Meringue Cookies
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A classic recipe for meringue cookies! These little meringues only call for 5 ingredients, and at under 25 calories a pop they are easily the lightest recipe on my blog! The technique takes a little bit of practice, and a long time in the oven, but I’ll walk you through the steps in the recipe so that you can make your own perfect meringues!
Sweet & Simple Meringue Cookies
I have another recipe for your holiday cookie tray today — classic meringue cookies!
Meringues only require 5 ingredients to make, but they can be a little bit finicky — even the weather can affect them. Winter is a great time to try them out, as you’re much less likely to have a very humid day this time of year, and humidity is one of the greatest nemesis of meringue cookies.
I’ve been making this recipe over and over again the past few months to make sure that I understood all of the ins and outs of making perfect meringue cookies, and I’m finally ready to share what I’ve learned with you, so that you too can make these addictive little meringue cookies.
If you’ve never had one, meringues are light, airy cookies with crisp interiors. I’m sharing a classic vanilla meringue recipe today (with notes on how to add your own different flavors!). The taste always reminds me of marshmallow 😍.
Making Meringue: Stiff Peaks
This recipe calls for four egg whites and a single cup of sugar. That may not seem like it’s going to yield you very many meringues when you start, but you’ll be surprised by how much these ingredients increase in volume.
As you add the sugar, the mixture will become thick, glossy, and sticky, that’s exactly what you are looking for! You’ll also want the mixture to achieve stiff peaks — that’s how you’ll know that it’s done.
If you’ve made my angel food cake, whipped cream, or Swiss meringue buttercream before, then you’re already familiar with the concept of stiff peaks. It means that when you turn the batter over (like you can see in the image below with the meringue cookie batter), the peak that forms stands tall and does not fold back into itself. I’ve included a video in today’s post so you can see exactly how the meringue should look, in case you haven’t ever made meringue before.
Tips for No-Fail Meringue Cookies
- Make sure that the bowl and beater that you are using to beat your meringue is completely grease and moisture free. Any moisture can ruin your meringues.
- Crack your eggs in a separate bowl when separating the whites. Even a tiny bit of yolk can ruin your meringues, so crack each egg in a small bowl before adding it to the bowl that you will be mixing the meringue batter in.
- Add the sugar gradually, one Tablespoon at a time, and give it a chance to dissolve before adding more.
- You can test that the sugar is completely absorbed by taking a small bit of the batter and rubbing it between your fingers — if it’s not, it’ll feel gritty.
- Don’t stop until you get stiff peaks. The batter will take several minutes, at least, of beating to achieve stiff peaks, but keep going. It will increase in volume and be very thick and glossy — that’s what you’re looking for! See the photo above or the video for a visual.
- Don’t over-beat your batter, either! Once you hit stiff peaks, stop! You can stir in your extract and any food coloring at this point, but don’t push it because over-beating the batter is just as bad as not beating it enough.
- If you’ve found that your meringues have gotten soft after you finished baking them, you can actually pop them back in the oven at 225F for another 10-20 minutes (watch them, if they begin to turn golden brown around the edges turn off the heat immediately) and then let them cool in the oven for another hour, this has always worked for me with meringues that start to get chewy.
Adding Color and Other Flavoring
Once you get the hang of making meringues, feel free to play with lots of different flavors and colors — I made these Peppermint Bark Meringues by adding 1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract, striping the piping bag with red food coloring (I used a clean paintbrush that I only use for baking), and dipping the baked, cooled meringue cookies in dark chocolate and crushed peppermint pieces!
Enjoy!
More Christmas Treats You Might Like:
Meringue Cookies
Equipment
Ingredients
- 4 large egg whites, room temperature
- ½ teaspoon cream of tartar
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract¹
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 225F (105C) and line a large cookie sheet (or two regular-sized cookie sheets -- make sure they will fit in your oven together) with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Combine egg whites, cream of tartar, and salt in a large, completely clean, completely grease-free bowl².4 large egg whites, ½ teaspoon cream of tartar, ⅛ teaspoon salt
- Using an electric mixer or a stand mixer (with either the whisk or paddle attachment), stir on low speed until mixture becomes foamy.
- Increase speed to high.
- With mixer on high, gradually add sugar, about 1 Tablespoon at a time, stirring after each addition until sugar is dissolved (about 15-20 seconds between each addition).1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
- Beat until mixture is thick, shiny, and has increased in volume. Mixture should have stiff peaks and sugar should be completely dissolved (you can test this by rubbing a small bit of the mixture between your fingers, if it feels gritty, the sugar isn't dissolved).
- Stir in vanilla extract and any other extract you may like to use. If using food coloring, add the food coloring at this stage, too.1 teaspoon vanilla extract¹
- Fit a large disposable piping bag with a large tip (I used Ateco 846, but any large star tip will work or you can just snip the edge of the piping bag for a “kiss” formation) and transfer meringue to prepared piping bag and pipe onto prepared cookie sheet. The meringue cookies can be pretty close to each other as they won’t spread, and you will want to bake all of the cookies at the same time, so make sure you make enough space.
