i am a food blog

When I was little and the pickiest eater in all the land, one of the few things that my mom knew I would consistently eat was sugary cereal. You know how they say that you should let picky kids just starve until they’ll eat whatever you put in front of them? Yeah, that didn’t quite work for me. After multiple hunger strikes (we’re talking all day affairs), my mom finally learned that if I didn’t like it, I wasn’t going to eat it. That meant that sometimes, when I wasn’t eating plain rice, I would get to eat cereal for dinner.

I was a brat, I admit it. And the funniest thing is that I pretty much eat everything now, so I can’t really say why I was so bratty. The other funny thing is, aside from these Fruity Pebbles, I don’t even remember the last time I ate sugary cereal. Wait. I do remember. I threw a cereal party in 2011(!) with a bunch of sugary cereals, Sunday morning cartoons, screwdrivers and mimosas.

When I opened the box of Fruity Pebbles I was instantly taken back to childhood. Cereal is definitely a supremely nostalgic kid food for me. I mean, somedays, I ate it three times a day. Now my food horizon has expanded quite a bit, but when I saw this recipe for Fruity Pebble meringues in Christina Tosi’s latest book, Milk Bar Life, I just had to make them.

They’re crispy, crunchy, and most of all, fun! I was worried that they would be too sweet, but they’re kind of sort of perfect if you’re looking for a treat that reminds you of childhood. Plus they make me smile – I can never resist eating rainbow colored things.

Fruity Pebbles Meringues very slightly adapted from Milk Bar Life by Christina Tosi
makes 12 meringues
prep time: 5 minutes
active time: 15 minutes
total time: 3.5 hours

• 2 large egg whites (cold)
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cups icing sugar
• 1/2 cup Fruity Pebbles

Preheat the oven to 200°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

With the whisk attachment, whip the egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer on high until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Sprinkle in the salt and whisk for another minute, until salt dissolves and eggs stiffen slightly. Add the icing sugar and beat on low until combined, and then on high until glossy stiff peaks form. Gently Fold in the cereal.

Use a cookie scoop to scoop out uniform meringues (or use a spoon to drop tablespoons of meringue) 2 inches apart on the prepared cookie sheet.

Bake for three hours until completely dry. Let cool completely before enjoying.

Notes: I decreased the amount of Fruity Pebbles by half because I wanted more meringue to cereal. Feel free to double the amount of Fruity Pebbles if desired. Also, there was a Passion Fruit Curd with this recipe, which I skipped out on. The original recipe has you pipe passion fruit curd inside the meringues, but my meringues didn’t come out hollow, so I skipped out on that. Instead, I spooned on some pureed mango which was smooth, slight tart and a nice contrast to the crisp and crunchy sweet meringues.

cerealcookiesegg whitesfruity pebblesmeringues