But since I indulged in a few gluten free macarons and date muffins (OMG!) at a family wedding I recently attended... I have been craving sugar. Not only was it the most beautiful and intimate wedding I have ever attended, it was also the most delicious! I guess I am going to confess to having eat a whole jar of this fabulous granola that was a favor from the wedding, too. It is full of whole nuts and the most wonderful oat mixture.
So, I have been trying to come up with a healthy way of getting in a bit of sweetness and today I experimented with making sugar-free meringues. I love meringues, but certainly don't want all the sugar that normally goes into making them... but I looked in my pantry and spied several little bottles of NuNaturals liquid stevia in a variety of flavors.
I chose lemon. And went to work. Now, I know these pictures are not great, but I am going to show them here anyway so I can share this recipe with you. If I get better ones another time, I will replace them, promise. I think it is more important at this point to get this out to you than to dither over poor pictures!
If you don't have flavored stevia, use plain and add a small spoonful of vanilla or almond or any other extract that you might like. I used cream of tartar to help stiffen the egg whites as I beat them. If your climate is dryer than mine, you may not need it.
Little confession... no, these meringues are not exactly like the ones you would make with sugar... they are dryer and flakier... but just as tasty and they fill the sweetness need.
Makes 9 meringues
Ingredients:
- 5 Tbs liquid egg whites
- 1/8 tsp cream of tartar
- 15 drops liquid stevia. flavor of choice
Instructions:
- Preheat your oven to 215°F.
- Line a baking pan with parchment paper.
- Beat your egg whites and cream of tartar till stiff peaks form. May take several minutes.
- Add the stevia drops and beat again till well mixed. (At this point I tasted the mixture. If it had not been sweet enough I would have added more stevia.)
- Using a large spoon, make 6 mounds of the egg white mixture on the baking sheet.
- Put the pan into the oven and bake 75 minutes.
- Remove from oven.
- Store any uneaten meringues (ha ha) in a covered container as they will take on moisture.
Per whole recipe:
Weight Watchers Smart Points = 1 *
Calories 43
Fat 0g
Saturated Fat 0g
Sugar 0g
Protein 8g
* You can actually have up to 1 cup of egg whites for a single Smart Point so make a larger batch if you like and go for it!
I think I will use this method to make some Pavlova nests in the near future. With some berries and a bit of whipped cream, they will be lovely... and still low carb. YAY!
Beat egg whites and cream of tartar until stiff.
Add stevia and beat again till mixed.
Pile on a baking sheet and place in oven.
Out of the oven and cooling...
and popping one into my mouth!
