Crunchy, light and sweet, these classic Meringue Cookies only take 5 ingredients and are perfect for your holiday cookie plates.
Holiday cookies will always bring a smile to my face! Every year, these meringue cookies are a must make, along with my favorite sugar cookie recipe, Cranberry Orange Cookies, and Hot Cocoa Cookies.
Easy Meringue Cookies
A long time ago, a bunch of friends in my neighborhood got together for a cookie swap. We each made a plate of cookies, then we split up all the cookies. So you came with your one kind of cookie, and left with a plate of a wide variety of cookies. I always think back to that, and what a great mix of cookies we all ended up with.
Since that cookie swap, every year I think about making the perfect cookie plate. And what cookies I would put on it. I would definitely want something soft, something sprinkled, and definitely something peppermint. And maybe even throw on a few homemade caramels. But you always need something light and crispy, as well, and that is where these Meringue Cookies come in.
For real – I love, love, love these cookies. Maybe they don’t look like much, and they don’t seem very exciting, but I could honestly eat a whole batch of these myself. And probably almost have. They are light, and sweet, and crispy and everything you’d want a meringue cookie to be. And they provide the perfect variety of texture on that cookie plate.
Ingredients
One of the things I love about Meringue Cookies is that they only take 5 ingredients, and they are all super easy to find! All you need is:
- Egg whites – if you have time to let these sit out for 30 minutes, it’s even better.
- Vanilla extract – regular vanilla extract will cause the cookies to have a slight hint of brown to them. If you want to keep them bright white, use clear vanilla.
- Cream of Tartar – this helps to stabilize the egg whites.
- salt – just a dash is all you need!
- sugar – regular granulated works just fine in this recipe!
How to Make Meringue Cookies
This meringue cookie recipe is super simple, but they do take a little bit of time.
- Start by beating together the egg whites, vanilla, cream of tartar and dash of salt. Beat this until it gets frothy.
- Start adding in the sugar, one tablespoon at a time. Continue beating until you have very stiff peaks.
- Pipe the batter onto a baking sheet.
- Bake for 35 minutes, then leave the cookies in the oven for at least an hour. I think it’s easiest to make these at night then just leave the cookies in the oven all night.
Tips and Tricks
- Climate may affect your cookies. I live in a desert, so I don’t have any problems with soft or gooey cookies. But know that things may go wrong if you live in a more humid area. If you do run into problems with soft or sticky meringues, try baking them just a bit longer.
- Make sure your bowl and your beaters are completely clean – even a small trace of oil might ruin your meringue.
- You can test out other extracts, as well.
- Don’t have cream of tartar? You can sub in 1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice.
- Don’t open the oven at all during the bake time or the time in the oven after.
Storage
Meringue cookies will absorb any of the moisture from the air around them, so it is important to store them properly if you want them to stay crisp.
The best thing to do is to make sure they are completely cooled, then place them in an airtight container. Stored this way, they will last about 2 weeks.
More Christmas cookie recipes
Peanut Butter Blossoms
Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
Chocolate Orange Ricotta Cookies
Chocolate Cherry Sandwich Cookies
Peppermint Sugar Cookies
Tools Used in this Recipe
I use these disposable piping bags. They make clean up so much easier!
To pipe the meringue cookies, I use an Ateco 846 tip.
You could probably make these cookies with a hand mixer, but I’d suggest a stand mixer. It’s much faster and easier, especially since the mixture gets beaten for 7 minutes.
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Meringue Cookies
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 35 mins
- Total Time: 2 hours
- Yield: 74 cookies 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: French
Description
Crunchy, light and sweet, these classic Meringue Cookies only take 5 ingredients and are perfect for your holiday cookie plates.
Ingredients
- 3 large egg whites
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract*
- 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
- Dash of salt
- 2/3 cup granulated sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 250ºF. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Place the egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer. Add the vanilla extract, cream of tartar and salt. Turn the mixer on to high and mix until foamy. Start adding in the sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time. Keep beating the mixture until it forms very stiff, glossy peaks, 7-10 minutes.
- Transfer the meringue to a piping bag fitted with a large star tip. Pipe the meringue into small star cookies, about 1 1/4-inches in diameter. Sprinkle with holiday sprinkles, if desired.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 35 minutes, then turn the oven off, not opening the oven door, and let the cookies sit for at least an hour, or overnight.
- Store the cookies in an airtight container.
Recipe Notes:
*the vanilla will slightly tint the cookies. If you’d like the cookies to remain a pure white, you can use clear vanilla.
