Egg-Free Meringues

Welcome back to the City + Sea Living blog! Motherhood has been keeping me pretty busy for the past year, but we are in the middle of putting together a new and improved website with all kinds of health conscious content. We're also going to be launching our own line of City + Sea products in the shop very soon, so check back and see what's new. 

In the meantime, I wanted to share a recipe from my friend Juli Novotny from BasilHealth/Pure Mamas. I've been hearing about aquafaba for a while, but wasn't sure what to make of it. It's basically the water you normally dump out when you use canned chickpeas or any kind of legume. Some bright chef realized the protein rich water acted the same as egg whites in recipes and, voila! an array of vegan culinary possibilities was born. Next time I crack open a can of chickpeas, I'm definitely giving these a try. Let me know how they work for you in the comments!

Egg-Free Meringues

By Juli Novotny Goddard of BasilHealth a brand new health platform, designed to help you manage everything about your health, all in one safe place. You can easily organize, track and manage everything from health & medical data to lab results, fitness goals, daily nutrition, lifestyle information and more. Sign up for free!

One of the best parts about being a vegan chef is getting to recreate traditional recipes into allergen-free, animal-free versions. Not only that, but playing around with crazy ingredients in the kitchen is also a real thrill as well.

I said goodbye to meringues because they are made with refined white sugar and egg whites--two things I swore off years ago. But as of today meringues are back in my diet. My kids love them as well, which makes me happy. 

Ingredients

• 1 (15 oz) can of chickpeas at room temperature
• ⅔ cup organic cane sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp almond extract
• ½ tsp cream of tartar
 

 

Directions

1. Heat oven to 250 degrees, and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. Drain the chickpeas, reserving the bean liquid (also known as aquafaba). Pour liquid into the bowl of a stand mixer or you can pour it into a large mixing bowl.
3. Beat the aquafaba on high speed with the whisk attachment or by hand, until stiff peaks form (about 15 minutes).
4. Add the sugar, one heaping tablespoon at a time, and keep whisking until the mixture is glossy, then add the almond extract.
5. Cut off one bottom corner off a ziplock sandwich bag.
6. Tablespoon the liquid mixture into the ziplock baggie. Squeeze mixture onto the lined baking sheets to form a little cookie. Or if you don’t feel like using a ziplock baggie, just tablespoon the mixture into cookie formations onto the baking dishes.
7. Bake for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, or until the meringues are dry and firm to the touch, not brown. Let meringues cool before serving. Meringues will keep in an airtight container for 2 to 3 days.