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.
Lauren
Can use a convection oven to make these?
Sam
Hi Lauren! I’m not familiar with baking in a convection oven, but it should work as long as the temperature is adjusted appropriately. 🙂
Laney
Meringues are hands down my favorite dessert to make. Everyone loves them especially in the office. I have used this recipe so many times I actually have it memorized. Thank you!
Sam
I’m so happy to hear this, Laney, thank you so much for trusting my recipe, I appreciate it!
Melissa
Hi,
I am really excited to try this recipe for my Christmas trays – I was just wondering how long the shelf life is / how far in advance I can make them? Also, do you have any preference in the material of the storage container? :)?
Thanks,
Melissa
Sam
Hi Melissa! They’ll keep for about 2 weeks. Make sure they’re cooled completely before storing in an airtight container (glass or plastic works well) at room temperature. Make sure they aren’t exposed to any moisture or humidity, which could cause them to lose their crispness. Enjoy!
Melissa
Thank you very much 🙂 I really appreciate you doing all your testing & sharing your recipe. I am very excited to try these cookies!
Christie
Do these freeze well? I’m a bit concerned that they will get moisture in them from freezing.
Sam
Hi Christie! Freezing these can be risky. You have to be very careful that there isn’t any moisture for the meringues to absorb while thawing, which can prove to be a bit tricky. 🙁
Melissa
I’m going to make these this weekend, These look amazing! One question, when making multiple trays in the oven, how do you stack the trays? Can you put 2 on the same rack or should you do one on the middle rack and another on the lower rack? Could you do 3 trays if needed since these make so many.
Sam
Hi Melissa! You can put these really close together on a pan so they won’t spread. I do have a large cookie sheet that I use, but I think putting them on 2 trays side by side in the oven could work. 🙂
Rachel pupillo
i dont have a piping bag. would a plastic bag work okay?
Sam
Sure thing! 🙂
Josie
Hi Melissa, I just did two pans one above the other. I set the racks one slot above middle and one slit below middle and they turned out fine. Good luck!
Petty Davis
Made these today they turned out great and super easy! Only one problem,I can’t stop eating them!!! Yummy!!!!
Sophia
first time ever making meringues, I used this and it tasted amazing!
June
Approximately how many cookies does this recipe make?
Sam
About 80. 🙂
Nicole
I am not an experienced baker. My son and I made these following your video. They were AMAZING! He will be proud to share them with his French class tomorrow. Merci!!
Tammy I Hull
We made these as kids with my mom. She actually lined her cookie sheets with paper from paper bags. I don’t think it was a substitute for parchment paper because we never lined any other cookie sheets when making different cookies. It was only for this recipe that she used paper bags.
Rene Lamb
I prefer a firmer meringue like this on my lemon meringue pie can I use this recipe and cook at lower heat for longer
Sam
Hi Rene! I’m not sure how it would work over the actual pie. It would need to cook for a bit longer but I don’t know how long it would need to bake.
Meliss Batchen
There was a local bakery that made these all the time, and as a kid I loved them. I have used your recipe on several occasions, and the results never fail. Thank you so much for such an easy and successful dessert. The grandkids and I really love them.
Sam
You’re welcome! I’m so glad everyone enjoyed them so much! 🙂
Helene
If I wanted to make the pound cake recipe you have linked here, what adjustments would you suggest to accommodate this meringue cookie recipe to use 6 egg whites instead of 4?
Sam
Hi Helene! I would increase the ingredients for the meringue cookies by 50% and you’ll be good to go! Just make sure your oven has space to accommodate all the cookies. Enjoy!
Beth
I have done this in the past and am, honest, doing that right now! Works super well.
Noa
These are so good! A tip I have for getting rid of grease in your mixing bowl is to wipe it down with lemon juice on a paper towel. You can also wipe your beaters.
Lisa
I made these for the first time and they turned out great! I followed your steps and hints exactly and was happy I was able to get them to work since I’ve never made anything like these.
Mitch
Can you cut the recipe in half?
Sam
Yes, enjoy!
Lenora
Excellent recipe! I added a little key lime flavoring and they turned out wonderful! Plenty to add to our neighbors Christmas cookie plate!
Can’t recommend this recipe highly enough!