Give in to one of life’s sweet pleasure, sweet, light and airy Chocolate Kisses Meringue dipped in melted chocolate. A very simple recipe that is great for sharing (or not), the choice is yours.

This Meringue Chocolate Kisses will surely bring life to your holiday baking. They are absolutely adorable, and dangerously delicious. They’re light and airy mini meringue cookies piped and shaped like Hershey’s chocolate kisses. They melt in your mouth faster than you can imagine, and with the chocolate coating, it was made even more addictive. Even without the chocolate coating, you’ll love this meringue cookies. But if you really want to take it to a higher level, well just because it’s the Holiday season, then I recommend dip it in chocolate. Dip it as thick as possible.

Ingredients for Meringue Chocolate Kisses

• Egg White – it is very important to have the egg white in room temperature. A cold straight from the fridge won’t work as it will not get to the stiff peaks. Take the egg at least 30 minutes before using it or submerge it in warm water Ir about 10 minutes. For easier separation of egg white and egg yolk, I suggest separate it while sill cold then leave the egg white on the counter or if you are in a hurry, put warm water in a bowl and put the bowl with egg white just to quickly bring it to room temperature.
• Granulated Sugar – if you have caster sugar (fine texture sugar) that would even be better because it dissolves easily. If you have a food chopper or food processor, simply transfer the sugar and process it until fine. If you don’t have caster sugar, granulated sugar will do. 
• Cream of Tartar – helps stabilize the meringue so that it holds its shape. If you don’t have one, white vinegar or lemon juice will work as well. Anything acidic will help stabilize the mixture. 
• Vanilla Extract – for flavoring. You can use other flavoring that you like. 
• Cocoa Powder – this gives the chocolate flavor for the cookies. Since meringue are very airy and default, Do  not use melted chocolate as it could deflate the mixture. 

Plain Meringue is good on its own, but why stick to the plain and basic when I can put a twist on it and make it more fun and interesting? So that’s what I did. I turned the plain Meringue into this Mini Chocolate Kisses Meringue. This mini cookies have a crunchy outer texture, with soft and chewy center and smooth decadent coating that balances the sweetness of the cookie. They may look elegant, but they are surely easy to make. The steps are long because of additional tips and detailed instructions. Once you are able to make it , you will not have to go over each step as you are already familiar with the consistency and speed settings. Let’s get started!

Tips for Successful Meringue:

1. Clean Bowl and Whisk – Wipe the bowl and whisk with vinegar or lemon, or just simply wipe it clean dry paper towel. A glass or metal bowl is recommended as these don’t tend to have residual oil clinging to them the same as plastic may.
2. Room Temperature Egg Whites – This is VERY important. Room temperature egg white whipped better.
3. Cream of Tartar: Cream of tartar act as stabilizer to help the whipped egg white to retain their stiff peaks, so do not skip the cream of tartar. You can buy this in baking section of the grocery, sometimes in the bulk section in baking as well.
4. Egg Whites Only – Make sure there is not even a small drop of egg yolks or egg-shell.
5. Gradually Add the Sugar – Do not dump all the sugar one time. Gradually add 1 tbsp at a time, in 10 seconds interval.
6. Final stage should be in stiff peaks – Structure is important so that the cookie will not collapse, so make sure that you have it in stiff peaks. This means, that when you raise the whisk, the tip of the meringue should pointed, or upright position. The tip should be pointed like in the photo below, like kisses chocolate.
7. Humidity is an enemy of Meringue: Making meringue on a very humid day is going to be a challenge as peaks will not hold as well, so be aware of this. Try to have the Meringue resting inside the oven longer, leave it there until completely cooled down. If it’s a fairly humid day, try adding 1/2 tsp cornstarch to the sugar as this can also help stabilize the egg whites in addition to cream of tartar.

Store it Properly to Keep it Crunchy

If you have enough self-control not to eat the entire batch in one day, kudos to you. That means you will need this simple tip on how to properly store them so that they stay crunchy at least for few days. Meringue is basically just sugar and egg white, which means there is a high risk of it getting soft once it absorbs moisture from air. So you need to avoid exposing it to humid places when storing it.

• First of all, make sure that it is completely dried out when you take it out from the oven. Let it cool completely then transfer it in an air-tight container. It is very important to use air-tight container to avoid the cookie being exposed to the air.
• Second, keep the container in the coolest part of your kitchen. Do not store it inside the cabinet, or besides the oven or stove or to a window with direct sunlight.
• If dipping it in chocolate (like this recipe), use a proper dipping chocolate. Check the short discussion I had above for what kind of chocolate to use.

