Recipe: Egg Drop Cookies

Looking for an easy recipe for something fun and simple to make for Christmas bake sales? My family has been making "egg drop" cookies for as long as I can remember and it's always something we look forward to at Christmas time. Here's my adapted recipe:

3 egg whites (save the yolks!)
3/4 cup of white sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla flavoring (or extract)
1/2 bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips, or other additions (see below)

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
2. Mix egg whites with a hand-held mixer on medium-high until they are frothy.
3. Slowly stir in vanilla flavoring, salt, and sugar while continuing to beat/mix the mixture.
4. Continue to mix until the mixture is stiff, creamy white, and thick. 
5. Fold in chocolate chips (or other ingredients)
6. "Drop" onto parchment paper on a cookie sheet.
7. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until lightly toasted around the edges. Remove from oven.
8. Let cool for 2-5 minutes, then remove from parchment paper and enjoy!

Of course, everyone has their own variations: Check out these recipes with chocolate peppermint, mocha chip, peanuts, and fruit-flavored Jello. These cookies are also called meringue cookies, although they typically don't taste like meringue (they get the name from the shape).  Enjoy!