Did I have extra egg whites that needed to be used up? Yes.

Are meringues a delicious and crunch way to use up egg whites? Also yes.

Was it completely necessary for the meringues to be shaped like bones? Yes, 100%.

You might worry that shaping meringues into bone shapes would lead to a sticky mess and some misshapen (but still delicious) meringues, but once I got into a rhythm these cookies came together with a minimum of drama.

Ingredients:

• 3 egg whites
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
• pinch salt
• 1/4 tsp vanilla extract (optional – see notes)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 275 degrees f
2. Combine egg whites (3), sugar (1/2 cup), cream of tartar (1/4 cup), salt (pinch) and vanilla if using (1/4 tsp) in the bowl of a stand mixer
3. Mix using the whisk attachment until you get to the stiff peak stage. Not sure what that is? See notes below
4. Carefully spoon mixture into a pastry bag or a piping bag or, if you don’t have either of those, a sandwich bag with a corner cut off. Whatever you are using, you want the opening to be about 1cm (a little more than a quarter of an inch)
5. Line your baking sheet with either parchment or a silicone mat
6. Pipe the meringue out into bone shapes on the prepared baking sheet (see notes)
7. Bake for 15-20 minutes, turning halfway through if your oven is uneven – remove as soon as the meringues are hardened, you don’t want them to start to brown
8. Let cool before removing from cookie sheet

Notes:

• The vanilla extract adds flavour but the meringues won’t be such a pretty shade of white. Sadly, this is one of those times when you have to choose between beauty and substance.
• It is really important that the bowl of the mixer and the whisk attachment are perfectly clean, and that there is not even a speck of yolk or other fat mixed into the egg whites. Otherwise you will just never get to the stiff peak stage.
• Stiff peaks is just what it sounds like – when you lift the beater out of the mixture, it forms a nice stiff peak that holds its shape rather than slumps over. Once you get to this stage stop mixing right away, or else things will start to fall apart on you.
• No need to go to med school to learn the perfect bone shape. I found the easiest way to do this was to do a single line and then 2 dots at either end. Of course, if you want to make an exact, anatomically correct skeleton, definitely do it (and please invite me to your next party!).