Coffee Meringue Kisses

---------- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.02

Title: COFFEE MERINGUE KISSES
Categories: Cookies, Christmas
Yield: 36 servings

3/4 c Sugar
3 ts Powdered instant coffee
4 Egg whites, room temperature
1 ts Vanilla extract
1/4 ts Cream of tartar

These cookies - said to have been a favorite with Marie Antoinette -
are 100 percent fat-free, and have about 20 calories per cookie. They
also have no flour, so would be good for someone who isn't able to
eat wheat. They will, however, tie up your oven for 3-4 hours.

Heat oven to 250'F. Use nonstick cookie sheets, or line regular cookie
sheets with parchment paper. In a food processor with a metal blade,
process the sugar and coffee powder until the texture of the sugar
becomes very fine. In a large mixing bowl, beat the egg whites and
vanilla extract with an electric mixer at medium speed, until very
frothy. Add cream of tartar, and continue beating at medium speed
until soft peaks form. Increase beater speed to high, and gradually
beat in sugar-coffee mixture. Continue beating until soft peaks form
and mixture has a glossy sheen.

To pipe cookies from pastry bag: Fill pastry bag (or 1-gallon freezer
bag), fitted with Number 6 plain round pastry tube, with meringue.
Hold bag upright over prepared cookie sheets and squeeze out
meringue, leaving pastry tip buried in meringue, until you have piped
out a round about 1 1/2" in diameter. Lift up tip and stop squeezing.
Leave 1" between cookies. Or, drop by tablespoonfuls onto prepared
cookie sheet, leaving 2" between cookies.

Bake 1 hour without opening oven door. Turn off oven, and let
meringues dry in oven 2-3 hours more without opening oven door.
(After the first hour, it's okay to peek just once.) At this point
you can leave them in the oven overnight.

Remove the meringues from the cookie sheet with a spatula. Store in
airtight container. Makes about 3 dozen.

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