Meringue Cookies
This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Please read my disclosure policy.
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!
I absolutely love this recipe. I made a batch with lemon zest and fresh lemon juice and they were fantastic. My second batch was with peppermint extract which was very good but I loved the freshness of the citrus better.
Thank you for the directions and explanations!!
I am so glad that you enjoyed the recipe, Heidi! I love the favors you choose for both batches of your meringue cookies. Sounds delicious. Thanks for commenting. 🙂
A seasoned cook I knew in NYC had these 3 rules for making merangues. Make them only when the weather is not humid that is most likely in the winter. Second start early in the morning, let the sugar and egg white mix sit for several hours and beat them again before putting them on the parchment paper. Then after turning off the oven, let them sit all night in the oven to crisp. She serves them with iced cream sometimes. We love them as a light alternative to heavy Christmas desserts.
Thanks so much for sharing, Suzanne! Those are wonderful tips. 🙂
i just got a new kitchenaid mixer for Christmas and this was my first recipe made. i have NEVER made meringue or a piping bag. i was sure i would fail at this. however They turned out GREAT!!!! I am going to make different flavors all day. thank you for the recipe and instructions. oh, btw, i used 5 egg whites instead of four because my eggs were so small.
What a wonderful gift to receive, Mimi. I hope that you love it! Thanks for making my recipe in it first! I am so happy that the meringue cookies were enjoyed. Happy Baking. 🙂
I loved how easy your step by step receive was. I have them in the oven. I am anxious to try them.Thanks for the great support.
I am so glad that you found my instructions helpful, Karen! I hope that they turn out great! 🙂
Thank you so much! The cookies turned out great! I have been scared to make them in the past. Your instructions are so well-written that I decided to give them a try. I also made the sea foam candy. It’s delicious!
I am so glad that you enjoyed the meringue cookies and sea foam candy, Jessica! Thanks for commenting. 🙂
The meringue came out awesome. I’m awful at piping them though. Generally how many cookies are supposed to be made with this recipe? I only got 24, but I think I may be making them too big. I dyed them green and tried to make trees. It was a little ambitious for my first time making meringue, but I whipped it perfectly and there was not gritty texture. It’s currently baking in my oven right now.
I was never good at piping either! It took me a lot of practice. This recipe should make about 40 cookies. I hope your trees turn out wonderfully. 🙂
Hello! I have made this recipe before like 2 or 3 times before and they turned out magnificently! I am making these for my favourite teacher to bring in on Monday (and it’s currently Saturday.) So, can I sandwich them with frosting?
Hi Tyler! The problem with sandwiching them with frosting is that the frosting will soften the meringue and make them chewy rather than crisp. Generally I wouldn’t recommend this, but if you are going to add frosting I think I’d recommend waiting as long as possible before doing so. I hope that helps!
Hello!
I am having trouble with the sugar not dissolving. The meringue whips up just fine thankfully. I added the sugar gradually as the instructions say. I wasn’t sure if it would be overbeaten if I kept going too long, so I didn’t. Stiff peaks had long since formed and the grit wasn’t going away, so I piped and baked them. They turned out pretty good. The second time I added the sugar sooner in the process so it would have more time to dissolve. I scraped the mixing bowl down a few times, and continued beating until I was concerned I might have overbeaten the meringue. There was still sugar undissolved, but I baked them anyway. Maybe I just need to keep going and not worry about the meringue? Next time I should probably pulse the sugar in the food processor. I’ve been adding peppermint extract and striping my piping bag blue. They are delicious, almost like an after dinner mint. Very eyecatching at a party! Thank you for this recipe.
Hi LR! I usually use regular granulated sugar but pulsing it in the food processor or using caster sugar might help next time. If you’re still having trouble with the sugar not dissolving I might recommend scraping the bowl even more often, it’s possible the beater is just not getting all of the batter well-mixed. I am glad you otherwise enjoyed the meringues! 🙂
How big are the meringues supposed to be?
Hi, Anu! I would say about 1 1/2″- 2″ wide. 🙂
Can I replace granulated sugar with castor sugar?
That should be fine, I hope you love the meringues!
I oven baked the meringue about 2 hours and it was hardened. While moving them into an air tight container, the surface started to get sticky. Why is that so? What have I done wrong during the process? 😔
Hi Angela! Must likely the culprit is humidity. You can return the meringues back to the oven until they are no longer sticky to try and combat this.
Can I put the sugar in a food processor and make it more fine so it dissolves more easily?
Yes, that will be fine. 🙂
Any tricks on storing these? Trying to make for my military son. Will take 4-5 days to ship. Thanks!
Hi, Alicia! I have never shipped these so I am not sure how the meringue cookies will hold up. Sorry, I can’t be more helpful. I hope that he enjoys them. 🙁
I cannot seem to get my sugar to fully blend. I have added it slowly and let it fully incorporate. I have pulsed the sugar in a processed to make it super fine. I’m at a loss.
Hi Alison, are you making sure each tablespoon of sugar is dissolved before adding any more? That is usually sufficient to make sure the sugar blends completely into the meringue batter.
Can you store half of the batter?
Hello, Demiy! Unfortunately, I don’t recommend it.
I would like to add chopped Andes mints. Can I simply add about 1/2 cup to mixture?
Hello, Melissa! I haven’t tried it personally but it should be ok. You want to make the meringue cookies following the directions, then before you bake, fold in (finely chopped) mints. Let me know how they turn out. 🙂
Hi. Just made the recipe and seems like a success! what is best storage? can you freeze?
Hi, Kristin! I recommend stacking your meringues gently in an airtight container and storing them at room temperature. They will last up to 2 weeks. Freezing meringue cookies are tricky. You can freeze them but you must be careful that when they defrost they do not absorb any moisture, as this will soften the outside of the meringue. Let me know how they turn out! 🙂