Saturday, March 13, 2010

Rainbow Clouds



What happens when clouds drift through a rainbow?

They turn into yummy Meringue cookies. At least, that's what I told the children, when I served these up last night, but I don't think they believed me.


Mainly, I was looking for a recipe to show the children the potential of egg whites (a discussion that started after we made the A Cow, A Bee, A Cookie, and Me cookies). I liked the look of McCormick's Festive Meringue Cookies, and I even had all the ingredients for them, except for a proper pastry bag, to pipe them out pretty, which is where the idea of the clouds came in.

So...

McCormick's Festive Meringue Cookies turned
Yummy Rainbow Clouds




  • 4 room temperature egg whites
  • 1/2 teaspoon cream of tarter (naturally, the McCormick's recipe calls for McCormick's cream of tarter)
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (again, McCormick's, if you prefer, but in this case, I used a generic brand)
  • and 25 - 30 drops of food coloring (I used McCormick's Neon Colors, but I think standard red, blue, green, and yellow would show up better if your going for rainbow colors)

Preheat the oven to 225 degrees Fahrenheit.


Beat the egg whites until frothy.


Add the cream of tarter, and beat, at medium speed, until soft peaks form.


Increase the beater speed to medium high, and add the sugar, one tablespoon at a time. Continue beating until the mixture is no longer shiny, and stiff peaks form. Beating egg whites always takes longer than it seems it should, so be patient.


Fold in the vanilla extract, and the food coloring. I drizzled a line of each color, across the mixture, poured on the vanilla, and then turned it, very gently, a couple of times with a spatula.



Drop by rounded teaspoons, onto a greased cookie sheet. They won't spread out much in baking.


Bake for 45 minutes, turn off the heat, and allow them to sit in the warm oven for an additional hour.


Enjoy the light, cloud like, rainbowy goodness.


It's great to be a homeschooler.

7 comments:

Tracy S said...

I came across your blog when researching the "Night at the Museum" characters. I found it great that you Unschool and live in Montana! We are unschooling our 3 children and plan to settle in Montana eventually! I also can't wait to read more about being frugal! We are headed down that path in a major way! Thanks for blogging!!!

Debbie said...

Interesting, I've never heard of a cookie made strictly with egg whites. How did they taste?

An Almost Unschooling Mom said...

Debbie - they taste almost exactly like toasted marshmallows.

Tracy - You're welcome, and I hope you make it Montana, it's a great state :)

Ticia said...

I love Meringues. Yummy.
I have to admit I never pipe mine either, I just drop them on the tray.

Natalie PlanetSmarty said...

I love meringues - it's been ages since I ate any. It made me seriously crave them. Your recipe probably needs correction from egg yolks to egg whites. By the way, what did you do with egg yolks?

An Almost Unschooling Mom said...

I scrambled them up, added some cheese, cooked them in the microwave, and ate them while the meringues were baking. I've never eaten an all yolk scramble, and curiousity got the better of me :)

Just Jenn said...

hm... I wonder if I have it in me to do this tomorrow! LOL! So fun!