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.
Nia Campbell
I am obsessed with these cookies and make them all the time! I do tend to have an issue with them being sticky, not immediately, but about 20 minutes after I take them out of the oven and they just kind of stay like that. Any tips on how to fix that?
Sam
A couple of things could be causing this. There could be high humidity in the air which would cause it, as well as they could need to bake for a few minutes longer. Hope that helps. ☺️
Kimberly
This recipe is absolute perfection! I couldn’t find superfine sugar so I processed mine in my ninja blender. I did need to add my sugar as healing TBS to ensure it wasn’t all in the mixture by the time it hit stiff peak consistency. My first batch cracked a tiny bit so second batch I baked at 200 for an hour and 10 and then another hour with oven off. I used vanilla and peppermint extracts and dipped in dark chocolate with some crushed peppermint and another batch with crushed Oreo. I wish there was a place to post a photo of how wonderful this recipe turned out!
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed them, Kimberly! I love the additions that you made! Unfortunately it’s not easy to put pictures on this site, but if you are a member of my Facebook group, that is a great place to share pictures. 🙂
Katari Wolfe
Last year for Christmas my sister and I made them like the top of a ice cream cone then dipped the bottom in chocolate and told all the kids that they were SNOMANS POOP. They really enjoyed them.
Sam
Ah I love that, such a cute idea!!
Jana
Can I use egg whites from a carton for this recipe?
Sam
Yes that would be fine 🙂
Becca
Make sure you read the carton first. I know the cartons from Costco list that they will not fluff up like normal egg whites.
Gabriella Mazzeo
I added a few tablespoons of raspberry jello mix and it gave the cookies an amazing flavor and they turned out perfect!!
Sam
Yum, sounds delicious!!
Sally
Do you have the recipe in grams?
Sam
The sugar is the only thing I would typically list in grams. I don’t weigh teaspoon measurements. It needs 200g if sugar. 😊
Wendy
Can you substitute granulated sugar for caster?
Sam
You can use castor sugar instead of granulated sugar.
Alison
Confection perfection!
This recipe is a keeper. ❤️
Sam
So glad you enjoyed it, Alison! 🙂
Nora
Hello! These look wonderful. I’m going to try them. I’m a chocolate lover and I used to snack on the ones from Trader Joe’s. Since cocoa is a powder, can I add it to the recipe? Would you have an idea of how much and when to add it? Thanks!
Sam
Yes you can. I would actually recommend you follow my chocolate meringue cookies 🙂
Karen
I’ve made this recipe twice so far and everyone who has tried these cookies looove them! I just have a couple questions for a variation: Is it possible to add pumpkin spice to the batter? Or would it ruin the consistency?
Sam
I have not tried it, but I do not think it will be a problem. Let me know how it turns out if you try it. ☺️
Deby
Mine turned out perfect, I am making more for a wedding for a nice gluten free treat for those who are unable to eat cake. Thank you for the detailed instructions, those little tips mean a lot.
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed them! Hopefully everyone else does too. ☺️
Deb
Can I use confectioners sugar instead?
Sam
I have not tried it that way so I don’t know. Sorry.
Rich
How did you do the stripes on the peppermint ones? Was it strait gel coloring painted on the inside of the bag? or did you dilute?
Thanks,
Rich
Sam
I just used a paintbrush to paint gel coloring straight into the bag as stripes. It worked great 🙂
DeAnna
I think these cookies have to b one of my favorites..
I use to eat these way bk n the 70s when I was younger lost track of them over the yrs longer actually.. local bakery here made these but bigger.. so good well anywho.. I’ve made them twice over a few yrs.. today will b three & they come out so great so easy for a fast sugar rush! If ya got tyme ur all good w this yummy cookie..
🍥I LOVE THESE🍥
☝️😜🙆♀️😋❤
Whoah.. got everything I’d need so .. to b Continued!✌
Thank you
Sam
I am so glad you enjoy them! They are definitely one of my favorites. ☺️
Hunter
Are you able to store the extra “fluff” that we didn’t use in the refrigerator or does it go bad after a certain amount of time?
Sam
I don’t think it would work to save it.