Green food coloring, (As needed to achieve desired color)
Sprinkles
A small amount of decorating icing
Star sprinkles
Instructions
Preheat oven to 200ºF.
Beat egg whites, salt, and vanilla until foamy and white.
Continue beating while adding sugar, a few tablespoons at a time.
You can also add a few drops of food coloring at a time while beating until desired color is reached..
Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form.
Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a decorating tip. I used Wilton #21 for the small trees, and 1M for the large.
Pipe onto parchment lined baking sheets in a zigzag pattern, starting small at the top, and larger at the bottom, finishing with a short tree stem in the center.
Sprinkle lightly with desired sprinkles.
Bake in center of oven for 1 hour, then turn oven off, and let rest in oven for another hour.
Remove from oven and let cool completely.
Attach a star to the top of each tree, using a small amount of decorating icing.
Video
Notes
Tips
To prepare for making meringue, make sure all of your utensils (bowls, beaters, piping bag and tips, etc.) are free of grease. To do this, you can wash them with a grease cutting dish soap, and rinse with white vinegar. This is an especially good way to degrease piping bags and tips that may have residue from butter based icings.
If you can, leave your egg whites out at room temperature for 30 minutes before whipping. They’ll aerate better at room temperature.
Be careful when separating your eggs. Egg yolks prevent the whites from whipping up, just like oil and grease on your equipment will.
Pipe out all of the meringue batter once it’s made. Unfortunately, it doesn’t keep well for later use.
Humidity is the enemy of meringue, so try to avoid making these on a humid day for the best results.