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
- 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.
This is such a lovely idea! Let’s face it, sugary cereal is really more of a dessert than a meal. This is the perfect excuse to eat it in an adult-like fashion ;D and they’re so beautiful too.
Oooh I will have to check out the new Momofuku cookbook! These meringues look delicious–and cute too, with the colorful cereal :)
Hail the cereal meal! I am a serial cereal collector and eater; my breakfast is almost always cereal. I am in love with rainbow cereal raining down into pure white folds of sugary meringue, so glad you did this recipe Stephanie!
Your history with food is like mine as a kid; I would not eat rice unless it was covered in soy sauce and in a dome shape. Lets says I went on hunger strikes for most meals of the day before they gave in with soy covered rice.
Ok, I think my afternoon plans just changed. I need a box of Fruity Pebbles, STAT!
Can’t wait to try these! Beautiful photos <3
I am in LOVE with this, Stephanie!! First of all, I love Fruity Pebbles and secondly, Christina Tosi. In fact! We had a Momofuku Milk Bar style wedding cake and it was pretty amazing. How many other cereals could you use for meringues? :D
DAY LONG HUNGER STRIKES?! dang, girl, you meant business! i should have taken a cue from you when i was little. and seriously, these pictures are BEYOND. you have made art out of fruity pebbles. amazing.
Man, I was the pickiest eater when I was young too – pretty much exclusively ate carbs, carbs, and did I mention carbs?
Thanks for sharing, Steph – and love the photography here too!
Ohmygod, I actually gasped out loud when I saw these. What a freakin’ genius recipe. I have such a lady crush on Christina Tosi, you don’t even know. She is like, one of my ultimate baking heroes.
Also, I was such a picky eater when I was a kid too; it’s funny how things change.
OK, so 1. THESE. These are SO so cute, springy and festive!! I can just imagine how amazing the texture is between these puffs of meringue and the crunchy cereal, and with pureed mango?! So dreamy. 2. A cereal party sounds like THE BEST THING EVER. I wish we were neighbors! and 3. Um. I am crazy impressed by your all-day hunger strikes. I didn’t really like eating all that much when I was little (um, WHAT. happened) and I can remember being shut in the family room with a sad bowl of food and my parents yelling that I couldn’t come out til I ate it — hahaha! Times have changed……. Love this so much, Steph!
These photos are STUNNING, Stephanie! That color!
…. and yeah,the cereal thing. Sometimes I *still* eat it three times a day.
OMG!!!!! I loooooved Fruity Pebbles. Also, funny thing – for some reason I just heard about this book like 2 hours ago?! And now I’m reading an awesome recipe from it? Clearly I need this one pronto. Also, love your cereal party idea. That sounds like the bomb.
I was the same way as a kid I went thru a phase in middle school where all I would eat at lunch was plain rice with meat sauce. But not the actual meat. And plain rolls. So odd. Especially because my school had awesome home cooked lunches with dessert and salad and yummy food for free. I also went thru a sugar-y kid cereal phase in college but I think that was just general excitement about living in America for the first time and being able to eat all this ridiculous neon-colored / turns-your-milk-into-sludge stuff.
But most importantly I had to comment because that first picture!!! OMG. Words cannot describe. It’s absolutely transfixing. I am considering switching out my phone background from my cat to that. Its a big deal. I have had the same background since I got my cat 5 years ago. Not even the bf has made it there. Haha. But seriously, your pictures are always great but these in particular have me like O_O
Girl, your photography is so incredible, as usual. That first photo is just amazing! I was never a sugary cereal girl, mostly because my parents would never let us have it, but I definitely ate Harvest Crunch and Just Right every morning during my childhood. I loved Christina Tosi on Mind of a Chef so I’m sure these are awesome.
Girl! Yes to this 100x!!
STOPPPPPPP. I love this so so so much. The hero image is everything. And so are Fruity Pebble Meringues. You + Christina Tosi = magic. Total Tosi fangirl status here. And I love that you were a picky eater!! I commend you for the all day hunger strikes. That’s commitment to the cause right there. My cousin was the pickiest eater too. Only peanut butter-honey sandwiches for her. One more thing. I really do love love love these images. These might be my favorite photos ever.
I think it’s so cute to incorporate cereal into desserts. Adds so much colour too ( :
Oh my gosh. These are too fun. And they are totally transporting me back to my childhood!! Gorgeous photos, as always! XO
That shot of the fruity pebbles going into the measuring cup is sick. These sound/look absolutely amazing, I really need to get my hands on the Milk Bar Life book soon! Also, a cereal. mimosa. screwdriver. cartoon. PARTY? I feel like I’ve been depriving myself with all of my lame parties.
This is the most colorful post ever! Love it!
Cereal maringue? This is genius. Totally in love with that first pic and all those colors!
I love the milk bar recipes but never tried the original version of this one. Your sounds amazing and the photos are just gorgeous! I really need to make this.
I love the crazy, sciencey mood in these pics because there IS something kind of mad and experimental about putting cereal into sweets. In the best way, of course. Super whimsical! <3
I love the idea (not only because is it delicious) but I often find myself cooking a recipe and only using the egg yolk. By the end I am always left with a few egg whites with nothing to do with, and all you need for a meringue is a little bit of sugar. More people should consider what to do with n ingredient before disregarding it!
Excited about this ‘new to me’ blog. Tried these out yesterday, they ended up too sweet for me and my kids taste. I think I’ll try again with less sugar. Any suggestions?
Thanks!
R
Hi Raquel,
You definitely need the sugar for the meringues to hold up – I haven’t tried but you may be able to get away with decreasing the sugar to 1/2 cup. I also suggest decreasing the amount of Fruity Pebbles – maybe just sprinkle on top instead of folding in. Hope that helps!
This recipe definitely stood out to me in the Milk Bar Life cookbook as a definite “must try”! I’m glad to see that you reduced the amount of pebbles and they still came out with plenty of pebbles (imo). So far I’ve only made her grandmother’s oatmeal cookies (which despite her statements to the contrary, DEFINITELY need to be baked from chilled). The book seems full of fun recipes though and I can’t wait to try more!
I think I will definitely be making these next – sans passion fruit curd as well :)
That picture of the fruity pebbles raining down. BLAME IT ON THE CEREAL RAIN, lady! I am a cereal addict too. In university my “meals” would often be Life cereal followed by Froot Loops for dessert. I had no concept of nutrition. I think I may have told you this … ha. Love these crazy meringues! That book is so fun. It’s nice to know that kids can go through being shite eaters and break through and be the craziest best eaters ever! Teddy is mildly hating on veggies at the moment and it brings me down … hehe! xoxo
Oh my god, these rule! I’ve been on a total “sugary cereal” baking binge lately. Dying to make these! Thanks for sharing the recipe :)
Always love your photos and recipes! Though I kinda miss the funky fonts you used on those old ones back in the days. Keep up the good work !
Yum! These look so good, and I have never seen anything like them. Can’t wait to try them.