Meringue Cookies

by Sabrina Snyder

Published on

13 Comments

5 from 5 votes
24 servings
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 50 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 10 minutes
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Meringue Cookies are light and sweet cookies made with ONLY 5 ingredients like sugar and egg whites, 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 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 you’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!

Frequently Asked Questions

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.

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.

Easy Meringue Cookies

More Delicious 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.

How to Store Meringues

  • Serve: Meringues can stay at room temperature once cooked.
  • Store: Meringue cookies should be stored in an airtight container at room temperature. These cookies should last up to 2 weeks.
  • Freeze: 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.
Classic Meringue Cookies

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Dinner, then Dessert

Meringues Cookies

Meringue Cookies are light and sweet cookies made with ONLY 5 ingredients like sugar and egg whites, and bake in under 60 minutes!
Yield 24 servings
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 50 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 10 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine French
Author Sabrina Snyder
Easy Meringue Cookies
PrintRate

Ingredients
 

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

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 250 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silpat mat.
  • Place one cup of the sugar in your food processor for 30 seconds and process until the granules are much smaller.
  • Mix the sugar with the remaining one cup of sugar in a medium bowl.
  • In your stand mixer add the 8 egg whites on medium speed until foamy before adding in the cream of tartar and salt.
  • On medium speed add in a spoonful of sugar every 30 seconds then finally add in the vanilla (the mixture should be very shiny any stiff).
  • Transfer in batches to a pastry bag with a star tip and pipe in a circle then spiral up onto itself .
  • 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).

Notes

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

Nutrition

Calories: 70kcal | Carbohydrates: 16g | Protein: 1g | Sodium: 41mg | Potassium: 21mg | Sugar: 16g | Calcium: 1mg

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Meringue Cookies Collage

Photo used in a previous version of this post.

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.

Sabrina Snyder is a professionally trained personal and private chef of over 10 years who is the creator and developer of all the recipes on Dinner, then Dessert.

She is also the author of the cookbook Dinner, then Dessert – Satisfying Meals Using Only 3, 5 or 7 Ingredients, published by Harper Collins.

She started Dinner, then Dessert as a business in her office as a lunch service for her coworkers who admired her lunches before going to culinary school and becoming a full time personal chef and private chef.

As a personal chef Sabrina would cook for families one day a week and cook their entire week of dinners. All grocery shopping, cooking and cleaning was done along with instructions on reheating. As a private chef she cooked for private parties and cooked in family homes in the evenings for families on a nightly basis after working as a personal chef during the day.

Sabrina has been certified as a ServSafe Manager since 2007 and was a longstanding member of the USPCA Personal Chef Association including being on the board of the Washington DC Chapter of Chefs in the US Personal Chef Association when they won Chapter of the year.

As a member of the community of food website creators Sabrina Snyder has spoken at many conferences regarding her experiences as a food writer including the Indulge Food Conference, Everything Food Conference, Haven Food Conference and IACP Annual Food Professionals Conference.

Sabrina lives with her family in sunny California.

See more posts by Sabrina

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. The meringues were great and we added sugar sprinkles on top for some colour.

    ALL of ads constantly bombarding me when trying to look at the relevant information. It is SO annoying. It’s a real “sell-out” decision on part of the author.

    Reply

  2. The meringues were great and we added sugar sprinkles on top for some colour.

    Why I won’t subscribe or star this recipe/page is that the page is ALL of ads constantly bombarding me when trying to look at the relevant information. It is SO annoying. It’s a real “sell-out” decision on part of the author.

    Reply

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

    Reply

  4. 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!

    Reply