Soft, crisp, melt-in-your-mouth meringue cookies are the perfect way to treat your Valentine this year!
Meringue Cookies
If you’ve been around here for a while, then you know that meringue is one of my favorite things to make… it doesn’t matter which kind, swiss meringue, Italian meringue – they are all so much fun to make. Which is exactly why I thought it was about time to bring you guys a meringue cookie recipe. If you thought cookies couldn’t get any easier, let me introduce you to the meringue cookie.
What are Meringue Cookies?
A meringue is created when you beat egg whites at a very high speed until you’ve incorporated enough air that they become very thick and glossy. It’s truly amazing to watch such a small amount of translucent egg whites turn into a thick, fluffy, marshmallow-like texture.
There are tons of things you can do with meringue, you can make a pavlova, a buttercream like my swiss meringue buttercream, make macarons, or even make a marshmallow topping. The list goes on and on, which is why this is such a great skill to be well-versed in.
One of the most interesting things about a meringue is that when it is baked on a very low temperature, it begins to dry out and create a crisp, chewy, melt-in-your-mouth cookie (or whatever you’re making with it). In this case we’re actually piping the meringue onto a sheet pan, then baking it at a very low temperature – creating the cutest little cookie treats. They’re the perfect dessert if you’re looking for something a little bit lighter, and I promise your friends will love them too!
Equipment you may need:
- Stand mixer: you can absolutely use a hand mixer for this, but it’s definitely a lot easier to just use a stand-mixer. You’ll need a whisk attachment for this recipe, so grab one if you don’t already have one! Also, you can do this by hand using a regular whisk, but be prepared to get a reeeeeally good arm workout in lol.
- Piping bag/piping tips: meringue cookies are meant to look delicate and precise, and a piping bag with piping tips helps you achieve that! I used this piping tip from Ateco.
- Food coloring: I highly recommend using a gel-based food coloring – we want to avoid adding as much liquid to our meringue as possible so as to not end up with a collapsed mixture.
- Parchment paper sheets: I buy my parchment paper in sheets like these, and I’m telling you I will never go back to the roll again. Especially when piping things like meringue, you need a very flat surface.
Ingredients for Meringue Cookies
There’s only 4 ingredients in these cookies:
- Egg whites
- Granulated sugar
- Vanilla extract
- Cream of Tartar
Tips:
Here’s a few tips to help you create meringue perfection:
- Beat the meringue to STIFF peaks. There’s a big difference between a soft peak, medium peak, and stiff peak. We’re looking for a verrrry stiff peak here, because we don’t want the meringue cookies to lose their definition after we pipe and bake them. If your meringue is too loose, you won’t have well-defined edges, and your cookies may even deflate. If you’re not sure what a stiff peak looks like, read this blog post.
- Add the sugar SLOWLY. If you dump the sugar into the egg whites all at once you will deflate your meringue – sad 🙁 If you slowly tap the sugar into the bowl, your meringue will remain perfectly stiff. You can watch the reel I posted on my instagram if you’re unsure what that looks like!
- Add to food coloring a little bit at a time. Food coloring goes a loooong way, especially this kind, so be careful when adding and only go a drop at a time!
Enjoy this pic of Louie trying to steal my meringues lol. I hope you all love this recipe as much as we do around here, and as always if you bake these please tag me @sarahsdayoff so I can see them!!!
Love,
Sarah
Meringue Cookies
Ingredients
- 3 large egg whites at room temperature
- 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
- Gel-based food coloring optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 190°F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Wipe down the bowl of your stand mixer with a little bit of distilled vinegar (this will ensure the bowl is very clean).
- Add egg whites and cream of tartar to the cleaned bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat on low speed 15 seconds, then gradually increase speed to high.
- Beat egg whites on high speed 4 to 6 minutes or until stiff peaks form. If you remove your whisk from the bowl and the mixture stand straight up, you've reached stiff peaks.
- Add vanilla and 1 drop of food coloring (optional) to the bowl and whisk on high just until combined. Transfer meringue to a piping bag fitted with desired piping tip.
- Use the piping bag to dab a very small amount of meringue underneath each corner of the parchment paper (to help the paper stick to the pan).
- Hold the piping bag perpendicular to the parchment paper, squeeze the bag, release pressure, and pull up to create dollops. You can also create hearts as I've done above (start with the left side of the heart and connect with the right).
- These cookies will not spread so pipe them as close as necessary.
- Bake cookies 2 hours, turn off the oven without opening the oven door, and allow to cool in oven for another 2 hours. Store cookies in an airtight container 2 to 3 days.
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