Santa Hats

Ingredients:

• 2 egg whites, at room temperature
• 1/2 tsp. cream of tarter
• 1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup sugar
• Red colored sugar 

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 200F. 
2. With an electric mixer, beat the egg whites until soft peaks start to form. Beating all the while add the cream of tarter and vanilla extract. Then slowly add the 1/2 cup of sugar. Continue to beat until the peaks stiffen. 
3. Spoon the meringue into a quart-size plastic bag. Snip off the corner and pipe 2 dozen 1 1/2 inch tall Santa hat triangles onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Note: you should have 1/4 of the meringue left. 
4. Sprinkle the triangles with the red sugar. Then use the remaining meringue to give each one a pom pom and trim. 
5. Bake the hats for 1 hour and 20 minutes. Turn off the oven and leave the hats in it for an hour to crisp before removing. 

Here is a closer look:

Note: I do not recommend putting these on an enclosed cookie tray with the other cookies. I found that they absorb the moisture from the other cookies and crumbled. But the hats stayed in their original shape when stored in an airtight container with just these other Santa hats.