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 ¼ 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
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
Recommended Equipment
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
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.
May
I made them with cardemon powder for flavoring (Persian style) and made 4 big swirling lollipop shaped ones with swirling food coloring for the kids and they came out fantastic. You can put wooden sticks through them to resemble swirly lollipops 😜
Sam
Yum, sounds delicious! And thank you for the tip about the wooden sticks, I’ll have to try that sometime!
Alex
It was very good
Sam
I’m glad you enjoyed, Alex!
Alex
They are lovely
Ariana S Badgett
Ok I’ve gotta say, I have been trying tk make meringues for years, and they always turn out squishy and brown, never nice and crisp and white the way they have with your recipe! I turned the oven to 190 instead of 225, and baked them for a half hour linger than the recipe calls for, and I am astonished at how well have turned out! Thank you for this amazing my recipe!
Abby Eom
Is it possible to halve the recipe?
Sam
Yup, that’s not a problem! 🙂
Tammy
I’ve got them in the oven right now. Planning on making an Eton Mess for dessert tomorrow!
Sam
Yum! I hope you love them, Tammy! An Eton Mess sounds amazing right about now!
Luisa
This is a great recipe! I decided to make them without the vanilla, as the merengues I grew up with did not have extract and I was looking for a way to recreate those. The resulting merengues look and taste great, just the way I remember from my childhood. The success of this recipe is also a great comfort as I grieve the loss of my grandmother, who died a week ago today. Merengues were her absolute favorite treat, and I made them to honor and remember her.
Thanks for sharing this superb recipe! I’m looking forward to playing around with flavors, shapes, and sizes, and to making these for years to come!
Sam
I’m sorry to hear about the loss of your grandmother, Luisa. I am glad that you enjoyed the meringues and that they could serve as a way to honor your grandmother. Thank you so much for commenting, I appreciate it <3
Julie
I recommend using cold egg whites
Sam
Why? The egg whites achieve a greater volume when they are at room temperature than when they are cold.
Christian
Fantastic! They are gorgeous, taste like decadent marshmallows, with the perfect crunchy outside with a tender and chewy inside. I added yellow food coloring to the piping bag and called them “Sunshine Meringues” to give as a gift to a loved one that is soon to have heart bypass surgery. The perfect gift for a heart patient that needs a wise dessert/snack choice! Thank you so so much for this recipe!
Sam
“Sunshine Meringues”, I LOVE that! I’m so glad that you enjoyed the recipe, Christian. Thank you for commenting!
Mary King
I loved this recipe, it was the best flavor of any recipe I’ve made. Hats off to you.
Desmirelle
I’ve added cinnamon or crushed peppermint (didn’t use peppermint flavoring) at the seventh step. Also have used sprinkles – they don’t add flavor, but they look nice. (Especially if you’re doing for kids.)
Sam
I bet they look beautiful!
Jacquie
When do you add sprinkles? Dont they melt while baking?
Michelle
I love these! I’ve made them using vanilla (Which also reminds me of marshmallow… specifically the dehydrated type found in a certain breakfast cereal. Yum!) I’ve also made almond flavored, lemon flavored, and lime flavored batches. I don’t care for lemon/lime extracts because they always taste artificial to me, so I used a little bit of fresh lemon/lime juice and zest. They turned out with just a tiny difference in texture and appearance because of the extra moisture content, but they were still delicious. Tasted like little crispy meringue pies. Thanks for the great recipe!
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Thank you for commenting, Michelle!
Ellie Sheldon
Looking forward to making these tomorrow for my granddaughter ‘s first birthday with homemade Maine Strawberry Ice cream😎
Sam
Sounds delicious!! I hope you love them, and YUM does that ice cream sound fantastic!!
Irene
I have them in the oven right now. I was too lazy to use a pastry tool. I just blobbed them on my super size cookie sheet. I used the “Baker’s Sugar” and they whipped up so smooth and creamy. We love chocolate, so think I’ll dip them when they’re cool. Yum! Thanx for your recipe.
Sam
I’m so glad you liked them! 🙂
Denise
I made these today and they are totally delicious! I cut the recipe in half to make 20ish cookies. The only thing was they turned a little brown. I was wondering if you might know why. I did everything you said and I even took them out a little bit before.