Meringue Cookies

Meringue Cookies are the PERFECT light and sweet cookies made with ONLY 5 ingredients, and bake in under 60 minutes!

We’re always ready to bake our favorite cookies in this kitchen, and this week we’re making Turtle Cookies, Lemon Cookies, and our famous Chocolate Chip Cookies!

Meringue Cookies
MERINGuE cookies

Meringue Cookies are one of my all-time favorite dessert recipes, made with whipped egg whites and sugar, with a pinch of salt, cream of tartar, and vanilla extract. This is technically a French meringue recipe, because we’re just whipping the egg whites and granulated sugar together instead of cooking anything.

These meringues take a total time of 50 minutes to bake, plus some prep time to get the egg whites to form stiff peaks. You can make a lot of different varieties of these meringue cookies, like peppermint chocolate for the holidays, or lemon flavored for a lemon meringue pie!

HOW DO YOU KNOW WHEN MERINGUE cookies ARE DONE?

Meringue cookies start off very soft, and firm up as they cook. You can check to see if the meringues are done by touching them carefully to see if they’re firm. Watch to make sure they don’t start browning on the bottoms.

WHY ARE MY MERINGUE COOKIES SOFT?

If your cookies are soft, it’s possible that they did not cook for long enough. Put them back into the oven to let them finish cooking. If they turn golden brown, you’ve gone too far. When they’re done, turn the heat off and crack open the oven door, and let the meringues cool in the oven.

Your oven may also be cooking at the wrong temperature. Use a thermometer to double check that it is true to temperature.

WHAT CAUSES MERINGUE COOKIES TO FALL OR CRACK?

If your cookies have fallen or cracked, watch for these few simple things next time you make them.

  • Make sure your ingredients are as fresh as possible. Older eggs won’t be as stable as fresh.
  • Don’t over mix your egg whites, this can cause them to be less firm and the meringue cookies will fall in the oven.
  • Let your meringue cookies cool in the oven after they’ve baked. If they cool too quickly, they won’t hold their fluffy texture.

HOW LONG DO MERINGUE COOKIES LAST?

Meringue cookies should be stored in an airtight container at room temperature. These cookies should last up to 2 weeks.

Easy Meringue Cookies

CAN YOU FREEZE MERINGUE COOKIES?

These can be frozen for 2-3 months, stored in an airtight container and layered with parchment paper between the cookies. This meringue cookies recipe can thaw on the counter for an hour or so before serving.

CAN YOU FLAVOR MERINGUE?

You can definitely flavor meringues by folding in additional ingredients right before piping them onto your baking sheet. Try cocoa powder, lemon zest, or cinnamon. You can also substitute the vanilla extract with other flavors, like lemon, almond, peppermint, or orange extract.

MORE COOKIE RECIPES

TIPS FOR MAKING MERINGUES

  • Try to avoid making meringues on humid days. The extra moisture in the environment can make it more difficult to achieve the dry fluffy texture you need here.
  • Meringues cannot tolerate fat or liquid, so make sure your bowl and mixer are completely clean and there’s no yolk in your egg whites, or they will not turn out right.
  • Once your meringues are done cooking, you can dip them in chocolate and top with a sprinkle of cinnamon or cocoa powder.
  • The cream of tartar helps the egg whites become more stable and form stiff peaks, so don’t forget this ingredient. It also helps to bring your ingredients to room temperature before starting. Don’t over-mix the egg whites or they won’t hold.
  • Preheat your oven before putting the meringues in, or they may not cook correctly.

Classic Meringue Cookies

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Meringues Cookies

Meringue Cookies are the PERFECT light and sweet cookies made with ONLY 5 ingredients, and bake in under 60 minutes!

Course Dessert
Cuisine French
Keyword meringue cookies, meringues
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 50 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 10 minutes
Servings 24 servings
Calories 70 kcal
Author Sabrina Snyder

Ingredients

  • 2 cups sugar divided
  • 8 large egg whites
  • 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silpat mat.
  2. Place one cup of the sugar in your food processor for 30 seconds and process until the granules are much smaller.

  3. Mix the sugar with the remaining one cup of sugar in a medium bowl.
  4. In your stand mixer add the 8 egg whites on medium speed until foamy before adding in the cream of tartar and salt.
  5. On medium speed add in a spoonful of sugar ever 30 seconds then finally add in the vanilla (the mixture should be very shiny any stiff).

  6. Transfer in batches to a pastry bag with a star tip and pipe in a circle then spiral up onto itself .
  7. Bake for 50-55 minutes or until they just start to turn cream colored then turn the oven off but do not remove them or open the oven (I leave them in there overnight).

Recipe Notes

Note: click on times in the instructions to start a kitchen timer while cooking.

Nutrition Facts
Meringues Cookies
Amount Per Serving
Calories 70
% Daily Value*
Sodium 41mg2%
Potassium 21mg1%
Carbohydrates 16g5%
Sugar 16g18%
Protein 1g2%
Calcium 1mg0%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Meringues

About the Author: Sabrina Snyder

Sabrina is a professionally trained Private Chef of over 10 years with ServSafe Manager certification in food safety. She creates all the recipes here on Dinner, then Dessert, fueled in no small part by her love for bacon.

Dinner, then Dessert, Inc. owns the copyright on all images and text and does not allow for its original recipes and pictures to be reproduced anywhere other than at this site unless authorization is given. If you enjoyed the recipe and would like to publish it on your own site, please re-write it in your own words, and link back to my site and recipe page. Read my disclosure and copyright policy. This post may contain affiliate links.

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Comments

  1. These definitely looks so pretty. Haven’t ventured to make meringue cookies but looks like I Would soon. Thanks for the recipe and tips.

  2. These meringue cookies look great! I love the tips you included. It has always been tough for me to get meringue right when baking! Thank you for sharing!