Tea Flavored & Meringue Cookies
Tea Flavored Meringue Cookies.
Featherlight meringue cookies that are crispy and melt in your mouth.
These meringue kisses in pretty pastel colors are also a beautiful topping for a layer cake for the upcoming holiday season.
I have been thinking about ways to add flavor to my meringue cookies; most flavors used are vanilla which I love, but then I came up in the middle of the night with this fantastic idea to add tea flavor to the meringue.
And it works like a charm; You can use any tea flavor of your choice and incorporate this into your meringue cookies.
For these meringues, I use Hot cinnamon black tea. This black tea contains orange peel, three types of cinnamon, and cloves, and has natural & artificial flavor and gives such a lovely flavor.
These meringue cookies I made with this cinnamon black tea taste 100% like the famous red hots cinnamon candy. It is just a new and excellent way of making meringue cookies.
Imagine how you can use make 1000 or more tea flavors and incorporate this into your meringue cookies. Make sure to use a good quality tea with a strong flavor, so your meringue cookies have tons of this amazing tea flavor.
Happy baking
Before you start
It’s very important to read through the entire recipe before starting and read the *notes below. That’s the best way to avoid mistakes and make sure you have everything you need.
For all the step-by-step, pictures scroll to → Notes and click on the clickable link.
For questions related to my recipes, read the recipes and notes first; if you still have questions, ask me in my inbox on Instagram @passionforbaking to reply to you with an audio message.
*Note
→I use hot cinnamon sunset sachets/tea bags from the brand Harney & Sons. This black tea contains orange peel, three types of cinnamon, cloves and has natural & artificial flavor and gives these meringue kisses the unique flavors that are perfect for the holiday season. You can use any tea brand. Make sure to use good quality tea sachets/tea bags so that the flavor of your tea comes in the meringue cookies. The brand Harney & Sons is available online worldwide. Another tea brand that is amazing and they have so many fun flavors, like cake batter tea, is from the brand @piperandleaf
→ Cream of tartar stabilizes the egg whites to achieve maximum volume without ever drying them out; it is used to create a stronger protein web when whipping egg whites. It is a crucial ingredient for this recipe, so don't skip it. If you don't have it around, the second best is to use is some drops of fresh lemon juice.
→ My favorite Nozzle to use for these meringues kisses is xl large piping tips. I use both an xl Star tip and one Xl Round nozzle you can find here in my shop
→You can divide the whipped meringue into separate small bowls and tint in many colors if you don't want it all to be in the same color.
→ I´m using the @meringuegirls technic, which is heating the sugar in the oven before adding it into the egg whites, this way you get such a chewiness on the inside, and crispy on the outside. The baking time for these meringues is less than an hour. They are perfect for gifting and will brighten up any party table.
Extra strong spices tea
- 2 good-quality black tea sachets/ tea bags with warming spices or another tea flavor *note
- 3 to 4 tablespoons boiled hot water
Tea Flavored & Meringue Cookies
- lemon juice for cleaning the bowl and whisk
- 400 gram superfine sugar or white sugar *note
- 200 gram fresh egg whites, (6 large egg whites), room temperature
- 2 teaspoons extra strong tea, at room temp
- 1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar *note
- 2 teaspoons extra strong tea, at room temp
- a drop of gel paste food coloring ( optional)
Extra strong spices tea
- I use hot cinnamon sunset sachets/tea bags from the brand Harney & Sons, their black tea is super strong in flavor, and this is important if you want the meringues cookies to have a strong flavor from your favorite tea. The black tea I when I made these Meringue cookies is called "hot cinnamon sunset" it contains orange peel, three types of cinnamon, and cloves and contains natural & artificial flavor and gives these meringue kisses the most amazing flavors that are perfect for the holiday season. You can use any tea brand and any flavor; make sure to use good quality tea sachets/tea bags with a strong flavor so that the flavor of your tea comes through in the meringue cookies.
- Place two hot cinnamon spice tea sachets or any other tea flavor that you prefer in a small teacup, and pour over boiled hot water just until the tea bags are covered and not more! About 4 tablespoons of hot water. Let the tea steep in the hot water for at least 10 minutes.
- Discard the tea sachets, and make sure to squeeze all of the lovely flavors out of the sachets ( make sure your hands are grease-free)
- For this meringue recipe, you need two teaspoons of tea; most of the strong tea flavor often sinks to the bottom of the teacup, so make sure to give it a quick whisk before you add it to the meringue mixture.
Directions for the Meringues Cookies
- Preheat your oven to 200 C° / 392 F° →Note after you take out the warm sugar, you need to reduce the oven to down to 100C°/212F°.
- Line two large baking trays with a silicone mat, or use parchment paper and set aside.
- Prepare the standing mixer by wiping the standing mixer bowl and whisk attachment with a paper towel moistened with a little lemon juice to eliminate any grease trace.
- Place 400-gram superfine sugar ( or white sugar) in the baking tray and warm the sugar in the middle of the oven for 7 minutes. ( you need to use a timer)
- As soon as the sugar is in the oven, right away, pour the 200-gram fresh egg whites into your spotless bowl mixer bowl, and add 1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar. This is added to increase the strength of the proteins and whisk them slowly for 30 seconds. You want to establish that eggs are free from fat and are going to create foam.
- As soon as the egg whites start to foam, allowing tiny stabilizing bubbles to form, then increase the speed to medium, so the meringues become at medium-stiff peaks.
- When you have 30 seconds left of the sugar in the oven, turn your mixer up to high speed.
- Take the warm sugar out of the oven, and turn the oven down to 100C°/212F°.
- Turn the mixer to medium-low speed; slowly add the two teaspoons of flavored tea, then slowly add the sugar a tablespoon at a time, over the whites, so it doesn't crush the foam you build up, Make sure the meringue mixture comes back up to stiff peaks after each tablespoon of warm sugar.
- Once all the warm sugar has been added, turn the mixer to medium-high speed and whip until you have a smooth, stiff, and glossy mixture and all of the sugar is incorporated, this takes about 5 to 7 minutes.
- Add a drop of pink gel food coloring and mix until combined.
- Fit a pastry bag with a large tip/nozzle of your choice.
- Spoon your whipped meringue mixture into your prepared pastry bag.
- If you use parchment paper to pipe the meringues on, you will need to add some meringue mixture underneath the parchment paper below to stick to the baking tray.
- Pipe out your meringue mixture on the prepared baking sheet by keeping the piping bag straight and directly above your baking sheet. Give even pressure, squeeze, release the pressure and then pull up.
- Bake both baking sheets in the center and lower third of the oven using a confectionary setting for about 50 to 70 minutes or until the meringue lifts quickly of the parchment paper. The meringue cookies should be firm/crisp, but not browned or discolored.
- Remove from the oven immediately. Transfer the baking sheet to wire racks to cool completely.
- Meringues stay fresh and taste wonderful for up to two weeks in an airtight container away from moisture for up to 2 weeks.
For step by step pictures of how to make
→ Tea Flavored & Meringue Cookies
Click → here