- Bake on 225F (105C) for 1 hour. Turn off the oven once the baking time has passed, and do not open the oven. Leave the oven door closed and allow cookies to cool completely in the oven (1-2 hours) before removing.
- Meringue cookies should be crisp and can be stored in an airtight container. Keep away from heat and moisture as it can soften your meringues.
Notes
Recipes to use those leftover egg yolks:
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like this? Leave a comment below!
Hello,
I’m french so I was wondering why do you call meringues cookie? Because of the shape, the ingredients…?
thank you
Hi Solene! I’m not sure where the name came from, it’s just what I’ve always called them and known them as.
Hi can we freeze them? if so, how long? thank you 🌸
Hi Rindi! I have not tried freezing them, but I know others have with success. I wouldn’t recommend keeping them much longer than a month or so in the freezer. You will want to separate any layers with wax paper or something similar to prevent them from sticking to each other. Make sure they cool completely in a low humid environment before storing in an air tight container in the freezer. 🙂
I just made some to decorate my cake next saturday, so it’s just for one week. thanks a lot 🌸
Hi what can I use instead of cream of tartar?
Hi Lillian! I have only made them with cream of tartar. I do know lemon juice can be used as a substitute, but I don’t know what amount would be needed. Maybe someone else can chime in and help. 🙂
I made them today and used lemon juice. Equal substitution worked perfectly.
Easy and delicious. Used this recipe to make mini pavlovas and the yolks to make a lemon curd.
That’s a great idea Sue! I’m glad you enjoyed it! 🙂
Hello I was just wondering if baking the cookies inside on a humid day and only bringing them outside in an airtight container will effect them. I’m planing on making them for a party. I can’t wait to try this recipe! 😁
Hi Lisa! You should really try to limit the humidity they are exposed to it could make them sticky. 🙂
Adults and kids raved about them for Passover. So I made them for an Easter dinner too, rave reviews again. Bite size is so very appealing after a holiday dinner. I used vanilla as the recipe called for, and also added Triple Sec as an additional extract. Very good. Fun and easy to make. Because the recipe makes so many and they don’t expand at all, I could/did and needed to pack them onto the tray. It was a bit humid here so the first batch was slightly sticky. To compensate, for the second batch, I whipped them to stiffness again after adding the extracts and left them in the oven for 2 hours post baking instead of 1+ hour. It worked.
Love the addition of Triple Sec, that sounds incredible! I’m so happy to hear that the recipe worked so well for you and that everyone enjoyed. Thank you for commenting 🙂
Hi there, I would definitely not call myself a baker, but the recipe is easy and clear enough for me to have had success. My addition was shaved chocoloate mixed in and some sprinkled on top. I made these for Passover and they were a great addition to our dessert repertoire.
Thank you!
I am so glad you enjoyed the meringues, Joan! 🙂
These are amazing! And actually pretty simple to make! I enjoyed making these for Easter, in little bunny shapes. I’ve wanted to make meringues for a while now, and when I found your recipe, I decided to try it out, and I love them! I hope the rest of my family likes them, if they don’t eat them all, I’ll probably bring them to school for my classmates/friends to eat. Thank you so much for this recipe!
I’m so happy to hear that you enjoyed and had such success with the meringues, Juliette! thank you so much for commenting, and Happy Easter! 🙂
What would you recommend if you can’t bake all the meringues at once (say, if your oven were very small).
How long will the meringue in the mixing bowl hold? Can you re-stiffen if it flattens/thins?
Hi Tiffany! I have not tried keeping it, but it should be ok for a day in an air tight container. 🙂
Hi, I was just wondering how large you piped the meringue cookies.
Hi Sophie! They were probably about 1.5 inches in diameter. 🙂
I have tried many meringue cookie recipes lately and this is the best. It is simple and straightforward. I always get compliments when I make them
Thank you so much, Kristi! I am so glad you enjoy the meringues! 🙂
I thought I didn’t really like meringue cookies, but I was wrong!
I was baking for a function that I was attending and I had a lot of egg whites left that I didn’t want to waste. I found this recipe and figured, what the heck, somebody at the party will eat them.
I added lemon extract and yellow food coloring. They were so cute and delicious. Thanks for the recipe!
I am so happy to hear you enjoyed! Thank you for commenting 🙂
Hi! I just made these and they are just heavenly. Can they be frozen? And how to thaw them for serving? Thank you so so much for sharing your fab baking prowess 😊😍
Hi Marianne! They can be frozen. You will want to make sure they are in air tight containers and separate layers with something like wax paper. Thawing can be tricky because you don’t want them to absorb any moisture. The best way to thaw them would probably be placing them on a wire rack in a non-humid environment and eat them shortly after they are thawed (thawing shouldn’t take much more than an hour). You really don’t want them to sit out and risk absorbing any of that moisture. 🙂
I absolutely love these cookies! This was my first time making meringue cookies (and using a piping bag). I tested out the recipe a few weeks ago and made just vanilla ones and they turned out perfect! I plan on making lemon and orange ones for Easter this weekend for my fiance’s family.
I am so glad you have enjoyed the meringues so much, Kristin! Hopefully everyone else loves them too. 🙂
Great job and pictures! Thank you for sharing the valuable tips.
I am so glad you enjoyed it! 🙂