Meringue Ghosts

Recipe found in Sunset Magazine, Oct 2000. I've never tried it, but they look so cool for Halloween. Cooking time doesn't include 1 hour for meringues to cool.

• Ready In: 31 mins
• Serves: 8-12
• Yields: 8-12 ghosts

Ingredients

• 3  large  egg whites
• 1⁄2 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 3⁄4 cup sugar
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
• 16 -24  miniature semisweet chocolate chips (very tiny pieces) or 16 -24  pieces  semisweet chocolate (very tiny pieces)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees.
2. Line 2 baking sheets with cooking parchment, or butter havile and dust with flour.
3. In a deep bowl, beat egg whites and cream of tartar with electric mixer on highest speed until they form a thick foam. Continue beating, adding sugar 1 tablespoon at a time, every 30 seconds or so. Whip until meringue hold very stiff peaks.
4. Beat in vanilla. If using parchment, smear a little meringue on every corner to make it stick to baking sheets.
5. Spoon meringue into a pastry bag, fitted with 1/2 in plain tip (or spoon into heavy duty plastic bag and snip one corner to make 1/2 in opening).
6. Pipe meringue onto baking sheets into ghostly shapes, about 1/4 in-1/2 in thick , 2-4 in wide and 4-6 in long, spacing 2 inches apart. To make eyes (noses, mouths) press chocolate chips lightly into meringue.
7. Bake in oven until meringues begin to turn pale gold and are firm to touch. 1 1/4 - 1 1/2 hours. Switch pan positions halfway through baking. Turn off heat and leave meringues in closed oven for an hour.
8. Release ghosts with a spatula.