I love finding ways to combine chai spices with traditional recipes. And meringues were just asking for a flavorful makeover.
Meringues are primarily made of egg whites and superfine sugar. You don’t need to buy superfine sugar because you can easily make superfine sugar yourself. Meringues are easy to make and the batter comes together quickly, but they take 2 hours to bake and then they need to sit for at least 2 more hours to get that crunchy, melt-in-your-mouth texture.
A stand mixer is really helpful, since you have to slowly add sugar while continuing to beat the batter until it forms stiff peaks. My stand mixer broke last week, so I made these using a hand mixer which was a little more difficult, but doable.
Because meringues take so long to bake, they all have to be baked at the same time. I am able to get two small and one large cookie sheet in the oven at the same time. I suggest playing with the arrangement of cookie sheets before you start baking. If necessary, you can place the meringues a little closer on the cookie sheet because they don’t spread out like traditional cookies.
- 4 egg whites
- 1 teaspoon vanilla (I use gf vanilla)
- ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup superfine sugar
- 2¼ teaspoons chai spice
- ½ cup pecans, chopped (optional)
- Preheat oven to 200 degrees and line a cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- Mix sugar and spices in a small bowl. Set aside.
- Add egg whites, cream of tartar, salt, and vanilla to a mixing bowl. Beat with an electric mixer until soft peaks form, approximately 2 minutes.
- Slowly add sugar mixture to the egg whites while continuing to beat the eggs. Continuing mixing until the sugar is completely disolved and stiff peaks form.
- Stir in pecans by hand.
- Drop by rounded tablespoon onto prepared cookie sheets. Bake at 200 degrees for for 1½ - 2 hours, or until dry. Turn off oven and let the cookies sit in the oven for another 1½ - 2 hours until they feel light and airy and are dry all the way through.
More Flourless Cookie Recipes:
3 Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies
Egg-Free Almond Cookies
Flourless Chocolate Walnut Cookies
Stephanie @ Spaceships and Laser Beams says
I love this! I make meringues all the time and never thought of chai!!!!
Heather @ dragonflygirlruns says
I love chai and meringues! Can’t wait to try these out!
Lyndsay Wells says
What a beautiful original idea! I love it and have to try these!
April @ The 21st Century Housewife says
Oh my goodness, what a treat! My mother in law used to make a meringue recipe that used pecans and I always loved the nuts in them…but to add Chai Spices – well, that is even nicer. I’m definitely looking forward to trying these!