Crunchy, light and sweet, these classic Meringue Cookies only take 5 ingredients and are perfect for your holiday cookie plates.
Meringue Cookies
A long time ago, a bunch of women 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 in Meringue Cookies
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 for Making Meringue Cookies
See How to Make these Meringue Cookies here:
More Christmas cookie recipes
Peanut Butter Blossoms
Red Velvet Peppermint Gooey Butter 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
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