Personalized letters from Santa for your kids, courtesy of Safeway! And delicious low carb, low calorie chocolate swirl meringues for everyone on your list. These tasty grain-free cookies will be the hit of any holiday gathering.
My 11 year old son expressed an interesting sentiment the other day. He said he wished he still believed in Santa Claus. It’s been a few years now that he’s been savvy to the whole charade, the whole parents-working-behind-the-scenes-to-create-some-holiday-magic. I don’t know how he found out. I am sure some of his peers at school were happy to disabuse him of the notion that a large fat elf in a red suit flies around the world dropping presents down chimneys. It’s a bit of a tough sell as kids enter double digits in age. But I think he still really wants that holiday magic and so he’s a little regretful to be older but wiser.
He does have two younger sisters who still fully believe and he’s sweetly careful not to let on. He’s even corrected me a few times when I’ve slipped about who fills the stockings. I just love that he’s so sensitive to their feelings and to keeping up the pretences of Christmas magic.
This year, I discovered a wonderful way to keep that magic going that I think even my son will appreciate: personalized letters from Santa, courtesy of Safeway. These letters are so sweet, and I am really delighted with the whole process. You set up an account (it’s free, but you need to set a password), you put in some information about your child, what they want for Christmas, how old they are, even their pet’s name, and you get a lovely long letter that really talks to them as if Santa truly knows who they are. The letters are sent to your email in PDF so they can be easily printed, and they also come with an envelope printout that’s postmarked from the North Pole with the date. I printed the envelope part on the backs of the letters and then folded them up so they showed on the outside.
Can I confess, the letters made me tear up? I am quite nostalgic about everything when it comes to Christmas, and I get teary very easily. It really is the most wonderful time of the year and I am beyond excited to give the kids their letters. My son will know it’s me behind the letter, but I trust he will keep mum about that. And I think it may even bring a little Christmas magic back for him, to know that “Santa” send him a letter all the way from the North Pole.
Check out how to personalize letters to your kids here: safeway.com/Santa
And now, since Santa is being so good to your kids, you need to be good to him too! (Read: you need to be good to yourself and make these delicious low carb chocolate swirl meringues). This is an easy recipe so even if you’re doing this last minute on the 24th, you can get these into the oven in time for Santa’s cookie plate. They are low carb, low calorie, and grain-free so he (she/you/your spouse/whoever is playing Santa) will be glad you did.
Looking for the best low carb holiday cookie recipes?
- 3 ounces sugar-free candy cane dark chocolate Lily's
- OR 3 ounces sugar-free dark chocolate plus 1/2 tsp peppermint extract
- 4 egg whites (room temperature)
- 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup powdered Swerve Sweetener
- 1/4 cup granulated Swerve Sweetener
- Chop chocolate and set in a heatproof bowl over a pan of barely simmering water. Stir until melted, then remove from heat. If using regular dark chocolate, stir in peppermint extract. Let cool while preparing meringue.
- Preheat oven to 200F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, beat egg whites with cream of tartar and salt until frothy. Mix powdered and granulated sweetener in a small bowl. With beaters running, slowly add to the egg whites.
- Beat until egg whites are glossy and holding medium-stiff peaks (the tip of the white should just fold over a little as you lift the beaters). Don't beat until perfectly stiff, as your meringues will harden too much.
- Drizzle a spoonful or two of the melted chocolate over the egg whites. Without stirring, scoop the top layer of whites by the heaping tablespoon onto prepared baking sheet. Drizzle more chocolate as necessary, to get nice swirls into each meringue (you can also drizzle a little overtop of each meringue on the baking sheet, if you have any leftover).
- Bake 75 to 90 minutes, until just firm to the touch and not longer sticky. Turn off heat and let sit inside for another hour or two. Remove before they begin to brown.
- Wait until completely cool before peeling off parchment paper.
Recipe notes: I used Lily's Candy Cane Dark Chocolate, which is available at some select stores this holiday season. You can easily do a regular Lily's dark chocolate bar and add peppermint extract. Or just go with chocolate. Any dark chocolate would do.
Serves 12. Each serving has 0.68 g of carbs.
Food energy: 36kcal
Total fat: 2.66g
Calories from fat: 23
Cholesterol: --
Carbohydrate: 2.98g
Total dietary fiber: 2.30g
Protein: 1.55g
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Albertsons Stores. The opinions and text are all mine.
