the poverty luxe kitchen vol. 25: merengue cookies.

i believe ive talked about my fondness for hollandaise sauce (yes, yes i have), and let me reiterate: i freaking LOVE hollandaise sauce. i literally named my son benedict because of how much i love hollandaise sauce (benedict, like the eggs. i seriously dont understand how i am allowed to adult). 
the thing about hollandaise sauce though is that it only uses the egg yolks. so what the heck do we do with all those whites? obviously we dont just throw them away (actually once upon a time we had a dog and i would feed them to the dog). what we do is we make merengue cookies. 
merengue cookies are amazing little things: theyre naturally fat and gluten free and taste like lucky charms marshmallows. also, theyre really easy to make, AND (if youre already using the yields for something else) practically free! the only caveat is that you do kind of need an electric mixer of some sort (thank you, my dear kitchenaid) and they take kind of a long time to bake (for cookies). but still. theyre awesome. 
merengue cookies.  (makes 1 cookie sheet full, approximately 30-35 1.5 inch cookies)
heres what you need:  3 egg whites, at room temperature (this is very, VERY important!) 1/4 tsp cream of tartar 1 cup sugar 1 tsp vanilla extract
heres what you do: 
combine the egg whites, cream of tartar, and vanilla in a large bowl (or bowl of your stand mixer), and beat at a high speed until foamy. 
slowly ad in sugar and continue to beat until stiff, glossy peaks form. 
gently transfer merengue into a gallon ziplock bag and cut a small hole in one corner. 
pipe small (1.5 inch in diameter) dots onto a foil lined baking sheet. 
bake at 300 degrees for 45 minutes, or until completely dry. 
let cool completely before removing from baking sheet.
store in an airtight container for up to a week. 
that was easy, wasnt it? whats your favorite easy dessert to make?