Simple Meringue Cookies
Meringue cookies are incredibly light, ethereal cookies made from whipped egg whites and sugar. These simple meringue cookies will melt in your mouth and tantalize your sweet tooth!
This easy meringue cookie recipe will become one of your favorites. Make a batch with your next leftover egg whites!
Simple Meringue Cookies
This meringue cookie recipe can be jazzed up with food colors and flavorings, but these are the most basic, simple meringue cookies. Only 4 ingredients and a few steps and these melt in your mouth gems will be ready to eat! Spotting this elegant Strawberry Meringues Recipe from Pint Sized Baker reminded me that an ordinary meringue cookie can be the base for an amazing dessert as well as scrumptious cookies!
A Versatile Easy Meringue Recipe
These meringue cookies will be incorporated into a fabulous Strawberry Eton Mess dessert to be revealed on Sunday, so I didn’t add any vanilla to keep them a beautiful, pure white color. But just think of all the options: green for St. Patrick’s Day, pink with peppermint extract for Valentine’s Day, pastel colors for Easter! A fun cookie any time of the year!
Tips for Making the Best Meringue Cookies
I’ve been making meringue since I was a teen. Lemon meringue pie was one of my specialties, and my family was brave enough to eat it! I’m not certain I knew all the tricks for the making the best meringues in those days, but I have learned a few tips along the way. Use these guidelines for your own simple meringue cookies as well as to top cream pies and more!
- Room temperature egg whites will give your meringue cookies more volume and help the sugar dissolve more easily.
- Superfine sugar will dissolve more easily than regular granulated sugar. If you don’t have any in your pantry, just whiz up some regular sugar in your food processor (not so much that it becomes powdered sugar, though).
- For perfect meringues, add the sugar slowly. Don’t rush the process.
- Make sure your mixing bowl and beater are scrupulously clean. Any speck of oil (this includes any egg yolk) will prevent the whites from becoming white and billowy.
- So that you don’t get any egg yolks in your whites when separating your eggs, make sure to crack them on a flat surface (not the edge of your bowl) and separate them while cold (right out of the refrigerator). It’s also wise to not separate them over a bowl of egg whites as that almost always guarantees that a little yolk will contaminate the other whites and you ‘ll have to start over!
- To keep them your perfect meringues a pristine white, not even a splash of vanilla was added, but feel free to include a little if that’s your preference. Vanilla meringue cookies are also wonderful to eat on their own or use in a recipe!
More Recipes You’ll Love:
- Strawberry Meringues Recipe from Pint Sized Baker
- Lemon Meringue Pie
- Lemon Meringue Pie Cheesecake from Spend with Pennies
- Meringue Topped Chocolate Chip Bars
- Peppermint Snowcapped Meringues from Belly Full
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Simple Meringue Cookies
Sweet, ethereal, easy meringue recipe made with just 4 simple ingredients.
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 45 mins
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 24 cookies
- Category: Dessert, Cookies
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 2 egg whites, at room temperature
- 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
- A pinch of salt
- 1/2 cup sugar, superfine preferred, but not necessary
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 225º. Line a baking sheet (or two) with parchment paper.
- Place egg whites into a mixing bowl and beat until frothy. Add the cream of tartar, the pinch of salt, and beat until soft peaks form. With mixer running, slowly add sugar, one tablespoon at a time until sugar is dissolved and stiff peaks form.
- Pipe or scoop tablespoons of the meringue onto the prepared baking sheet, spacing approximately 2 inches apart.
- Bake for 45 minutes, then turn oven off. Without opening the door, let stand in oven for 1 hour.
Notes
Once your meringues have cooled to room temperature, store in an airtight container.
Yield varies depending on the size of your meringue cookies.
Nutrition
- Saturated Fat: 0
- Trans Fat: 0
- Fiber: 0g
- Protein: 0g
- Cholesterol: 0
They are beautiful! While great as is, I can’t wait to see what you make with them:@)
simple elegance!
Thanks for all the great tips Liz. Meringues are so simple yet can be prone to failures if you don’t know how to work with the whites. Yours look perfect and I can’t wait to see how you use them!
I spent Christmas 2005 in France with my family and ate 4.5 million meringues. I can’t tell you how many times I was scolded for choosing meringues over bread.
But meringues are better.
Thanks for all the great meringue tips, Liz. I’ve never made meringues, but I’ve certainly eaten my share. Yours are so pretty and white! Can’t wait to see what you have up your sleeve for your special dessert on Sunday. XO
lizzy love these meringue cookies !
I have to make my mom love yours pictures !
hugs!
These are absolutely beautiful Liz! I’ve always wanted to make them – and my husband wishes I would too! I am inspired 🙂
They are beautiful and perfect, Liz.
