Paleo Peppermint Meringue Christmas Trees
A friend of mine made some cute little ghost meringues for Halloween, and I got inspired to make some Christmasy ones! My kids and I LOVE making cookies at Christmas, but with diabetes I have to be creative in my food choices. Meringues are a great cookie option for those with diabetes, or a gluten sensitivity, because they are pretty much just made of egg whites. Of course, if you know me, you won’t be surprised to find that I also dipped this in dark pepperminty chocolate (yah, they rock)! Paleo Peppermint Meringue Christmas Trees are a delicious, easy, fun, healthy way to get into the Christmas mood! The kids had a lot of fun helping me pipe these out.
A tiny bit of sweetener is all you need in these meringue trees! There are only 4 egg whites, so a couple tablespoons of honey goes a long way! Egg whites are pretty much pure protein, whereas other cookies are full of refined carbs from the flour. That makes these cookies low carb and super healthy!
FYI, I normally try to avoid chemical food coloring, but don’t mind using it sometimes. If you want to skip the chemicals, these would be cute white, as well! Or, here’s a link for natural food coloring
Before we get to the recipe for the Paleo Peppermint Meringue Christmas Trees, I want to invite you to join with others who are making healthy changes. I’d love to walk alongside you in your journey towards wholeness and health! Jesus said, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full!” Freedom from food addictions is part of having a truly full life.
| Servings | Prep Time |
| 50 Trees | 20 Minutes |
| Cook Time |
| 1.5 Hours |
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These adorable Paleo Peppermint Meringue Christmas Trees are a fun, delicious, healthy way to celebrate the season! They're also easy to make!
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- 4 Egg Whites
- 1/4 Tsp Cream of Tartar
- 1 Tbsp Raw Honey
- 1/2 Tsp Vanilla
- Natural Food Coloring (see note)
- 1-2 Cups 70% Chocolate Chunks
- 10 Drops Essential Peppermint Oil (see note)
- Preheat the oven to 200 degrees F and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Whip the egg whites on high in your electric stand mixer. When they start to become frothy slowly add the cream of tartar, honey, vanilla, and food coloring. Whip until they form stiff peaks.
- Fill a pastry bag with the whites and pipe them in the shape of trees onto your baking sheets. You can pipe them close together, because they won't expand. If you don't have a pastry bag just cut the corner out of a plastic bag and use that.
- Bake for 1.5-2 hours. The outsides should be fairly stiff. Meringues will continue to set up and harden after you take them out of the oven.
- While the cookies cool melt the chocolate in the microwave (use increments of 20 seconds, stirring in between). Stir in the peppermint oil.
- Gently remove the cookies from parchment paper one at a time and dip the bottom in the chocolate. Place the cookies back on the parchment paper after dipping.
- Place cookies in the fridge until the chocolate hardens, then serve. If you need to store them, do so in an airtight container. Enjoy!
You can use peppermint extract, or the essential oil. Use half teaspoon if you use the extract. Do not add the oil directly to the egg whites, or they won't get very fluffy! If you click on the ingredient name above (Essential Peppermint Oil) you will find a link where you can buy the essential oil. I've been using a lot of DoTerra products lately and LOVE them!!!
Here's a link for the natural food dye I found. You can also leave them white...snowy trees: