Theme: Eggs
Recipe: Coffee Meringue Twists (or Bites)
Book: The Women’s Weekly Healthy Desserts Mini Cookbook
This fortnight’s theme for The Cookbook Challenge was a tricky one for me. Eggs. You see, I never have eggs on hand. When baking at home, I use ground flax and water as an egg replacement and, in the rare cases where I do bake with actual eggs, I do so at my parents’ house. That way, I can use just one or two eggs without having to buy a half-dozen that I’ll later forget I have. And if I go to my parents’ place and they don’t have eggs? Well, that’s when I walk up the road to my grandparents’ house to beg an egg from them. (Beg an egg. Teehee.)
In addition to not having eggs on hand, I very rarely want to eat them as the starring ingredient in a meal. Sometimes, if I’m out at a cafe, I’ll want poached eggs on an English muffin. But that’s about the extent of it.
I considered skipping this Egg Cookbook Challenge theme, but I instead decided to fall back onto my tried-and-true motto of cooking:
When in doubt, make dessert.
Thus I present to you Coffee Meringue Bites. Hurrah! Look, I know I’ve made chai-spiced meringues for you before, and have also shown you how to make pavlova for a German, but one can never have too many recipes for light and airy crunchy sweet treats, can one?
Plus, I think I like these coffee meringues more than the chai version, because the coffee flavour cuts through some of the sweetness. It’s like caffeinated sugary bliss.
Coffee Meringue Bites
From The Women’s Weekly Healthy Desserts Mini Cookbook
- 1 egg white
- 1/3 cup (75g) caster sugar
- 1 tsp instant coffee granules
- 1 tsp hot water
1. Preheat oven to 120°C (250°F). Line a baking tray with baking paper.
2. Beat egg white with electric mixer until soft peaks form. Gradually add sugar, a tablespoon at a time, beating until dissolved between each addition.
3. Stir in combined (and dissolved) coffee and water. Now, you can do what the recipe said and put the meringue into a piping bag to pipe out twists, or you can do what I did and make “rustic” quenelles with two spoons. I got 20 mini meringue bites out of the mixture, and am perplexed at the recipe’s statement that this recipe makes 35. 35 ant-sized meringues, maybe.
4. Bake for one hour, and then turn oven off and leave meringues in the oven to cool.
5. As ever, eat some of these plain and some sandwiched together with nut butter. Sunflower seed butter, if you want to follow my lead exactly. And who wouldn’t want to follow my lead exactly, I ask you? Who? EXACTLY.
{ 47 comments… read them below or add one }
Coffee infused means these are an acceptable breakfast food. I mean, coffee and eggs. Common breakfast.
And then the sunflower seed butter for more protein! These are a complete power food!
Good thinking, Victoria. I’d have never thought of that:)
Haha, I saw “preheat the oven to 120″ and I was like “wha? My oven doesn’t go that low.”
Oh yeah, Celcius, right.
You crazy Americans and your Fahrenheit… *shakes head*
So I guess meringues ARE sweet, huh? Yeah, I’m with ya, I just rarely bake them so I never let them stew in their piled-on sweetness.
And no eggs? That’s crazy talk. If I had no eggs, I would not be motivated to get up in the morning, because I would then have to spend my time getting dressed, or even (gasp) doing my hair, rather than making pancakes or waffles. Yummity yum.
I’m a firm believer in not spending time doing one’s hair, so amen to pancakes and waffles instead! Except, of course, I’ve neither eaten nor made pancakes in at least, I think, a decade, so it’s probably a bit strange for me to say that… Make me some? With chocolate and peanut butter? And maple syrup?
omgsh these bring memories from childhood! I used to eat meringues all the time! But these look even better b/c of the coffee flavor. Hannah, did you go through problems of body image issues during high school? Just wondering, since you said it brings weird memories. Have a beautiful day!
and HAPPY EASTER TO YOU! i believe it’s a lot closer to you time-wise than to us in the U.S.
Happy Easter to you too! I hope you have a wonderful day
Ah, high school. I was pretty much not a happy-chappy in general in my late teens! Clearly I needed more coffee meringues in my life 
I would totally buy a T-shirt that said “when in doubt, make dessert.”