These look perfect Liz and bright white! Great tips. I rarely make meringue cookies even though I enjoy them. I just never have the patience to wait but love to indulge!
Love the color Liz, and appreciate your tips. When I made meringues they were almost like dust, they crumbled like crazy.
This post is mind blowing. This is quite informative.
How pretty and delicious looking Meringue Cookies. I love sweet stuff and I know I will love these melt in your mouth cookies.
I’ve always loved meringue cookies and these are just gorgeous!
Your meringues look absolutely perfect!
Meringue cookies are my nemesis. I love them so much but have yet to make good ones myself. They always come out gooey and sticky to the touch. I do live in a more humid climate (right off the coast), so perhaps that is part of the problem. Yours are so beautiful, it has motivated me to keep trying!
Just want to say…..humidity is not good for meringues. My daughter lives in Louisiana. They do not turn out down there, even in the air conditioned house. I have to make them where we live…in Wisconsin, and bring them down. Good luck
Thanks, for that tip! I’ve always lived in the Midwest, and usually make them in the fall and winter. Enjoy your weekend—hoping for a Packers win on Monday!
Simple is often good. Your meringues are such a pretty shape.
These are really pretty and I look forward to the big reveal.
Dear Liz, these meringues of yours look amazing and I love all your helpful tips on how to achieve the best results when making them!
Very elegant and every time I see meringues I remember the days when I was a kid and used to buy them every once in a while as a little treat at my favorite bakery.
Great post Liz! I always make meringues for Passover and can’t wait to try this version! Good tips! And pretty as always!
Your tips are terrific, Liz. Thank you for the keeper recipe. I hope..maybe I should pray =) to make my meringues as pristine white as yours…Unless, of course, I add pink food coloring!
Thanks for your tips for make the perfect meringue! I made once but they aren’t very good. Nex time I will follow your advices. xo
These meringues are so simple and beautiful!!
How many calorues are in theses babies
If you use about a teaspoon of batter, they should be about 20 calories each—but those are pretty small 🙂
I just made these yesterday and it was my first time using my stand mixer and they came out perfectly! They were crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside and light as a cloud. They tasted just like the ones I usually buy at the store! Thanks for the awesome recipe!!!
Hooray!! I’m so glad the recipe was a success for you, June! Thanks for the feedback.
Hi Liz, can you color them?
Yes, definitely!! Hope you give them a try!
My meringues are in the oven as I write this and as I was going over the recipe again I noticed that you didn’t mention when to add the “pinch of salt”. I’m hoping my meringues will be ok without it, but if I make these again, at which part of the recipe do I add the salt? Thanks!
Oops, thanks for catching that, Melanie. You’re meringues will be just fine without the salt. It’s added at the beginning with the cream of tartar. I’ve edited the recipe. Hope you enjoy!!!
These are great! I wanted to make some because my friend did and they were sooooooo good. I added purple food coloring, they taste great! Thanks for the tips, they made it easy for a newbie like me.
Done it. Mine was kinda gritty because I used not so refined sugar. And I’m lazy to grind the sugar😉. But the consistency was great. Im sure I’ll do this again. It’s very easy. Wish I could post the pic. They look lovely
I’m glad the recipe worked for you!!! Enjoy!
I am using your recipe as a base recipe for Thanksgiving. The difference is I’m flavoring mine. I’m using -vanilla extract -coffee extract -peppermint extract -cocoa powder and (suggested by another website) strawberry jam. Can you give me any tips on how much flavoring to put in? Thanks.
I think you can get away with up to 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract. Peppermint is much stronger so I’d go light on that. Add 1/4 teaspoon and if you take a whiff and think you want a stronger flavor, maybe up to 1/2 teaspoon. I’d start with a half teaspoon of coffee extract, but like the vanilla, you could probably go to a full teaspoon. For cocoa, I’d try about 1 1/2-2 tablespoons. Not sure about the jam, but it sounds like a fun idea! I’d look at some other flavored 2 egg meringue recipes and see if these sound reasonable. Good luck!!!
Quick question. Can I use egg whites from the carton? I know this is lazy but I hate wasting the yolks.
Hi, Andrea,
From what I’ve read, those egg whites are pasteurized and won’t whip as well as non-pasteurized egg whites. You could certainly try, you’d need to whip them longer and up the cream of tartar, but I’m not sure you’ll be happy with the results. You can add the extra yolks to scrambled eggs or make a small batch of creme brulee. Hope this helps. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!!!
There is a biscotti recipe that calls for egg yolks. When I make that I always make merengues
It is the Martha Stewart hazelnut biscotti. Under Italian cookied
Perfect! I love biscotti. Thanks, Mary, I’ll check it out!
