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.
Kimberly
This was the first time I’ve ever made meringues and they’re absolutely addictive. I was so confident after watching your video that I went ahead and added peppermint to the recipe. So good!!!
Thank you for sharing your recipe and for providing thorough instructions. Happy Holidays!
Meg McG
Go to recipe!!!!! Made these last year for the first time and they turned out BEAUTIFULLY!
She had
Question… this year we had food coloring made from no artificial dyes. As soon as I folded it in (more than I would have liked to get a greenish tint) I could tell we lost some the stiffness. Pop them in the oven as fast as I could and they lost all shape and started bubbling. Could the dye be the culprit? It’s made of vegetable juices and spices to give color.
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Meg! It definitely sounds like the dye could be the culprit here, unfortunately 😕 Was the meringue nice and stiff before you added it?
Emmy
Hi I’m making them and just realized that I used cold eggs will the recipe still work?
Sam
Hi Emmy! There is a chance it will still work, but they whip up to a better volume when they are warm. 🙂
Karen
I’m just wondering about using meringue powder. Do you have any experience or thoughts?
Sam
Hi Karen! I don’t recommend using it here. 🙂
Greg
Thanks for the recipe and the tricks for different flavors / types of meringue cookies! One hard lesson I’ve learned is that plastic mixing bowls tend to ‘hold on’ to a little bit of grease or oil sometimes. To avoid accidentally ruining the meringue, glass or stainless steel bowls are easier to keep clean!
Heidi
I make these every year for a cookie exchange and people love them!!
Maggie Boyle
I did a oops with the first try. I forgot to turn the oven off after the first hour of baking so it baked for 2 hours. The are a light brown, not burnt, taste a bit like toasted nuts/coconuts. Edible but not what the should be. I re-made them and they are wonderful. I will be doing these again.
Sam
Oh no! I’ve definitely made that mistake. I’m glad you were able to make them again and enjoy them. 🙂
Gabriel
Hello,
Any recommendations for a nice outer shell, but the insides fell down in a soft chewy mound rather than solidly baked through? Maybe egg whites weren’t warm enough?
Thank you!
Sam
Hi Gabriel! It sounds like maybe they just weren’t cooked long enough.
Gabe
Thank you for the feedback! If I followed 1 hour at 225 degrees and let them rest 2 hours, what would you recommend for timing? Could the oven potentially not holding heat well after turning off cause the hollow inside? Thanks again!
Sam
It’s really hard to say for sure. Did you pipe your meringues larger? Is your oven holding the correct temperature when baking? They should feel light and dry and come right off the parchment if fully cooked.
Gabriel
About 2-2.5 inches diameter at the base. The oven certainly is not top of the line, so it may not hold heat well or be super accurate in its temperatures. They came out light, dry and did not stick at all, just hollow and gooey inside. I wonder if more time would have allowed for a deeper penetration of the heat into the center to allow it to firm up and prevent the inside from collapsing. I think I will experiment with upping the length of time with the oven on to see how that turns out. Thank you very much for your feedback on this particular issue!
Sandy
What about substituting powdered sugar for the granulated sugar? That is how I have always made my whipping cream for dessert so I just wondered.
Sam
Hi Sandy! I haven’t tried it so I can’t say for sure how it would turn out. Let me know how it goes if you do try it. 🙂
Sandy
Powdered sugar worked great! Not sure if it better or not though, haven’t tried granulated. The process was pretty quick though. Used strawberry flavoring on half, they are wonderful and addicting! My 2 yo grandson will love them!!
Sam
Wonderful, thank you so much for letting me know how they turned out!
Momo
do you know if I could I use liquid stevia in place of the sugar and have them turn out the same?? thank you.
Sam
Unfortunately I have never tried using liquid stevia so I can’t say for sure how it would turn out. Maybe someone else could chime in with some advice. Let me know how they turn out if you try it. 🙂
Momo
thank you for your response. I’ll give it a whirl and let you know!
Tina
Hi! I’m excited about trying this recipe as addition to my Christmas goodie tray! Would carton egg whites work instead of fresh egg whites?
Sam
Hi Tina! I don’t recommend using egg whites from a carton as they can be difficult to whip to stiff peaks. 🙁
Pam
Hi, this is the 3rd or 4th time I have made these and they have always been perfect.
This time some of them cracked and had air pockets in the top. What did I do wrong?
Thanks for a great recipe!
Sam
Hi Pam! That’s so disappointing! Is it possible that your oven was running too hot? The bubbling can come from too high of an oven heat which can also cause the cracking 🙁
Kathleen Zalesak
I followed your instructions last year and these were fabulous! I would like to make a chocolate version this year – can I substitute a little cocoa powder, or will this ruin them?
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed them, Kathleen! I actually have a chocolate meringue cookie you could use. 🙂
Renea
How far in advance can you make these?
Sam
Hi Renea! Up to 2 weeks in advance. Let cool completely before storing in an airtight container at room temperature away from any humidity/moisture.
Cindy
I used this recipe for my first ever attempt at meringue and the cookies turned out fabulous ❤️
Victoria
If I were to make the peppermint bark version, how cool does the chocolate need to be? Wouldn’t it make the meringue sticky?
Sam
Hi Victoria! I melt the chocolate then wait until it is no longer warm to the touch before dipping. I’ve personally never run into any issues with the meringue becoming sticky afterwards.