Skinny Raspberry Jello Meringue Kisses

These were a huge hit, both with me and the people I fed them to. I had never had meringues before, though I had of course heard of meringue on pies. It's the same idea, except you are just eating the fluffy stuff on top of the pie instead of the fluffy stuff AND the pie. Maybe that's why they are considered "skinny?"

The texture is a little odd, but you get used to it. The outside is crunchy, but it's like you're popping a bubble and you get to this really chewy-marshmallow-y center. It's heaven.

As I said, they were really easy to make, not a lot of ingredients needed and you could totally switch things up with the flavors. I used raspberry, as called for in the recipe, and it turns out very pink. I kept thinking it would be a great snack for Valentine's Day or a girl baby shower. You could easily change the flavor to blue raspberry Jell-O and use it for a boy shower or 4th of July. The recipe makes plenty of "cookies" so you don't really have to make many batches for a large event.

• 3 large egg whites
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1 pkg (3 oz) raspberry gelatin (like Jell-O)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Position one oven rack in the top third of the oven and the other rack on the bottom third. Preheat the oven to 275 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper (or the wonderful Magic Baking Sheets).

whisk attachment for most
mixers looks something like this

In a large bowl, beat the egg whites and salt with an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, until frothy, about 30 seconds. Turn the mixer speed to high and pour in gelatin and then sugar in a slow steady stream. Continue to beat until egg whites are stiff and shiny, about 5 minutes. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold in the vanilla.

Drop spoonfuls of the meringue, spaced about 1 1/2 inches apart, onto the baking sheets. Bake the meringues until they are firm on the outside but still soft inside, about 30 minutes. If you prefer crispier cookies, bake them about 40 minutes.

Slide the sheets of parchment with the cookies on them to wire racks to cool for about 5 minutes, then carefully peel the meringues from the parchment. These will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for 1 week.

NOTES: the dough is very sticky. I wasn't able to easily "drop by spoonfuls" onto the parchment paper so I used my index finger to wipe the spoon clean and plop it down. This doesn't leave you with very pretty "kisses," but by taking the spoon and swirling it around the outside of the blob and up, sort of like a reverse tornado, it smooths out some of the spiky bits caused by it sticking to your finger.

I cooked mine for 30 minutes, rotating halfway through and this was plenty. They had already started to brown a little on the top so I wouldn't recommend any longer.

Serves 48
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes

Recipe from Simple-Nourished-Living.com