We love Halloween!

Really, what’s not to love?

It’s a night that specifically requires us to dress up like freaks and weirdos and go knock on our neighbors’ doors so that they can give us candy!

Seriously, a simple “Trick or Treat” = free candy!

Whoever came up with that equation is a genius.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t cool off around here until early winter so trick or treating on Halloween night was usually a very sweaty affair.

A few years back, we decided to just throw a Halloween party at our house instead of going out. We had plenty of treats here for the kids to munch on, lots of candy for them to take home, and games to keep them occupied.

Nobody ever felt cheated because they didn’t go trick or treating.

Our little party became a yearly event that everyone looked forward to.

Now, most of my friends with kids live in different states.

This will be the first year in a very long time that we probably won’t have a Halloween party.

But, lucky for you I still have quite a few Halloween tricks and treats to share.

The first of which are these sweet meringue ghosts.

They’re slightly crispy on the outside and marshmallowy in the middle.

Kids love them and they make an easy topping for a cake or cupcakes.

And as long as you have a mixer, they’re also pretty darn easy.

I make my ghosts using a fairly standard meringue cookie recipe. If you have a favorite meringue recipe, go ahead and use it.

Honestly, it all works.

Spooky Sweet Meringue Ghost Cookies

4 large egg whites

1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

1 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract or extract of your choice.

Preheat your oven to 200 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat.

Using your hand or stand mixer, beat the egg whites on medium-high speed until they become foamy.

Reduce the speed of your mixer, add the cream of tartar, and slowly add the sugar.

Once all the sugar has been added, crank up the speed to high and beat the mixture until soft peaks form.

Add the vanilla.

Keep mixing until the meringue can hold stiff peaks and you don’t feel any grittiness from the sugar when you rub a little meringue between your fingers.

The meringue should be shiny and smooth and should hold its shape really well when you scoop a bit with your finger or a spoon. Remember, you want these ghosts to hold their shape while they bake, if your meringue isn’t stiff enough, you could end up with droopy or even flat ghosts.

To make the ghosts, you can either pipe them by holding the piping bag perpendicular to the baking sheet and making a large mound, followed by a slightly smaller mound on top, followed by an even smaller mound on top of that. You can also pipe rounds that gradually decrease in size as they go up.

If you’re really good with a piping bag, you can swirl the meringue all the way to the top.

Or you can dollop the meringue into a ghosty shape using a spoon.

If you’re using candy decorations, press them in now.

Bake the ghosts for 1-1 1/2 hours depending on their size. You’ll need to keep an eye on them after about 45 minutes.

When the outsides feel crisp and dry, turn the oven off and open the door but leave the meringues in for 4-6 hours to finish drying out. You can even let them sit overnight if your kitchen is small like mine and an open oven door is a safety hazard.

I painted eyes and mouths on my ghosts just using a little melted chocolate and a small paintbrush once they had cooled completely.

The ghosts should last about a week stored at room temperature.