Nutrition information provided as an estimate only. Various brands and products can change the counts. Any nutritional information should only be used as a general guideline.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 2 cookies
- Calories: 18
- Sugar: 4 g
- Sodium: 21 mg
- Fat: 0 g
- Saturated Fat: 0 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 0 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 4 g
- Fiber: 0 g
- Protein: 0 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
Keywords: meringue cookies
Gina says
Perfect! My mom asked me to make her meringues for Christmas and I needed a recipe. Thanks!
Georgia (The Comfort of Cooking) says
I've never made meringues but have always wanted to try. I'm off to go check out your post! Thanks for sharing. Also, I’m having a cookies and cookbook giveaway today that you should enter!
Monet says
So beautiful! I'm off to check this out because i've never made meringue cookies before! Thank you for sharing. I hope you have a lovely afternoon, my friend!
Darlene says
Can you use store brought egg whites?
ADRI says
Yes!
Linda Harrison says
You CAN use store bought egg whites. I put crushed graham crackers on top instead of sprinkles.
Angel says
Can I add food coloring to this meringue recipe?
Deborah says
You can!
Dorothy A Wild says
PLEASE LIST ‘HOW MANY’ COOKIES YOUR RECIPE MAKES;THANKS.
Deborah says
Hi Dorothy – the recipe should make about 74 cookies, depending on how big you pipe them. The amount is listed on the recipe card. I hope you love them!
Jennifer says
Making these for PreK class this week! Growing up my mom called them forgotten cookies – put ’em in the oven and forget them!
Deborah says
What a fun name!!
JenB says
Just don’t really forget about them … we’ve left them in, and then one of the kids turned the oven on to preheat for something else … oops!
Deborah says
Oh no!!!! I can totally see that happening to me – haha.
Sydney Hansen says
I’m just wondering if there’s a set amount of sugar needed or if you just keep adding a tablespoon until the batter gets peaks. Thanks!!
Deborah says
Hi Sydney – you will use the 2/3 cup sugar, just adding it in 1 tablespoon at a time until it has all been added.
dakota ryan says
is there any way to make these chocolate?
Deborah says
I’m sure you probably could, but I haven’t tried it. I would probably start by adding some cocoa powder, and maybe some mini chocolate chips.
Lynn says
I learned to make these with my grandmother decades ago. We Added chocolate chips To the bowl after the meringue was done. Fold in gently. I learned to drop them from a spoon on brown paper. I have never piped them from a pastry bag but Pastry bags and I don’t get along.
Eviline says
I’ve used mini chips, but then I use 2 spoons. No pastry bag. I’ve also crushed candy cane.
Lisa says
I made creme pat and had a bunch of egg whites left over. I hated to throw them out so I used them to make your recipe. They turned out great!
★★★★★
Deborah says
Yay! I’m so glad that they turned out well!
Anne Carpenter says
And I barely followed your recipe, but had those left over whites (6) and I used almond flavor…the real stuff, and they are unreal!
★★★★★
Li says
Hi, what would you suggest for substituting for granulated sugar in this recipe?
By the way, I absolutely love this recipe; I’ve made it so many times already.
★★★★★
Deborah says
I have only made them with granulated sugar, so I’m not sure of a good substitution. Sorry!
vy huynh says
Hi,
When I add sprinkle to the cookie and bake it, the results come out that the sprinkle melts and make the cookie look bad. Do you know how I can fix it to get a nice cookie?
Deborah says
Are you mixing the sprinkles into the batter or sprinkling them on top?
Lauren says
Would love to hear how you did your sprinkles – did you do them post-bake and after the hour minimum in the oven? Do the sprinkles stick to them at that point?
Deborah says
I added the sprinkles before baking. Because they bake at such a low temperature, they will hold up great. If you wait until they are done, the cookies will be too dry for the sprinkles to stick.
Linda says
HI…I’m baking for a shower a month away, can these be frozen ?
Thanks !
★★★★★
Deborah says
I don’t think you’d be able to freeze these, because the moisture from them defrosting would most likely ruin them. But they can be made several days in advance, so hopefully that will help!
Tan says
Hi does it mean once these are done, it can be consumed even after 5 days? Would it get hard?
Also once made, where should I store them? Airtight container or in the open or in the room temp or fridge?
Thank you in advance!
Deborah says
The cookies are already crispy, so they won’t get any harder. I stored them just at room temperature in a container with a loose lid over the top. If you store them in the fridge, they will get soft and sticky.
Shelly says
I just made these for Easter tomorrow and they are perfect — light and so crisp! I used lemon extract as suggested by another person and sprinkled a little bit of yellow sugar on top. I know they will be a hit on the dessert table tomorrow. Thank you for sharing the recipe! Happy Easter and Happy Spring!
solene says
Hello,
Why people call them “Cookie”?
Deborah says
I guess because there are a lot of different kinds of cookies, and this is just one kind.
Anonymous Baker says
Perfect recipe! looking for something simple and easy to do and ran into this THANKS!!!!!
