down to the core: meringue in another year!!

Today is a very celebratory day!! Exactly one year ago, I decided to start up this blog and post my very first recipe. It was the first of many days off from school due to Superstorm Sandy (also a year ago today), and before my power went out, I had been spending my time in the kitchen.. and blogging! Since that first post I have learned so much about baking, cooking, and healthy eating and because of this blog I have tried so many new recipes.

Sixty blog posts, sixty puns, and sixty different recipes later, my blog has had thousands of views and hopefully a lot of beneficial ideas and tips spread to all the readers! I certainly have learned a lot through my experiences as a blogger during this past year, and I anticipate another great year to come!

So thank you to everyone that's been reading my blog and following all of my newest posts!! (And if you want to keep up with what's new, sign up to get emails for each new post - type the email address in the box to the right below the "About Me").

In celebration of this one year anniversary, I made chocolate meringue cookies tonight. As far as nutrition goes, they aren't on the top of the list, but they're pretty much down to the core, only made of a few ingredients. They're also very light and airy, so eating one (or two) won't make you feel full and bloated. They're the perfect size (if you make them relatively small) to pop into your mouth, and they don't taste too sweet or too bland. To me, these cookies feel like edible clouds.

As you can see they all look different.. I tried experimenting with fancy swirls for a while!

Here's what you'll need:
yields 6 dozen small cookies
3 large egg whites
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
1 cup sugar
3 tbsp unsweetened cocoa

1. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, whisk egg whites, salt and cream of tartar until soft peaks form (still fairly liquid but can hold a "peak").

2. Add sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time. Using an electric mixer, beat until stiff peaks form. The mixture will become glossy and sticky. If you were to flip the bowl upside down, nothing would move or pour out. **This does take a while (about 15 minutes) so don't lose hope or get discouraged!!
**What you'll notice is that the very small amount of egg that you begin with will seem to grow as you add in the sugar. This is due to the sugar (which would make sense, wouldn't it?) but also all of the air that's incorporated.