Vegan AquaFaba Meringues

What is AquaFaba? 
In short, aquafaba is bean water! Aqua, meaning water and Faba, meaning bean.
It has become increasingly popular as a substitute for egg whites in baking as well as savory recipes. Aquafaba can be used to make meringues, cakes, cookies, pies, mayo, sauces, you name it!

Every time I open a can of chick peas, I say to myself "Self, you should really use this bean water to make meringues" Then I say back to myself "Nah" Lol! Well, today I actually did it!
I was making the littles a kale salad with chickpeas for lunch, so I drained them over a bowl and reserved the liquid to make Peppermint Meringues. I thought this was going to take a lot of trial and error, as I remember my mother baking with egg whites and you had to be very careful to keep them from breaking. Turns out, these were very easy to make!

I used vanilla and peppermint for my flavoring, but you can switch out for any flavoring that you like. I also used cream of tartar, because my mother always used it when baking with egg whites to help stabilize them. If you don't have any on hand, try making them without. Also, note that using coconut sugar will give you a darker meringue, than if you use white sugar. We don't use white sugar, but feel free to use it if you want a whiter meringue.

Makes 24 large meringues or 30 small meringues.
3/4c aquafaba
1/2c coconut sugar, I ground it in my grinder to make it more fine, before adding to the mix.
1/4tsp cream of tartar
1/4tsp vanilla powder
1/8tsp pure peppermint extract

Preheat oven to 250 degrees and prepare baking sheet with a layer of parchment paper.
Use your aqua faba at room temperature.

Whip with a high speed mixer until it is foamy and starts to thicken.
Add in vanilla powder and about 1/3rd of your sugar.

Whip again until peaks start to form.
Add in the next 1/3rd of sugar.
Whip again until you get firmer peaks.

Add in last of sugar and peppermint extract.
Whip until stiff peaks form. I know it's ready, when I can turn my beater over and the meringue keeps it's form.

Use a spoon to dollop rounds of meringue onto your baking sheet. They spread a little while baking, so be sure to leave room and don't make them too big. I also recommend piling them high, so that when they spread, you still have some height.

Bake for about 1hr 15min or until meringues are set and firm on the outside. They don't crisp up until they cool.

Let them cool for about 5 minutes before serving.
This was the littles first time having meringues and they loved them!

Enjoy!