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.
Kate
Can I replace the cream of tartar with lemon juice? If so how much lemon juice do you think I should use? Thanks!
Sam
Hi Kate! While I haven’t tried it myself, several others have reported using a teaspoon of lemon juice with success. 🙂
Heide NJ
Such an easy and wonderful recipe! Try reducing the amount of sugar, however. The first time I made them, I followed the recipe as written and the thought the sweetness was overpowering. Since then, I’ve almost halved the amount of sugar: still plenty sweet enough, but now I can taste the subtle flavors of the meringue itself and not just ‘sugar.’ Try it with 2/3 cup sugar, or even 1/2 instead.
Jen
Hi, would it take longer to beat with a hand mixer than a stand mixer? About how long should I beat the egg whites using a hand mixer? And how long after adding all the sugar to get stiff peaks?
Thank you!
Sam
Hi Jen! There are really too many variables for me to be able to give you a good time estimate. You will just want to follow the same steps and look for the same results. 🙂
Natalie
I am in LOVE with these meringues! I’ve made the recipe several times in different sizes, shapes and colors and they’ve never failed. Also have halved the recipe with no issue. So good!
Sam
I am so glad you have enjoyed them so much, Natalie! 🙂
Gizela
Hi! Thank you so much for this recipe and video. I was wondering two things. Can I split the meringue after whipping to make 2 different colors from one recipe? Can I halve the recipe?
Thank you!!
Sam
Hi Gizela! You can definitely split it to color it two different ways and you shouldn’t have any issue cutting the recipe in half. 🙂
Gizela
I actually did it already! Made three colors and they came out awesome! Thank you!!
Ashley @ Sugar Spun Run
Perfect! So glad that it worked out great! 🙂
Gizela
Thank you so much for your reply!!!
Ashley @ Sugar Spun Run
Absolutely. 🙂
Mads
OMG! this was my first time, and they turned out amazing! one question, some of my family is on keto so do you think it would work with keto sweeteners?
Sam
I haven’t tried it so I can’t say for sure. Maybe someone else has tried it and will be able to chime in.
Val
So I’m trying them right now using allulose. We are also keto and I can’t wait to see how it goes. But since allulose is a rare sugar and behaves like sugar when you cook it, I think it’ll work. I’m super excited to try.
Sam
Oooo I’d love to know how it turned out! 🙂
Jean
Mine turned out wonderful but I’m curious how I could adjust to make them bigger? Where I’m from they’re usually 2″ and I’d like to surprise my parents with some nostalgia when they come to visiit soon. Do I simply bake them for 2 hours instead, or would I have to increase the temp?
Sam
Hi Jean! They will probably need a little bit more time, but it will work just fine to make them larger. 🙂
diane
Mine were larger too – not on purpose! I baked them about 10 minutes longer.
BTW Sam, I used orange blossom water + some vanilla, which gave them a slight Middle Eastern taste.
Sam
That sounds really tasty! Thanks for the tip. 🙂
Buffy
I’ve made these twice now, and both times they came out perfectly!
The first time, I misread and dumped all the sugar in at once…but after letting the mixer run for, like, twenty minutes, they became stiff enough to pipe.
This second time, I divided the batter. I piped half as is, then added about three-ish tablespoons of high-quality hot cocoa powder to the rest. The added sugar/cocoa (plus extra whipping time) made the batter a bit runnier, and the baked meringues are slightly more chewy, but the chocolate flavor is worth the slight degradation in texture.
I’ll be using this recipe for a long time! Thank you!
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed it so much! 🙂
diane
Delicious and relatively easy. What was less clear was the size of the cookies. I think I ended up with less but larger cookies, so I let them bake a little longer.
Siely
So good and easy to make, my daughter loves it!!! I hope it will turn out good again on my second try… My daughter said it’s like a cotton candy melts in your mouth. I have to stop her from eating it all…
Sam
I’m so glad that everyone enjoyed them so much, Siely! 🙂
Karen
Hello,
How much cocoa powder would be needed to make these chocolate flavored?
Sam
Hi Karen! See my chocolate meringue recipe 🙂
Maxine
What will happen if there are a few particles of egg yolks? And What if I use different egg sizes Is it still the same mesurements?
Sam
Hi Maxine! Unfortunately if there is any egg yolk in the whites I recommend starting over as it will keep the meringue from whipping properly. What size eggs are you using?
Jessicah
Hello! How long do these stay good once baked? I am having a party in a couple days but would like to make these ahead of time.
Sam
Hi Jessicah! They should last at least a week in an air tight container at room temperature. It will be less time if there’s lots of humidity. I do have notes on how to make them crisp again if they do happen to become chewy. 🙂
Jessicah
Thank you for responding! I made some custard today so I decided to go ahead and give these a shot since I had several unused egg whites. They turned out great! Melt in your mouth and the perfect sweet! I was bummed when I tested one after 2 hours drying in the oven because it was chewy in the middle and stuck to my teeth. I left the rest in the oven for another hour or so and they dried out perfectly! Perfectly crisp! Thanks for a great recipe!
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed them so much! 🙂
Jennifer
I don’t see the video anywhere in this post…
Sam
Hi Jennifer! The video is at the top of the recipe card, if you have ad blockers enabled sometimes the videos don’t show up.
Eva Farmakoulas
Hi if you do not have a piping bag can you just spoon the meringues on the cookie sheet?
Sam
Absolutely! Enjoy 🙂
jae
HI! you can also use a big zip lock bag, move everything into a corner, twist the top and cut a super small hole (Be careful with the size because if its too big it might all just pour out) and ur done : )
Kholt
We used a ziplock bag with a hole cut in the tip of it. works really well, and still able to make the pretty shape!
Amanda Weisenberger
What of you have a gas oven? Do I still leave them I the oven after baking? The pilot light is always on.
Sam
I would still leave them in the oven, but check them sooner (maybe after 1 hour). Because of the light they may dry out faster.
Maxine
Yeah you can do that or use a ziplock bag