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.
KMT
Can you use egg whites that have been refrigerated overnight, or do they have to be freshly cracked?
Sam
They don’t need to be freshly cracked.
Kat
Will theses hold up on top of Buttercream? I’m planning on making meringue bone toppers for cupcakes.
Sam
Their shape will hold but the moisture from buttercream may make them chewy inside rather than crisp.
Kat
Thanks!
Julie
I made these and they turned out ok (I had overwhipped before all the sugar was added using 1tablespoon/20seconds)
So, should I add the sugar faster or turn down the speed on my mixer? Also if the sugar dissolving is an issue, should I replace it with 200grams powdered sugar?
Sam
I would slow down the speed of the mixer. The 1 tablespoon/20 seconds is really just a guideline. You need to listen to the mixture to tell when the sugar has been dissolved. I do not recommend using powdered sugar.
Graham Toal
Two suggestions to improve a pretty good recipe: 1) use castor (aka ‘superfine’ in the USA) sugar, and if you can’t find it, run regular sugar through your food processor. 2) much less chance or burnt or soggy mistakes if you use a much lower heat and a much longer time. When I made these regularly as a kid (it was the first treat my mother ever taught me to bake at the age of about 4) we would leave them for something like 6 hrs on “gas at a peep” whatever that was 🙂
Bonnie
First time that I succeeded in making meringues! Thank you – now if you could teach me an easy way to make amaretti cookies 😊
Sam
I am so glad they worked out for you, Bonnie! Unfortunately I do not have a recipe for amaretti cookies yet. 😉
Kai
I made meringue cookies for the first time yesterday. After sifting through websites, this one seemed the best. Using your tips, my cookies came out much better then I expected! I will use his recipe again!!!
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed them! ☺️
Kai
I first made meringue cookies today. The first recipe I looked at didn’t have any tips. When I found this website, I was excited. I made the meringues, and they were as close to perfection as is humanly possible! My family enjoyed them and the cookies disappeared quite quickly. I will definitely use this recipe again! 😋
shobhit gupta
they were so sweet.
one should use 40 grams of sugar or less.
Sam
Meringues are sweet cookies. The two main ingredients are sugar and egg whites so they will taste like sugar and whatever flavoring you add. I do not advise that others cut the sugar to 40g.
Marnie
Thank you for your hints. Tried twice and failed. Your tips made a successful batch.
How long can you store them for?
Sam
You should be able to store them in an air tight container for up to 2 weeks. ☺️
Kara
These were so good! They came out much better than I thought they would! 😋
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed them Kara!! 😃😃
Kayla
If I don’t have any cream of tartar is there anything can substitute for that?
Sam
I do not have any recommendations on that. It’s best to have the cream of tartar. 😃
Janet Velez
Wow wonderful love it also I made a fresh strawberry syrup Delicious
Sam
I’m so glad to hear they were such a hit! Sounds incredible with the strawberry syrup! <3
Dann
I didn’t have cream of tartar so googled for a substitute. https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/cream-of-tartar-substitutes
Lucinda
Lemon juice
Britnee
The cream of tartar is to prevent over whipping of the egg whites. Just don’t over do it.
Donna Ingenito
You can substitute white distilled vinegar
Rachel Conrad
1/4 tsp ( 4 times) and it will work. I don’t have cream tartar either.
Beginner Roberto
How do you know if you over beat the mixture?
Not sure if I needed more beating or I over beat it… but they don’t turn out as nice and spiky as the ones in the pictures. They were too runny.
Also the first batch I made was too seeet for my taste… so I wanted to go with half cup of sugar and 1/3 cup of honey.
Could I use lemon juice instead of extract?
Sam
If the meringue is over-beaten it will start to break down, it will lose its stiff peak. It’s possible that they are not being beaten enough if they are runny, but yes, over-beating will also do this (please see the post for a visual guide to how the batter should look).
You can get away with reducing the sugar a bit, but I am not sure how using honey would work and wouldn’t recommend using lemon juice.
Shannon
Lemon extract could be used to replace the vanilla extract, if going for lemon meringue cookies…
SHARY A MILLIGAN
I want to do an assortment of different sizes. Do you know if I would need to cook the smaller ones at a different time? They would maybe be half the size. I’ve always done just one size, but I’m using them as decor on a cake and want two different sizes this time.
Sam
Hi Shary! I would cook the smaller ones separately. Keep an eye on them, if they start turning a golden brown color you will want to take them out. 😃
NISHANTH
I tried it Cooke’s it’s very good and amazing
NISHANTH
I tried it Cooke’s it’s very good and amazing tasty . thanks