Strawberry Meringue Gingersnaps

Directions
Strawberry Meringue

• Starting with the strawberry meringue, place 1/3 cup of water in the bowl of a stand mixer. Add the gelatin and let this bloom for 10 minutes.
• While the gelatin is blooming, place the remaining 1/3 cup water in a small sauce pot with the sugar and corn syrup. Place the pot over medium heat and heat it until the temperature reads 240 degrees F. You can increase the heat to medium-high to reach that temperature.
• Once the sugar mixture reaches the correct temp and the gelatin has bloomed for at least 10 minutes, attach the whisk attachment and mix on low speed while slowly drizzling the hot sugar mixture into the bowl of the stand mixer.
• Increase the speed and continue to beat the mixture. The color will go from opaque to white and become more and more fluffy. Mix for 8-10 minutes.
• Add the freeze dried strawberries to the bowl and continue to whisk.
• Transfer the meringue to a large bowl and cover with plastic wrap and set aside at room temperature. We will use it later on.
• Gingersnap Cookies
• In the bowl of a stand mixer fit with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar until nice and smooth on low speed. About 2 minutes.
• Scrape down the sides of the bowl then add in the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla. Mix on low speed.
• Add the molasses and mix until everything is evenly combined.
• To the bowl of a stand mixer, add the dry ingredients; the flour, baking soda, ginger, and freeze dried strawberries.
• Mix just until combined and a dough starts to form. Scrape down the sides of the bowl then add in the fresh, diced strawberries, and diced candied ginger.
• Mix the dough to fully combine everything.
• Transfer the dough to plastic wrap, and wrap tightly and let sit in the fridge for 2 hours.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
• Once the dough has chilled, unwrap it and roll it out to 1/4″ thickness. Use a circle cookie cutter to cut out as many circles as you can.
• Place the sliced cookies on the prepared cookie sheets about 2″ apart. The cookies will spread a bit. Don’t use a complex shape as they won’t hold a perfect shape while baking.
• Allow the cookies to cool completely on a wire rack.
• Once the cookies have cooled, place the strawberry meringue in a piping bag. If the meringue stiffened up a bit too much, pop it in the microwave for 10-15 seconds.
• Pipe about 2 Tbsp. of meringue on top of each gingersnap. The meringue will flow outward on its own a teeny bit so don’t pipe too much onto one cookie otherwise it may overflow.
• Freeze the meringue topped cookies for 20 minutes to firm up.
• Microwave the chocolate and coconut oil in 30 second intervals until completely melted. Mix between each interval.
• Dip the top of each cookie completely to coat the entire surface of the cookie. Allow the excess chocolate to drip off.
• Let the chocolate set in the freezer for 5-10 minutes. Break open and enjoy!