Strawberry Meringue Cookies

Ingredients

• 3 large egg whites, at room temperature
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp cream of tartar
• 1 tsp strawberry extract
• Red and maroon gel paste food coloring

Directions

1. Set the oven to 200 degrees. Put the egg whites and sugar into the heatproof bowl that fits your electric stand mixer, then rest it over a saucepan of gently simmering water. Whisk the whole time, until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture feels warm, about 3 minutes. Stir in the salt and cream of tartar.
2. Move the bowl to the electric stand mixer, add the strawberry extract, and beat on medium-high speed until the meringue is almost cool and holds stiff, shiny peaks, about 7 minutes.
3. While that is happening, use a small paintbrush to draw 3 vertical lines of gel food coloring inside a large pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch round tip, keeping the stripes fairly evenly spaced. Spoon in the meringue, taking care with the spatula so you don’t smear the color, then pipe 1 3/4-inch circles onto baking sheets lined with Silpat or parchment paper, leaving 2 inches between them.
4. Bake at 200 degrees for 1 hour and 15 minutes, until the meringues feel dry to the touch, with a crisp outside and a tender, soft center. If your kitchen is on the humid side, or you want them dry all the way through, bake them up to 20 minutes longer. Let them cool, then move them to an airtight container.
5. For the coloring, the mix used was about 3 parts red to 2 parts maroon, blended with the paintbrush in a small bowl. For a less peppermint-y look, you can push the color more toward maroon, about 1:1.