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.
Bonnie
Made the vanilla meringues late yesterday as I planned to leave in the oven overnight to complete the process. What I didn’t plan on was the much longer bake time than mentioned in the recipe, baked about 2.5hrs but this was ok, and yes my oven temps are spot on. I thought perhaps the longer bake time was due to piping a tad larger cookie-they were more like trees but quite pretty. I used vanilla sugar, following all your directives when mixing and had no issues. This morning I got 34 done to perfection cookies, btw they still have a glossy appearance. This is the best meringue recipe I’ve ever tried!
I want to make a chocolate variety, I only use dutched cocoa powder, is there anything in the cocoa processing that will affect the egg whites?
Sam
Hi, Bonnie! I actually have a chocolate meringue recipe you can follow if you’d like. 🙂 I’m glad you were able to enjoy these.
Candcae
I didn’t add cream of tartar will they still bake?
Etta
This is the first time I have been on your website! I think I’m going to love it! The picture of these are so cute! I have never made meringues before, but I’m excited to try! They look like a yummy, petite, tea party food! I always have leftover egg whites after I make pudding, so this will be great to start making! I cant wait to check out some other thing on your site! Thank you for the recipes!!
Sam
Hi Etta!! I really hope you love the meringue cookies, and any other recipes that you try!! Thank you so much for visiting my site and trusting my recipes, I really appreciate it! <3
Michael A Swan
Never made meringue before but followed your tips, and what I’ve learned recently on TV, and the came out great. Gonna too perfectly with my coffee in the morning. Thank you!
Sam
I am so glad you enjoy them, Michael! 🙂
Kelly Bradford
Hi I’m going to try and make these, what are some other flavors can be used? If I did chocolate would I use powder? If so how much? Thanks and I can’t wait to make these!😀
Sam
Hi, Kelly. I actually have a chocolate meringue recipe that you can use. 🙂
Mercedes O'Callaghan
For those with sugar problems- baker’s sugar is finely-ground white sugar, and dissolves quite a bit faster than regular. It’s in a white carton, C&H brand.
Azya
Hey Sam! I’ve made these a ton of times but they are usually grainy due to sugar. Is it possible for me to use confectionary sugar instead? Thanks!
Sam
Hi Azya! I’m not sure how it would work with powdered sugar, I’d recommend just adding the sugar slower and in smaller increments and make sure it’s dissolved before adding more. I hope that helps!
Kimberly
Hi Sam! Made these last night and everyone LOVES them!!! What do you usually serve them with? I feel like they need something set to go along with, because even though I would WANT to, I don’t think I should just eat them by the handful 🙂
Sam
Hi Kimberly!! Hmm I’ve only ever served them by themselves or as decorations on top of cakes. I bet they’d be delicious broken up and served with some homemade whipped cream and fresh berries, though! Kind of like mini pavlovas.
Rogelyn Villarama
I made my very first meringue cookies. Thanks for the recipe. It is very good and crispy. I left it overnight after one hour baking cuz I fell asleep.lol. I tried doing it from the brazo de mercedes meringue; it was less sugar and didn’t bake for one hour but failed. There are some stores that sells meringue cookies that still soft inside and was good. How do we make that? Less hour on baking?
Sam
Hi, Rogelyn. If you want you meringues to be softer inside, yes you would want to take them out of the oven a little bit longer. That isn’t the way a meringue is typically supposed to be, but you should make them to your liking. 🙂
Jessica
Should the meringue cookies be shiny or dull finish when finished, if done correctly? I made two different batches and one was shiny, one wasn’t…but both were yummy!
Sam
Hmm that is interesting. Mine are typically dull when they are finished baking. When they are piped, they are a little glossy but not when they are finished. 🙂 I am glad you enjoyed them. 🙂
Stella
So I was making these delicious looking cookies and when I was mixing the sugar into the batter and I think I added the sugar too fast because I didn’t see that you were supposed to leave the batter mixing for 15-20 seconds before adding more sugar so they became grainy and I tried whipping it some more but that didn’t work so I was wondering what to do if that happens again.
Sam
Hi Stella! I’m not sure if it can be salvaged if all of the sugar is added too fast, unfortunately.
Crystal
Mine were still a little grainy when they finally made stiff peaks (even though I added the sugar a tablespoon at a time), and when they were done baking, they were wonderful anyway. I’m not sure how grainy yours was, but I figure at that point there’s nothing lost in baking it anyway. Also, I was lazy and spooned ok-looking piles onto a silicon mat (instead of piping beautiful piles), and there were some that were hollow and some had cracked sides/tops…so not as beautiful but still delicious!
Joy
Im thinking of making a business out of this but it seems it would incur lots of time fir the cooling period.what if i made several trays!shiuld i turn the iven on and off to give time for the cooling period?any tips for storing please.thanks and more power!
Sam
Hi, Joy! I usually don’t make these in bulk due to the cooling time required. To store, let them cool completely and store in an air tight container to eliminate exposure to moisture. 🙂
Marige
You may want to add in the nutritional portion, that these are very high in protein (4g per egg white). So these cookies are actually very GOOD for you! And they are perfect for anyone wishing to avoid fat.
Do you have advice for freezing meringue cookies? And can you use confectioner’s sugar instead of granulated sugar?
I’m just about to make a new batch and will try this recipe. Wish me luck!
Katy
Have you found your recipe is more popular due to tons of meringue being made on a certain British baking competition show? I mean, that’s why I’m here. It’s the one thing that even I, Great Garlic Bread Burner, can handle.
Probably.
Sam
Hi, Katy! I am not familiar with the British baking competition so I can’t say for sure that I have seen more interest due to that. I know you can make them and they’ll turn out great! 🙂
Katy
They came out okay, a bit chewy. I realized I didn’t use enough cream of tartar, and probably didn’t whip them quite long enough. My family enjoyed them, though! I’m attempting them again and just wanted to say thanks for the recipe, and especially the tips. They are incredibly useful.
Sam
Hi, Katy! I am glad you were still able to enjoy them. There are a few tips provided in the post to help you get great meringues every time. They may have just needed a little more time in the oven. I hope they turn out better for you next time. 🙂
Sara
I cooked them for an hour and the outsides are good but the insides turn to a sugar lump when chewed. Do they need a longer cooking time?
Sam
Hi Sara! Did you leave them in the oven for the additional 1-2 hours after baking? If not, that might have caused this.
Michelle
Do you know of any other reasons why this might happen? I left mine in the oven for one hour after they baked and they turned out similar on the inside.
Sam
They may have needed a little longer than an hour in the oven. In the section labeled “Tips for No-Fail Meringue Cookies” I explain how to fix a chewy inside. 🙂
Barbara
I bake at 225 for 1.25 hour, turn the oven off and go to bed. In the morning, they are dry and crisp. I use about 2/3 the amount of sugar and like the outcome.