I have given 4 stars because they are still in the oven. Very easy to make. Beautiful white color. I sprinkled cinnamon sugar on them to meme them a little prettier.
I want to make some for Christmas day. How far in advance can they be made?
According to Cook’s Illustrated, as long as you cool them completely and store them in an airtight container, they’ll be fine up to 2 weeks: https://www.cooksillustrated.com/how_tos/6574-storing-meringues
Just a quick tip about meringue. I am a Wilton Cake Decorating Instructor. The second course is all about royal icing flowers. When I first made royal icing I couldn’t get it to keep its form. The flowers lost their shape and turned into blobs. I couldn’t figure out why I couldn’t mix confectioner’s sugar, meringue powder and water and have it turn out perfectly when I can bake anything perfectly. At an instructor’s seminar, I asked one of the other instructor’s what I was doing wrong. The answer…..wash everything that will touch the meringue thoroughly and then wash it with white vinegar. Including the beaters, bowl, measuring spoons & cups, spatulas, decorating tips, etc. I do this every time I make royal icing and it has turned out perfectly each time. Remember to rinse the vinegar off everything before using it. Don’t let the vinegar stay on anything metal for more than a few seconds since it is an acid. The vinegar cuts any grease residue. The meringues are in the oven but they piped beautifully. I sprinkled blue, silver and gold sugar crystals on the white ones. I tinted the other half a light green and sprinkled white nonpareils on them. I used a cupcake swirling tip to pipe all the meringues.
What a great tip, Heidi! I knew about keeping utensils, etc, free of grease when whipping egg whites, but never thought about problems with meringue powder, too. I hope your meringues are as beautiful as they sound!!! Thank you!
These meringues are so easy to make. Turned out perfect. Room temp whites definitely beat up beautiful!! Thank you!! I grew up wth these for 63yrs. These are prettier than my Mom’s!!
I’m so glad you enjoyed these, Diana! Fun that you’re continuing your mom’s tradition!!!
When would be a good time to add the coloring, if you wanted tho tint the meri gue?
Hi, Tamieka, I would add the food coloring last, after the mixture has been beaten to stiff peaks. Hope you enjoy!
Thanks, making my first attempt today.
these are so pretty! Happy New Year Liz and family!
I made the and they came out lovely and crunchy on the outside, but sticky and chewy on the inside. I just put them back in the oven to cook them longer hoping that the centers will dry out. Has this happened to anyone else, and we’re you able to fix them?
Hi, Jane,
Is it really humid where you are? Meringues can absorb moisture from the air—and sticky middles will result. Cooking them longer (at a low temp) should help dry them out. And you can always turn the oven off and leave them in the oven overnight (where it’s nice and dry) to ensure they’re crisp. Hope this helps!
Do you grease the paper?
Hi, Mel,
No I don’t. The parchment does a great job preventing the cookies from sticking. Hope you enjoy!
I love the ease of this recipe and how elegant they look!
What is the best way to store these cookies?
Once they cool to room temperature, just store them in an airtight container. Hope you enjoy!
I wasted an entire carton of eggs trying this recipe.. As soon as the sugar touches the egg whites it turns into a soupy mess. I got so fed up I cried. Then I tried a different recipe that called for confectioner’s sugar and it worked wonderfully.
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Hi, Annie,
I’m glad you found a recipe that works for you. My best,
I absolutely love meringue cookies, I used to make them a lot with my mom growing up! This recipe is just perfect!
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These really were melt in the mouth delicious!
I made a batch and they kept so well in an airtight jar in the pantry.
My kids have had frozen berries and meringues for dessert for quite a few nights! (No cream, so not quite an eaton mess….but still YUM!!)
Thank you for a great recipe.
Do you know if this would work with frozen egg whites….I make a lot of hollandaise and crème brûlées so I am always freezing my left over egg whites. TIA
★★★★★
According to Nigella, who makes a lot of meringues and pavlovas, you can use previously frozen egg whites for meringues. Just thaw overnight in the fridge. I’ve never tried it, so please let me know if you do! Good luck!
Perfect timing! I just said over the weekend that I need to make meringues!
★★★★★
I love merigue cookies! They’re so light and pretty!
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So light and airy! Love a nearly guilt free sweet treat.
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These meringue cookies look heavenly! Love how easy they are to make!
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Question for you. It says to leave in for an hour after the 45 min bake time. Or is it leave in for 15 min after the bake time for a total of an hour?
Hi, Steve,
Leave them in for another hour so the total time in the oven is 1 hour, 45 minutes with the oven off for the last hour. That will help remove any leftover moisture from the meringues.