Vanilla Chai Meringue Cookies Recipes

SPICED VANILLA CHAI CAKE

Steps:

• In a small bowl, whisk together the cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, allspice, and cloves and set aside.
• Preheat the oven to 350°F. Prepare three 6-inch or two 9-inch cake pans by spraying the sides with a cooking spray (Baker's Joy is my favorite) and fitting a wax or parchment paper circle to the bottom of the pan. Alternatively, you can grease and lightly flour the pans.
• Place the chai tea bag into a mason jar. In a small saucepan over medium-high heat, warm the whole milk, stirring constantly, until it begins to boil. Pour the boiling milk over the chai tea bag in the mason jar and let steep for 20 minutes before removing the tea bag. Allow the mixture to cool completely to room temperature before moving on.
• Sift the cake flour and then measure by spooning and leveling it in your measuring cup. Add the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, 4 teaspoons of the chai spice mix, and salt into a bowl and whisk to combine. Set aside.
• In the bowl of your stand mixer (a handheld mixer works fine too!), cream the butter for on high for two minutes until it's light and fluffy. Add in sugar and continue to mix on medium-high for another two minutes, scraping down the bowl and paddle as needed. Add the eggs one at a time, then add vanilla and sour cream and mix for one minute on high, scraping down the bowl and paddle once more.
• With the mixer on low speed, add in the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Add the (room temperature!) chai milk mixture slowly and mix until just incorporated. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl and give it a few stirs to make sure there are no lumps (without over-mixing). The batter will be slightly thick, but pourable.
• Pour batter evenly into prepared cake pans (no more than 2/3 of the way full) and bake for 30-35 minutes. They're done when they spring back to the touch and a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Let the cakes cool in the pan for five minutes before turning them out onto a wire rack for an additional few hours of cooling. Make sure they're entirely room temperature before applying any frosting.
• With a hand mixer or paddle attachment on your stand mixer, cream the butter on medium-high until it's creamy and light (almost white) in color. About 7 minutes.
• Whisk 1 Tbsp of the Chai Spice Mix into the measured powdered sugar. With the mixer on low, add the powdered sugar mixture a few cups at a time, scraping down after each addition and making sure each addition is fully incorporated before adding the next one.
• Add vanilla, milk, and salt and mix on medium-low for another two minutes until fully incorporated.
• Once the Vanilla Chai Cakes have cooled completely, fill and frost the layers with Vanilla Chai Buttercream. To create the design pictured, add crushed Speculoos Cookies to the sides of the cake by placing them into the palm of your hand and gently pressing them onto the buttercream finish. Then, fit one piping bag with Wilton Tip 4B and another piping bag with Wilton Tip 1M before filling each with Vanilla Chai Buttercream. Pipe rosettes and stars onto the top of the cake in a crescent moon shape, add some cinnamon sticks, and sprinkle more crushed Speculoos Cookies on top.

VANILLA CHAI SHORTBREAD COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350­°.
• Cream butter and confectioners sugar in a large bowl or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment.
• Add in flour, salt, and loose tea leaves. continue to mix until a soft dough forms, the mix will be dry and crumbly at first but will come together.
• Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface until it's ¼ inch thick.
• Cut out cookies using a 2 in round cookie cutter.
• Bake on a parchment-lined baking sheet for 18-20 minutes or until edges are a golden brown and transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.
• Once cooled, whisk together icing ingredients until smooth. Dip half of each cookie in the icing, let excess drip off and run a spoon along the edge to remove any extra, then place on wax paper to set.

CHAI MERINGUE DROPS

Steps:

• Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven; preheat to 225 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Remove the tea leaves from the tea bag. If the leaves are large, finely grind in a spice grinder. Mix the tea with the cardamom, cinnamon, ginger and cloves in a small bowl.
• Whisk the egg whites in a large bowl with a mixer on medium speed until frothy, about 30 seconds. Beat in the cream of tartar and salt until soft peaks form, 3 to 4 minutes. Increase the mixer speed to medium high and beat in the granulated sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time. Beat until stiff peaks form, 4 to 5 minutes. Beat in the vanilla and tea-spice mixture.
• Transfer the meringue to a piping bag fitted with a 1/2-inch star tip. Pipe 1 1/4-inch mounds about 1 inch apart on the prepared pans. Sprinkle with sanding sugar. Bake, switching the pans halfway through, until the meringues are dry enough to peel off the parchment easily, about 2 hours. Turn off the oven; leave the meringues in the oven to finish drying, about 1 more hour. Let cool completely on the pans.

VANILLA MERINGUE COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 225 degrees F (110 degrees C). Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Place egg whites and cream of tartar into a large bowl; beat using an electric mixer at medium speed until soft peaks form. Increase speed to high and add sugar 1 tablespoon at a time while mixing until stiff peaks form. Scrape seeds from vanilla bean into the bowl and add vanilla extract; beat just until blended.
• Spoon batter into a pastry bag and pipe mounds onto the prepared baking sheet.
• Bake in the preheated oven until set, about 1 1/2 hours. Turn oven off; let cookies cool in the closed oven for 1 1/2 hours. Remove cookies carefully from paper.

VANILLA MERINGUE COOKIES

Steps:

• Place egg whites in a small bowl; let stand at room temperature 30 minutes., Preheat oven to 250°. Add vanilla, cream of tartar and salt to egg whites; beat on medium speed until foamy. Gradually add sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating on high after each addition, until sugar is dissolved. Continue beating until stiff glossy peaks form, about 7 minutes., Cut a small hole in the tip of a pastry bag or in a corner of a food-safe plastic bag; insert a #32 star tip. Transfer meringue to bag. Pipe 1-1/4-in.-diameter cookies 2 in. apart onto parchment-lined baking sheets., Bake until firm to the touch, 40-45 minutes. Turn off oven; leave meringues in oven 1 hour (leave oven door closed). Remove from oven; cool completely on baking sheets. Remove meringues from paper; store in an airtight container at room temperature.

VANILLA CHAI MERINGUE COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F (120 degrees C). Line 2 cookie sheets with foil or parchment paper.
• Beat egg whites with a mixer until foamy and soft peaks form. Add sugar slowly while you continue to mix. Add vanilla extract and beat until glossy, stiff peaks form. Gently fold in ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and cardamom.
• Pipe or spoon the meringue onto the prepared baking sheets.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 1 hour 20 minutes. Turn off the oven and leave the cookies inside until the oven cools, or overnight.

VANILLA MERINGUE COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 200 degrees F; line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
• In a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, add the egg whites, vanilla and cream of tartar. Beat until the mixture is frothy and soft peaks form. Gradually add the sugar 1 tablespoon at a time, waiting about 15 seconds between each addition. Once all of the sugar has been added, beat for an additional 5 minutes. The egg whites should be glossy and stiff but not dry.
• Spoon the mixture into a large pastry bag fitted with a large star tip. Pipe 2-inch cookies onto the lined baking sheets, leaving 1 inch between each cookie.
• Bake for 45 minutes, then turn off the oven and leave the cookies in the oven for an additional 30 minutes. Remove and cool completely before storing in an airtight container.