Ingredients (approx 70 meringues)
- 5 cups spelt (wheat) fine flour
- 1/2 cup water
- 3/4 cup barley malt
- 1/3 cup oil
- zest and juice from one organic lemon
- 2 teaspoons baking powder (phospate-free)
- a pinch of salt
Directions
- Wash lemon, grate zest finely, squeeze juice out.
- Mix all ingredients in bowl: flour, water, oil, lemon juice and zest, barley and salt.
- Mix properly with wooden spoon. Dough should be quite thin (liquid).
- Fill plastic bag with dough, cut one corner and squeeze dough out throug the opening onto tray with baking paper.
- Fill a 1-quart sealable plastic bag (or pastry bag fitted with a ½-inch plain tip) with the meringue. Seal the bag almost completely, leaving a small opening for air to escape from the top as you squeeze.
- Snip off one corner of the bag with scissors, making a ¾-inch-wide opening.
- Fold the top of the bag over a few times, then gently push the meringue down to the snipped corner.
- Working with the bag perpendicular to the baking sheet, pipe the meringue into 1½-inch-diameter cookies, spacing them about ½ inch apart.
- Bake in pre-heated oven 180 °C or 360 °F for about 15 minutes. Meringues should appear solid and change colour slightly.
- Store in cool dry place.
Practical
- Make just a few the first time to make sure whether you and others like them.
- Meringues are long-lasting so you can make a larger quantity at once.
- Add flour if dough is too liquid, if it’s too thick add water.
- Adjust time of baking: small meringues will be done within minutes, bigger ones might take 15-20 min.
- Meringues will increase in size slightly.
- They will remain soft inside thanks to the baking powder.
Tips
- Use chocolate frosting to make them special.
- Use them as alternative to traditional Xmas cookies.
Modificaions
- If you don’t have tools to make them and don’t want to use the bag, you can put the dough into metal forms and tip them out after baking.
- Thicker dough may be formed by hand into shapes or it can be rolled out flat and cut with cutters.
- Vanilla may be used instead of lemon (gingerbread spices, cinammon also possible, or you can add coconut or nuts).
Children
- Suitable for kids aged 1 year or older. They are egg-, diary- and sugar-free. The drawback is that they are baked and contain wheat flour. Therefore give only a few pieces to children just for fun or for a change. It is a good alternative to give to your child in a company of people consuming conventional sweets or salty snacks.
