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 granulated sugar (200g)
- 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.
- 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).
- 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.
- 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.
Rachel
Can you flavor/color them by adding crushed dehydrated fruit? I use dehydrated strawberries that I crush into a powder in my buttercream icing and it flavors it and gives it a pink tint. Will this work with meringue as well?
Sam
Hi Rachel! That’s a very interesting question. I am not sure how it would work. I think you could certainly add some, but I’m not sure how much. Let me know how it goes if you do try it out. 🙂
Kris Hunt
I’d never made meringues before, and was a little nervous. But I had so many egg whites and I really hate egg white omelettes. This recipe was so easy! I will never be afraid of making meringues again! Next step – pavlova! Thank you for the clear instructions!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so happy they turned out for you, Kris! 🤩
ralei
mine aren’t setting up ! am i doing something wrong ?
Sam
Did your meringue reach stiff peaks? If not, it may need to be whipped longer, or hopefully there wasn’t any egg white or any moisture accidentally introduced. 🙁
Tara-Lee Rodier
Can you colour the meringues at all? With just a single drop or two of food colouring?
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Tara-Lee! Yes you can. We actually cover this in the post 😊
Leanne
Can these be made up ahead and frozen?
Sam
Hi Leanne! I haven’t tried freezing meringue cookies myself. If they get around too much moisture they become soft so my concern would be that upon thawing they absorb too much moisture and become chewy.
Peyton
Hi there! It’s my first time making meringue cookies, and I was wondering what would happen if the sugar isn’t completely dissolved.
Sam
Your meringues will be a bit gritty, which isn’t the most pleasant experience.
Cleo
How did you coat yours with chocolate? I want to coat mine with dark chocolate and toasted coconut, but have never coated meringues before.
Sam
Hi Cleo! I just dip them in the chocolate. 🙂
pearse
what brand of chocolate do you use to dip ?
Sam
I love using Ghiradelli, but I use Nestle in a pinch. 🙂
Sofi
Can I use aluminum Foil instead because I don’t have parchment?
Sam
I would just bake them directly on the cookie sheet vs using the aluminum foil. 🙂
Linda
I’ve made these once and they were amazing! Do they freeze well?
Sam
Hi Linda! The only concern I have with freezing them is the thawing process. You have to make sure they don’t absorb any of the moisture while thawing. 🙂
Ariah Romero
I’ve seen ppl cook them for 2 hours, but this recipe only calls for one hour at 225°F with an hour to cool… so I’m doing something in between. how do I check if they’re ready without making them fall flat?
Sam
Hi Ariah! So that’s a tricky question. They need to cool completely to be done. The time I have listed is what works for the size of these meringues. If they cool completely and you find they are still chewy, I do have tips in the post for reheating and getting them crispy. 🙂
Hans
Thank you for the recipe. I’ve made these twice and have had chewy centers after 1 hour baking and 2 hour cool off. I’ve turned the oven back on to 225F and set a timer for another 20 minutes and the centers crisp up but going forward I’m going to bake them for 80 minutes instead of the recommended 60.
Monique
Hi Sam,
My first time making meringues! Mine are in the oven right now. Question, how can you tell if you have overbeaten the batter? I’m not sure how long I beat mine, but definitely past stiff peaks because each time i tested for grittiness, I could still feel the sugar despite the stiff peaks. I ended up putting it in the oven with a bit of grittiness anyways, but getting it into the piping bag was tough because my batter was sticky, like marshmallows…I have a feeling I did something wrong. Any more insight you can provide would be great!
Sam
Hi Monique! When the stiff peaks are no longer present you have over-beaten the batter unfortunately. 🙁
Monique
Thanks for letting me know! I still had stiff peaks, but could feel some sugar when I rubbed it between my fingers. The meringue turned out tho! I added buko pandan extract instead of vanilla. Delicious!
Maria
I’ve made this recipe twice now, everyone loves these! My question is, can I just go to bed once I turn the oven off and take them out in the morning? I don’t want to wait the 2 hours I’m so tired lol 😴
Sam
Sure thing! 🙂
Kathy G
I make these every time I make homemade custard ice cream because I have 6 egg whites left over. So I do these in 1 1/2 recipe and I end up with a lot of meringue cookies. But that’s okay because we all love them. And this is a great and easy recipe.
Naimah
My sister loves meringues, and I just made these for her after getting a new stand mixer, and they turned out beautifully! Definitely going to look through the rest of your recipes!
Sam
I’m so glad everyone enjoyed them so much, Naimah! 🙂
Sarah
Made these for the first time and they turned out great!
Hailey
Can I pull the meranges from the oven after 30 minutes or is it important to keep them in there?
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Hailey! It’s important to leave your meringues in the oven for the full amount of time to let them cool slowly. If you pull them out too soon, they may crack 🙁
Mya
I was just wondering, how long do you need to whip the egg white mixture for?
Sam
Hi Mya! It really depends on how things are going in your kitchen. The stiff peaks are the important thing here. Sometimes it can take 5-10 minutes to be done. 🙂
Jes
Thank you Sam
I thoroughly enjoyed your recipe. Your explanation as well as for detail within the recipe we’re excellent and so helpful.
I made these last night and just pulled them out of a cold oven this morning. They are out of this world delicious. Crunchy crispy then melted mouth good.
I used five or six egg whites that were frozen in my freezer. And I substituted the sugar with erythritol and allulose. After whipping I fold it in a little more than a third cup of cocoa powder. I added half teaspoon vanilla coconut and almond.. cooked at 225° for an hour 220° for an hour then shut the oven off and let them cool overnight.
I just made a batch of your lemon curd that just went into the fridge…. I’m going to make another batch of the meringue cookies and fold in the lemon curd at the end… I’m excited to see how that turns out .. maybe with a little coconut extract..
Cheers! on a well done recipe Sam.😁
Sam
Thank you so much, Jes! I’m so glad you’ve enjoyed everything! 🙂
Heather
I’m considering making these for a bake sale I’m hosting. I have a LOT of baking to do, and am wondering how long these keep after baking, and the best way to store them if I made them 1-2 days in advance of the sale.
Sam
Hi Heather! They will store just fine for 1-2 days in an air tight container on the counter. You will want to make sure that no humidity gets to them or they can become chewy. This can always be remedied by putting them back in the oven for a little bit. 🙂