Vegan Matcha Raspberry Meringues

With all of the vegan meringues that have been popping up lately on social media I had to try my hand at making some.  I admit that these types of things have always intimidated me a bit, especially macarons which I used to love before I stopped eating animal products.  Funny because I like to make lots of different desserts, but I tend to make what I know well.  Time for me to step outside the box though.  I need that every once in a while, keeps life interesting.  So, I figured I would start off with something simple. I used the aquafaba method for meringue making which in case you haven't heard is using the brine from canned chickpeas. It whips up into a beautiful meringue!  I do not have a stand mixer, so I used my food processor to whip the liquid up.  It worked so much faster than everyone says a stand mixer does.  I admit I had a few fails, about 4.  The first time, I added the sugar too fast, and it was not fine enough, and it turned into liquid.  The second, it whipped up into a beautiful marshmallow fluff, but I had no stabilizers in it so when I put it in the oven it ran to flat pancakes.  The third, they didn't get hard enough in the oven even after 3 hours they were like marshmallows. Luckilly I have a lot of access to chickpea liquid since I make loads of them at my work in the deli.  I am sure if I were using the usual refined sugar in my recipes like everyone else, they would have turned out.  But that is not something I keep in my home, or want to eat. So...I have been working with coconut sugar and xylitol.  I saw a post on the FB group Vegan Meringue- Hits and Misses about someone dehydrating xylitol meringues so I figured I would try my own version of that.

Every time I have used the xylitol it whipped up nicely.  So, the question was would it stay nice in the dehydrator since I did not have success with the oven the first time I tried that.  The meringue was lovely, shiny and perfect. I decided to add in a little matcha powder with the vanilla just to make it more interesting.  I can never leave things plain...my brain just doesn't work that way.  I also folded in tart freeze dried raspberries because I love berries with green tea, and I thought the red and the pale green would be lovely.

I popped them in the dehydrator, and crossed my fingers, and prayed they would turn out.  24 hours later, I ended up with delicious little meringues!  I was so happy they actually turned out you have no idea. The earthy sweet green tea base was perfect with the flecks of tart raspberry. I have included the recipe if you have a dehydrator and want to try this too.  I am not done experimenting yet with my meringues, and I have another experiment baking as I type this.  Stay tuned.

Vegan Matcha Raspberry Meringues

Makes 12

1/2 cup aquafaba*

1/2 tsp guar gum

1/2 tsp cream of tartar

1/2 cup powdered xylitol sugar**

pinch sea salt (if your chickpea liquid has no salt)

2 Tbsp arrowroot powder

1 Tbsp matcha powder

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup freeze dried raspberries, crushed up into smaller pieces

In a food processor (which is what I used, or you may use a stand mixer with a whisk attatchment), whip up the chickpea liquid until it has reached pretty stiff peaks. This will take about 2 minutes in the food processor.  Add the guar gum and cream of tartar and process until incorporated.  Add the sea , sugar and arrowroot with the motor running, a little at a time through the feed tube (so you do not deflate it), then allow to process until the sugar is completely dissolved and the meringue is smooth, shiny and thick.  Add the vanilla and matcha, and blend until uniform in color. fold in the raspberries.

Carefully place the meringue mixture into a pastry bag with a large tip, and pipe into meringues on a parchment paper lined dehydrator tray.

Dehydrate at 155F for 24 hours, until crisp.  Remove from the dehydrator and store in an airtight container.

*Aquafaba is the liquid from chickpeas.  You may either use the liquid from canned chickpeas, or liquid from chickpeas you have cooked yourself (if it is thick enough).

**I buzzed the xylitol in the blender until fine before using in the recipe, this makes it less likely to deflate the meringue. Xylitol is toxic to dogs the same way chocolate is, so do not let your dog get ahold of this marshmallow fluff.

***Please note, if it is very humid where you are and your meringues get a little soft, just place them in the fridge in the container you store them in and they will become more crunchy.