Nice & Light

Lots of cooking this week!  (I also made some split pea soup, so it wasn't all sugar, don't worry Mom.)  I did want to make something fun, but not too damning to the diet, so I found these sweet little meringue cookies from Weight Watchers.  Get this - you can eat 12 for only 2 points!  Score!  They are tiny but great for a sweet snack when you need one, and don't want to go overboard.  

CHOCOLATE MERINGUE COOKIES
from WeightWatchers.com
INGREDIENTS

•  5 large egg white(s)  
• 1/4 cup(s) unsweetened cocoa  
• 2 Tbsp sugar  
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract  
• 1/8 tsp table salt  
• 1/2 cup(s) sugar  
• 1 tsp unsweetened cocoa  
• 1/8 tsp ground cinnamon

  

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat oven to 225°F. Cover 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper; set aside.

Combine 1 egg white, 1/4 cup of cocoa, 2 tablespoons of sugar and extract in a large bowl.

Beat the remaining 4 egg whites and salt with an electric mixer just until soft peaks form; add the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, while beating, until the egg whites are stiff and glossy. Fold the egg whites into the chocolate mixture in three batches.

Fill a pastry bag with the mixture and pipe out the cookies onto the cookie sheets. Each cookie should be about 1-inch wide. (Note: To make your own pastry bag, use a gallon plastic bag and cut a hole in the corner.) Bake 1 hour and 15 minutes until a dried texture.

Mix the remaining 1 teaspoon of cocoa and cinnamon in a small bowl. Sprinkle over the hot cookies with a sieve or sifter. Let cool completely on wire racks before removing from parchment paper. Yields about 12 cookies per serving.