Royal Meringue Cookies

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 275° F.
2. Lightly butter and flour two large cookie sheets.
3. In a large bowl, let the egg whites warm to room temperature, about 15 minutes.
4. With electric mixer at high speed, beat egg whites with cream of tartar, salt and vanilla until soft peaks form when beater is slowly raised. 
5. Gradually beat in granulated sugar two teaspoons at a time, until very stiff peaks form. Mixture should be moist and shiny.
6. Drop meringue by tablespoonfuls, using rubber spatula to push meringue from spoon to form mounds, 1” apart. There should be approximately 40 mounds.
7. Sprinkle each mound with sprinkles if desired. 
8. Bake about 1 hour or until crisp and very light golden color.
9. Open oven door and let meringues cool for 1 hour before removing from cookie sheet. Store in a covered container until ready to serve.