Irresitably delicate, these light airy cookies offer a crisp bite perfect for Spring with the surprising lavender hue and flavor.  Healthier than traditional cookies, meringues are pure melt-in-your-mouth heaven, so we completely encourage indulging in this succulent treat, especially since they are so easy to make.

Makes about 90 1-inch cookies

Ingredients

1 cup sugar
½ cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons dried lavender buds
4 egg whites
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp cream of tartar
¼ tsp vanilla extract

Equipment

Silpat
Stand mixer
Piping bags and plain round tip

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 225 F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silpats.

Place sugars and lavender in the work bowl of a food processor and pulse until ground to a fine dust.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, using the whisk attachment, beat egg whites with the salt and cream of tartar until foamy and soft peaks form. Add the sugar mixture by the tablespoon, beating until stiff and all sugar is incorporated, about 5 minutes more. Meringue should be very thick and glossy when finished. Beat in the vanilla extract.

[Chef’s Note: You can also use a regular electric mixer for this.]

Spoon the meringue into a piping bag fitted with a plain round tip. Pipe 1-inch rounds of meringues in rows on the prepared baking sheets.

Bake the meringues in the preheated oven for about 2 hours until dry and firm. Rotate the pans after an hour to ensure even baking. Let finished meringues cool. Once dry, place meringues in an air tight container with a piece of parchment paper between each layer. Meringues will keep for up to two weeks.

Recipe and photo by Monica Glass