We have been making these treats for some years now. I love to serve them in a wooden bowl at the end of the Thanksgiving meal. Guests always take a second glance since these barely sweet pastries look like real woodland mushrooms.--- beth

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 200° F. Line 2 or more cookie sheets with foil or parchment. Fit pastry bag with round tip (#6.)

Beat 4 egg whites in mixer bowl at medium speed with 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar until frothy. Increase the speed and gradually add 1/2 cup sugar, then add 1 teas vanilla. Add another 1/2 c sugar over the next few minutes; the meringue will get quite stiff and shiny, and you don't want to feel any grit of sugar crystals.

Fit the pastry bag with the tip. Hold the bag as shown, with the thumb and finger supporting the edge of the bag. Cuff folded over.

Use a rubber spatula to scoop meringue into the bag, scraping it off the spatula where your thumb supports the bag. Don't overfill the bag or it will be difficult to handle.

Twist bag shut. Using a bit less than half the meringue, pipe around 30 mushroom stems onto a cookie sheet: starting near the sheet squeeze out the meringue. Vary the speed at which you lift the tip to vary the shape of the stem. Lift and twist the bag (without squeezing) to separate the stem from the tip. Dust the stems with cocoa now if desired and get them into the oven

Now pipe the caps. You can do this without changing the pastry tip. changing the pastry tip; simply hold the tip a short distance over the cookie sheet & smoothly squeeze the bag; the cap will billow out nicely. Stop squeezing, lift and twist to separate the tip from the cap. Smooth the caps by gently patting them with a wet but not dripping fingertip. Dust them with cocoa as with the stems, and get them into the oven.

The mushrooms are done when they are thoroughly dry and crisp. If your oven is slightly off, this may take substantially more than two hours - check by selecting a large cap and seeing whether it is no longer gooey inside.

Melt about 4 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips in microwave.

Trim the mushroom stems so they have nice flat tops.

For each mushroom, take a cap and smear some melted chocolate over most of the bottom. Then attach a stem.

Store in dry conditions as humidity will render them soggy.