I love surprises. Not surprises for me, I ask too many questions. I mean, surprising other people.
Like when I threw a zombie-themed surprise party for my husband’s 30th birthday.
Or when I surprised my mom with a girl’s trip to Vegas by mailing her a box filled with fake dollar bills and plastic coins.
Or when I sent my parent’s a new coffee maker out of the blue when they casually mentioned that their current one was on the fritz.
I’m the type of person that is always looking for an excuse to make someone smile, especially if they’re not expecting it!
So, I love these cookies. You think you’re in for a nice treat with a sweet, crispy meringue and then BAM!!
Hershey’s® Kiss heaven awaits you inside!
Meringues may seem like a “scary” cookie to make, but, with a couple tools and a little patience, they are actually very easy!
- 3 egg whites
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
- ¼ teaspoon peppermint extract
- 35 Hershey’s® Candy Cane Kisses, unwrapped
- Red food coloring
- Small paintbrush
- Pastry bag, coupler, and #12 tip (you could skip the tip and just use a cut pastry bag, but you may get a line from the bag seam)
- Preheat oven to 175 degrees. Separate three cold eggs; set aside egg whites for 10-15 minutes (room temperature egg whites will create a higher volume of meringue!).
- Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Place 35 unwrapped candy cane kisses about 1-2 inches apart on baking sheets. Set aside.
- Combine egg whites and granulated sugar in a heat proof bowl. If you have a stand mixer, the stainless steel bowl works great and is easily transferable for the next step! Place the bowl over a pot of simmering water, stirring gently until the mixture feels warm and the sugar is completely dissolved. This step will prevent your meringues from getting gritty! Remove from heat.
- Add the cream of tartar. Beat the mixture with a whisk attachment or a hand mixer until stiff peaks form. Stir in the peppermint extract.
- Using a small paintbrush, paint 2-4 stripes of red food coloring to the inside of the pastry bag. Spoon in the meringue (you may need to add more meringue once you have starting piping, depending on the size of your pastry bag)
- To pipe the meringues, you want to create a swirling effect, completely covering the kiss. Start at the bottom and swirl upward around the kiss, and then pull up on the pastry bag to create a pretty tip at the top.
- Bake meringues for 1 hour, 40 minutes. Turn off oven and leave oven door ajar to allow for slow cooling. Store in an airtight container as soon as they have cooled to keep them crispy.
{ 26 comments… read them below or add one }
Simply beautiful ! To bad we don’t have candy cane kisses back in France…
Thanks, Sebastien! You could substitute any kind of chocolate candy, though a peppermint flavored one would work best!
yum! these look absolutely amazing— and they don’t look like toothpaste at all
Haha – these are pretty, but the blue and red striped ones? Totally toothpaste
these are so pretty! i am scared of meringues but have been wanting to make some for a while.
Thank you, Carrie! They really are so easy and you can make a ton of them. Just make sure your utensils/bowls are completely dry and grease-free and don’t try to make them on a super humid day – other than that, they are easy peasy
These meringues are wonderful! I love the way you love to surprise people
Thank you, Paula
Surprises are the best!
Oh I’m the same way! I love surprising folks with fun goodies just for the heck of it and for special occasions, too. Doesn’t it just feel great!
Super cute holiday meringues, too
I’m not surprised, Michelle – you seem super sweet
Glad you like the meringues!
These look awesome- perfect dishes to display at Holiday parties! Plus, your surprises rock. I bet your family appreciates how much thought you put into each surprise.
Thanks so much, Mike
Oh I bet my son and daughter would love these! Fun! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks, Cristin!
Awesome! These appeal to the true sweet lover too. I often think of meringues as “diet” candy, if that’s possible! (; Keep up the fab posts. I love waiting to see what you’ll come up with next!
Thanks so much, Kristina! Meringues aren’t my absolute favorite candy, taste-wise, but I LOVE making them…they are so beautiful
What a nice suprise to bite into and a gorgeous little bite too!
Awww – thank you, Kim
I’m still thinking about those push-pop ideas – so awesome!
These were so fun and easy to make, but I have one slight problem. My meringues never got completely dry and remained sticky to the touch, which means I couldn’t package them for sharing. Guess I’ll have to eat them all myself (darn). Any tips for drier meringues? All of my steps went well, nice stiff batter and everything.
Hi Holly! It sounds like your meringues weren’t quite done baking – did you let them dry out in the oven? That step helps, but if they are still sticky after being in an airtight container, my guess is that they weren’t baked long enough! Everyone’s oven is a little different, which can affect the baking time. Feel free to increase the baking time, just watch them and make sure they don’t brown! I’m glad to hear that the other steps went well and hope that your next batch are nice and dry!
You sure know how to come up with some great surprises! How fun you are, Jennifer:) I love these, inside and out!
Awww – thank you, Sue! You are too sweet
I love these. They look incredible. I made them today, but my hershey kisses burned. What did i do wrong? What should i do not to burn them ? Helpp
Thank you
Hi Bruna! The kiss may discolor slightly, but it should definitely not burn! Is it possible that the kiss wasn’t completely covered by the meringue? If that is the case, the kiss would have been exposed to more heat, and that could be responsible for the trouble! If you’re still having trouble, feel free to shoot me an email at jennifer@notyourmommascookie.com!
Love meringue cookies, these look so festive!
Thanks, Whitney!
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