The Quick & Easy Chocolate Dipping or Coating Option

Chocolate Chips, Yes you guess it right. Our favorite grocery chocolate chips is the quick option for coating this Chocolate Meringue Kisses. You can also use plain chocolate bar, simply shave or chop it into small pieces.

The Proper Dipping Chocolate

Now, if you want to make it extra special, try using couverture or proper dipping chocolate. Chips don’t contain enough cocoa butter to temper, so the melted chocolate will harden with a streaked or swirled appearance. It will not give a glossy smooth texture that snaps when you break it. Specific to this recipe, it makes a huge difference as it helps the exterior dry with a crunchy chocolate shell coating. But then again, if all you need is a quick and dirty, budget friendly and easy to find chocolate then by all means go for chocolate chips. I used it a lot of times for this recipe (sometimes I used bar chocolate) and it taste good too. The good thing about chocolate chip, you do not need to temper it, especially for this recipe. For special occasions or for DIY Gift Giving treats, spend a little bit more, and I assure you whoever is receiving the gift will surely appreciate it. They might even ask for more.

Tempering Chocolate: Is the process of heating and cooling the chocolate to stabilize it. This is normally use for making candy bars or chocolate covered treats. It gives the chocolate smooth and glossy finish, keeps it from easily melting on your fingers, and allows it to set up beautifully for dipped and chocolate covered treats.

 Ingredients:

• 1 Egg White – room temperature
• 1/4 cup Caster Sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon Cream of Tartar
• 1 tablespoon Cocoa Powder – sifted
• 2 batch of Chocolate Ganache for dipping and coating or any good quality melted chocolate for dipping

Big Batch Ratio: Make it a big batch by following this ration. 1/4 cup granulated sugar for every egg white of 1 egg

Instructions:

1. Preheat your oven to 275°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
2. Begin whisking the egg white with the whisk attachment on medium speed for 3 minutes, until the mixture starts to become fluffy and bubbles starts to form. In my kitchenAid mixer, it is the settings 4. You can also make this using a hand-mixer. Add in the cream of tartar.
3. Increase speed (KitchenAid settings 6) and gradually add 1 tbsp of sugar in 10 seconds interval. The foam and air bubbles will start to tighten and the whites will become opaque. The “soft plop” stage describes eggs whites that hold onto the whisk but do not form peaks.
4. Add the remaining sugar as the whites turn into “soft peaks.” Continue adding in the sugar until the whites begin to form soft peaks. Here, the whites will begin to hold their shape, but will eventually slump over and melt back into the bowl.
5. Increase the speed to medium-high. After the whites begin to hold their shape, bump up the mixer to medium-high until they hold firm peaks.
6. Watch for the “firm peaks” stage. Firm peaks are achieved when whites hold their shape. If you pull the whisk straight out of the bowl, a peak will form. At this stage, the tip of the peak will fold back over onto itself.
7. Add gel food coloring or additional flavors, ONLY if using one. Mix in a tiny bit of gel food coloring or other extracts until the whites hold stiff peaks. – Optional. This version do not require food coloring, we are going to flavor it with chocolate.
8. Watch for the “stiff peaks” stage. The stiff peaks stage is what we are trying to achieve. At this point, the peaks should stand up nice and straight. The whites will be glossy and smooth. If you rub a bit between your fingertips, it should feel silky (meaning the sugar has completely dissolved.)
9. Add 1 tbsp sifted cocoa powder. Mix for 20 – 30 seconds on until just combined. Do not over mix.
10. Fill the piping bag with meringue. Fit a piping bag with a plain round or star tip. Unfold the top of the piping bag about halfway, then use a rubber spatula to fill the bag with the meringue. Fill the bag only 1/2 to 3/4 of the way full to prevent the meringue from spilling out the top of the bag.
11. Pipe out the meringue. Gently squeeze the piping bag to push out any air pockets before getting started. Pipe meringue kisses by holding the bag perpendicular to the baking sheet. Hover the top slightly over the sheet and pipe a “kiss” of meringue: pipe the meringue, stop pressing the bag, then pull up on the bag. (Alternatively, you can use a soup spoon to scoop large, rustic meringues.)
12. Bake for 60 to 90 minutes. Depending on the size of your meringue, bake for about 60 minutes, or until the outside is crisp and the inside is dry yet chewy. They should feel light and hollow. When done, the meringue should easily peel off the parchment paper. Turn the oven off, crack the door open, and let the meringue cool completely in the oven.

Makes 24 pieces

• Storage: Baked meringue may be stored in a covered container at room temperature for a few days. Do not refrigerate.

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