Raspberry Meringue Cookies

These light and fluffy little morsels are perfect for Valentine’s Day or any other special day throughout the year. I’m pretty sure this is the first time I’ve ever posted a recipe on my blog with sugar. You know what though, a little sugar in your diet once in a while is okay if you eat healthy most of the time!

While calling these Raspberry Meringue Cookies “healthy cookies” is definitely a stretch, they have very little sugar per cookie and are loaded with flavor. This recipe is pretty quick and super easy. If you don’t have freeze-dried raspberries, check out the note at the bottom for tips on modifying this recipe for what you DO have in your kitchen.

Raspberry Meringue Cookies

Yield: about 40 1-1/2 inch cookies

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 45 minutes + 1 hour

Ingredients:

2 egg whites

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

1 tablespoon freeze-dried raspberries, ground to a powder

3/4 cup cane sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

2. Beat egg whites to soft peaks with a hand or stand mixer, about 3 minutes.

3. Add in remaining ingredients slowly, adding sugar last. Beat until egg white mixture forms stiff peaks, about 7 minutes.

4. Fill a quart or gallon size zip top bag with the egg mixture. Use a star or flower tip if you have one. If not, just cut off the corner of the bag and pipe small cookies onto the parchment paper.

5. Bake at 250 degrees F for about 45 minutes or until cookies are set and dry. Do not open the oven! Turn off the oven and let cookies continue to dry for 1 to 2 hours as the oven cools.

6. Store cookies in an airtight container. Enjoy!

Note: The freeze-dried raspberries give these decadent cookies their pink color and vibrant raspberry flavor. You can find freeze-dried raspberries online at one of my favorite online stores for bulk items Nuts.com or many stores carry the Just Tomatoes Etc! brand. If you want to try something different, you can leave out the raspberries altogether and use a few drops of natural red food coloring to make them pink/red, leave them white, or add in raspberry extract instead of the vanilla extract. There are lots of different ways to make these delicious!