A recipe for Meringue Ghosts! These light meringues are baked until crisp, then decorated with ghost-like faces for a fun Halloween treat.
Dress up Meringue Cookies for Halloween by turning them into ghosts! These light and airy cookies have a crisp exterior and are decorated with a little chocolate for a festive addition to the holiday.
Egg whites are beaten with cream of tartar, sugar, vanilla extract, and a pinch of salt until stiff peaks form. The mixture is piped onto prepared baking sheets in a ghost-like shape, then slowly baked until dried on the outside.
Don’t pull them out of the oven too soon! They need to finish drying in a turned off oven to help develop that crisp shell and prevent cracking.
A Few Tips
I decorated faces on the ghosts using melted chocolate. I also liked the idea of using a fine tipped paintbrush and black paste food coloring or a black food coloring pen to create more detailed expressions. Candy eyes would also be a great pick.
Finely granulated sugar is best to blend into the egg whites. If you can’t find it, a similar texture can be made at home by pulsing granulated sugar in the food processor or blender a few times until fine.
I used pure vanilla extract, but it can be swapped for clear vanilla extract for a brighter color.
As soon as the meringues are cooled, store them in an airtight container. They will begin to soften with exposure to moisture and humidity. With proper storage, they will last for about a week at room temperature or a month in the freezer.
Looking for more fun Halloween recipes?
Try my:
Meringue Ghosts Recipe
Adapted from Creme De La Crumb
Meringue Ghosts
Ingredients
- 4 (120 grams) large egg whites
- 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
- Pinch salt
- 1 cup (200 grams) superfine granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Chocolate chips for melting and piping the faces
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 200˚F (100˚C) and line two baking sheets with parchment.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment or a large bowl, beat together the egg whites and cream of tartar until soft peaks form. Add the pinch of salt and vanilla extract, then continue beating.
- While beating on high speed, slowly add the sugar until stiff peaks form.
- Fit a pastry bag with a large, round tip. Add the stiff meringue mixture.
- Pipe mounds of the meringue onto the prepared baking sheet by holding the bag straight above the sheet. Lightly squeeze and release a few times to make 3-4 layers for the ghosts. Repeat to fill the baking sheets with ghosts about 1 inch (2.5 cm) apart.
- Bake in preheated oven for 1 1/2 hours or until set. Turn off the oven, but keep the meringues in the closed oven for another 1 1/2 hours, until the outsides are dry to touch.
- In a microwave safe bowl in 20 second increments or in a double boiler, melt the chocolate chips until smooth. Transfer the chocolate to a pastry bag fitted with a small round tip or a ziplock bag with a small piece of the corner snipped off. Use the chocolate to draw faces on the ghosts.
- Store in an airtight container until ready to serve.
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