If only I had any fashion design/sewing skills whatsoever, I’d make one for you!
Hannah these look great! I made something similar and dipped the bottoms in chocolate. Something that I think you might not mind? Just guessing…
I’ve never turned down bottoms dipped in chocolate.
Haha! Chocolate covered bottoms should never be refused
I think you’ve just given me my second motto after “when in doubt, make dessert”
Love soft pillowy meringues. Coffee flavor sounds amazing! It would be so hard for me to not eat that uncooked batter.
Those on twitter might have read that I was happily licking the covered-in-meringue beater when I dropped it all over myself. I was very sticky as a result. That’s what happens when you sneakily leave a lot of uncooked batter for yourself as a treat…
I laughed at your dislike of eggs – I have never liked eggs – not even as a child – but I often keep eggs in the fridge because I use them to bake. Though I love vegan recipes that mean I can bake if there aren’t eggs in the fridge. I made my cookbook challenge tonight and had similar problems with eggs though I went for a savoury dish. If I must have eggy I prefer savoury – does that make us total opposites
Hmm, I’m not sure. I think it’s more that I’ve got out of the habit of eating eggs? When I order poached eggs I like it, and I remember making a veggie-laden frittata a year or so ago that was lovely… I think it’s more than my tastes tend towards sweet in general
Can’t wait to see what you came up with!
I’m still in two minds about meringue. But I’m willing to follow your lead on this.
Ooh, what is it that you don’t like about meringues? I’m intrigued…
They just tend to be too sweet for me. Also, I’m not sure if it’s the proper way, but if I do have any I prefer them crunchy all the way through. Yes, fussy me! :p
Well, these were definitely crunchy all the way through! I think the sweetness is best counteracted by the aforementioned sandwiching together with nut butter
Well, I’m not a coffee fan, but I am going to go check out your chai meringues because I do love chai & I do love meringues
Definitely give the chai meringues a try then! They’re lovely
Beg for an egg, sounds like a charity drive! I’m not a Meringue/Pavlova fan, but if I were I think one with hints of coffee would be a winner. Although I forgot about your chai spiced ones…beautiful. I think I just need to get creative with my meringues and then I’ll like them!
Heidi xo
That’s my perspective, Heidi! Pavlova I’m not interested in either – just boring sweet and cream, in my opinion! But I like playing with flavours to distract myself from the sweetness
Yum, lovely little treats!
Thanks Maria!
Yum, these look so fluffy and delicious. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you Miri! More crunchy than fluffy, but either way works in terms of tastiness
What a great Easter treat!
You’re right, although I didn’t make these for Easter nor did I share them at all…
I have never had meringues before. Weird, I know. I used to love eggs, but meringues have never been my choice of desserts. But this sounds great. I like Victoria’s idea of coffee + egg for breakfast!
Victoria is a clever one! It’s funny to think of someone never having had meringue, but then again the reason I’ve had them (and pavlovas) so much is that they’re dairy and gluten-free, which means they fit in with all my family’s allergies!
As I DO want to follow your lead exactly, I’d make an egg-ception (oh yes, I just said that) for sunseed butter-coffee meringue sandwiches such as these.
Why is it that puns are hilarious from your mouth (fingers?), but so cringe-worthy from anyone else? If that’s not a sign of my undying respect for you Amber, I don’t know what is
Aw these look so cute and fluffy. Like little coffee clouds. Yummy!
Little coffee clouds! I love that description
You use WHAT as an egg replacement? But why and why not use normal eggs? Sometimes I wonder about our friendship.
You wonder how you ever managed to catch someone as amazing as me as a BFF, right? And then you have to sit down for a bit because you feel so awed and lucky?
I simply don’t buy eggs. They aren’t necessary when you live off chocolate, vegetables, and nut butters
These look really fluffy and fancy!
Don’t forget tasty!
Completely agree with you Hannah – you can never have enough meringue recipes up your sleeve – these look wonderful!
Thanks Leigh! We should start a meringue club
You don’t like eggs?? How can you not? I love eggs so much and luckily my parents have chickens so I can get great quality ones for free.
Sometimes I do, I just have to be in the right mood. I simply go through phases where the thought of eating them makes me feel queasy
Quality eggs make a big difference, I think!