cup total, which seemed like plenty and was less than they called for) until the egg whites form stiff peaks. This took longer than I thought it would, I actually thought for a moment that I’d messed it up somehow, but it was fine. (Also if you don’t have powdered sugar but you do have regular sugar and a coffee grinder you can do it that way. This is awesome for making powdered sugar out of things like sucanot or coconut sugar, which I was considering until I remembered that half the point is that these are white with red, but good for future reference!)
– Add a few drops of peppermint oil, like 8 or 10. You can taste it and add more, but that stuff is pretty strong!!
– Fold in the rest of the sugar slowly
– Make dollops on a parchment-lined baking sheet (I guess silpats are not an acceptable substitute in this case? Not sure why, but I didn’t push it)
– Sprinkle with crushed candy cane
– Bake at 175*f for ~2-3 hours until they’re dry. (Did I mention these take forever? Good laundry day activity)
– Let them sit in the oven for a while to settle
– Serve! Or store and serve later