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.
Sara
This might sound silly but how do you know if they’re cooked enough after your hour bake and hour cool?
Sam
There isn’t a really good way to tell if they are fully crisp other than biting into them. I do list some tips in the recipe if they aren’t quite done. 🙂
DANIEL C PERKINS
I just made a batch of meringues with your recipe, half lemon and half orange vanilla. The orange taste just like my memories of Dreamsicles! Thank you for sharing the recipe and tips. Happy New Year!
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed them, Daniel! Happy New Year! 🙂
Mollie
Excellent recipe, worked perfectly!
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed it, Mollie! 🙂
Sharlene
My original recipe included peppermint extract and chic chips. Oven was turned on 350 for a half hour, then turned off. Cookies then placed in and left in gas oven with pilot overnight. 50 years ago.
Donna
I had a recipe for these years ago that you added cocoa and spenda.
They were just as good as the sugared ones.
Julie
I have tried your recipe using a sugar substitute that measures cup for cup. I’m a diabetic and that was my reason for trying it. They turned out ok maybe a little too sweet. I noticed Wal-mart has sugar free chocolate chips that I may try sometime.
Sam
Thank you for sharing how the substitute work, I appreciate it Julie! 🙂
hill.
my meringues started to be really sticky after i took them out of the oven and they started to cool down.. why is that????
Sam
Either they needed a bit longer in the oven or if the humidity was very high where you are that would also do it. Popping them back in the oven will help, see the notes in my Tips section and you should be able to fix that 🙂
Lisa Yellig
She is great! She answered all the questions that I asked myself the other times I made this recipe! Thank you!
Sam
Thank you so much, Lisa! 🙂
Holly
I found out that if you slide them off the tray on to the counter top after a hour of cooking, they will firm up perfect instead of letting sit in the oven to cool.
Lynn Curphey
I add egg whites when not used in a freezer bag and freeze. Keep adding till I have something to use them for. Yikes I had 13 egg whites frozen and so I tripled this recipe. Lg bowl and hand beater. All three racks in oven with convection turned on. Turned out fine.
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed them, Lynn!
Sparky
Hi,
I’m going to make these for Christmas and I was wondering how long these could be kept fresh.
Thanks!
Sam
If not exposed to any moisture, they should last close to a week. 🙂
Doris
Can you use the egg while substitutes!
Sam
Hi Doris, what substitute did you have in mind?
Michael
I have seen the liquid from a can of chickpeas used as a successful substitute. I believe they did it on “The Great British Baking Show” as well. Not sure what episode. I can’t remember if there were additional ingredients or not.
Maggie
Yes. That works. Look up recipes for aquafaba meringue cookies.
Pat
Can you add chocolate chips? I remember having these as a child and they had chocolate chips.
Sam
While I haven’t tried this with chocolate chips, I think it would work. I would just fold them into the batter at the end.
Pat
Thanks! I just made the meringues (my first time) as you suggested adding the chocolate chips at the end. The cookies came out just the way I remember them.
Sam
I am so happy to hear it, Pat! I bet those chocolate chips are a great addition. 🙂
alekhya
what can i use instead of cream of tartar
Mary Claire Aston
Lemon juice
Annette
How much lemon juice?
TC
Can i use meringue poweder to make these?
Sam
Hi, I’m sorry but I haven’t tried this recipe with meringue powder.
Trina
Ok thanks!