★★★★★
John Doe says
I loved this recipe so much!
Rich Wright says
Made these three times now and about to whip up a fourth and absolutely love them!! Was skeptical at first of the simplicity of the ingredients to the technical do and donts of the directions and most of all my ability to not open the oven a single time even to check doneness. Lol and while it is VERY much a messy disaster waiting to happen it’s not so bad and worth it for the crispy little melt in your mouth pieces of suagry heaven you end up with.. 😉 good luck
★★★★★
Libby says
I’m wanting to make “Christmas Tree Mirangue” cookies for Christmas this year, and this recipe looks great! One question though, how high can you pipe these?? For the tree design I need it to be at least three tiers high.
karen says
Use powder meringue; all you need to do is add water; also don’t have to separate eggs and waste the yolks. Bake 1 hour at 225 and turn off- leave in oven all night. Food color- yes.
Deb Gardner says
Not sure what went wrong not getting fluffy
Alisa says
Great recipe! I’ve made them twice already, and they turned out both times. I like that you can add the sprinkles prior to baking, and the low oven temperature is just right so the sprinkles stick and stay intact. The first time I used almond extract, which was great. This time I tried McCormick cake batter extract, and they were a big hit. Nice sweet treats with lots of options to swap out different flavored extracts. Thank you!
★★★★★
Lauri says
Excellent recipe, easy follow. Thanks 🎄❄😊
★★★★★
Lucia Nicklaus says
Ive been wanting to make meringue cookies ever since i watched my grandma put meringue on pies all the time, and her not letting me have any meringue without pie (i didn’t like pie lol) six years later, i realized if i made the meringue myself, i could do whatever the heck i wanted with it!
I roughly divided the recipe by three, one egg, 1/3 tsp of vanilla, and a less than full 1/4 cup of sugar. After 20 minutes of looking for the cream tartar and not succeed in finding it, I decided to just press my luck and not add it.
I then proceeded to search for the mixer, only to find it was missing. How did my family lose an entire mixer?? I could tell this recipe was going to turn out magnificently. I whisked it by hand, and that all actually went quite well. After that, found out just scooping a spoonfull onto the sheet works fine if you dont have a pipe thing. Out of the whole ordeal, i only got 12 cookies, because i eight half of the already small recipe I used. Now would be a good time to mention that i was doing all this when i was home alone for an hour and a half, so I stupidly sped up the process by putting the oven on 350 and put the cookies in before it started even preheating. They quickly started browning, so I turned the oven off after about 7 minutes and left them in 20 minutes with the oven off. Surprise surprise, the were scorched and flattened. Still super good though! 10/10 recipe, will be making again soon except with a full recipe, taking as much time as I need, making sure i have everything before i start, and overall being less of an idiot! sure my family will love them! 🙂 <3
★★★★★
Jill says
Hi, I was wondering if you could pipe it into a flat heart shape, or would it poof up to much?
Deborah says
I haven’t tried, but I’m guessing you’d be able to!
Crystal says
Worked like a charm. I used lemon juice in place of cream of tartsnd I whisked by hand. I didn’t even have a piping bag so I used a spoon. But they still came out great. 10 out of 10 would make again. Thank you for sharing!
★★★★★
Crystal says
*tartar and
Alma says
This recipe looks great!! About to try it out.
Alma says
Hi, why did the mixture did not turn stiff when I mixed it?
Thanks
★★★
Deborah says
You may have needed to just mix it longer. Or if your bowl had any oil or if you had any egg yolk in the mixture it could affect it as well.
Alexia says
Are these supposed to have a chalky like texture or did I do something wrong?
Catrina says
Can I make these without parchment paper?
Deborah says
If you don’t have parchment paper, I’d suggest a silpat liner, or to use foil. You just don’t want your cookies to stick. I did read that you can do a thin layer of baking spray, but I have not tried that method myself.
Katherine Sandlin says
I’ve made this recipe for years but call them “Forgotten Cookies” because I do make them at night and leave them overnight in oven. Make them and forget them till morning. Instead of piping the meringue I add mini chocolate chips, or M&M’s and spoon them on foil lined cookie sheets. I heat oven to 400° put in the cookies and turn off the oven.
Jose Navarro says
My first time to bake merengue. Thanks a million!
★★★★★
Pip554 says
I tried this recipe but when i opened the oven after having then in the turned off oven for an hour i tried one and jt was chewy 🙁 i can never make them right😭, i’m going to haven them in the oven overnight and we’ll see what happens
Lisa Cabral says
I just made them with 3 egg 🥚 whites, box of 🍋 lemon jello, little bit of sweetened 🥥 coconut and a small touch of 🥥 coconut extract. The batter is a beautiful yellow and am looking forward to them coming out of the oven.