Santa Hats Meringue Recipe

Preheat oven to 200 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Beat egg whites in a bowl until they form soft peaks; beat the cream of tartar and vanilla extract into egg whites. Gradually beat white sugar into mixture until meringue forms stiff peaks.

Transfer ¼ of the meringue mixture into a separate bowl. Beat red food coloring into the remaining ¾ of meringue.

Transfer colored meringue into a piping bag fitted with a round tip. Pipe 20 Santa hat-shaped triangles, about 1½-inch tall and bending over at the tips, onto the parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Sprinkle the hats with red sugar.

Transfer remaining ¼ uncolored meringue into a clean piping bag fitted with a round tip.

Pipe little white pom-poms onto each hat tip and a small edging of fluffy white trim onto the bottom of each hat.

Bake meringue cookies in the preheated oven until hard but not browned for about 1 hour and 20 minutes.

Turn off the oven and let cookies cool inside an oven until crisp for 1 hour.