As preparation, thoroughly clean and dry the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk, and a rubber spatula. Any wet or greasy equipment can inhibit the egg whites from fluffing up.

Continue mixing the egg whites and gradually add the granulated sugar and salt. If you add it all at once, all of the air will escape from the whites. Add the vanilla extract slowly, too.

Turn the mixer to medium-high speed and mix until the meringue is glossy and thick. When you lift the whisk out of it, there should be a peak of meringue that holds its shape at the end of the whisk.

Prepare your baking sheets with parchment paper. I like to put a little dot of meringue on the corners and then put the parchment down to hold it in place.

Fill some of the meringue into a piping bag ready with a star tip. Use a bigger tip if you have one. Pipe rosettes or little stars. Leave some space between the cookies, but you don't need much space since they won't really spread.

Bake the cookies in the preheated oven for 1 hour, then shut the oven off and leave them in the oven undisturbed for an additional 2 hours. This will help dry the meringue completely.