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 want to make sure the sugar has dissolved in the egg whites. You can check this by taking a small amount and rubbing it between your fingers. It should be smooth, not gritty.
- You can test out other extracts, as well.
- Don’t have cream of tartar? You can sub in 1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice.
- If you want to add food coloring, do it before you have completely whipped the mixture to stiff peaks. You don’t want to add the coloring and then over-beat. Gel food coloring works the best so that you aren’t adding extra liquid.
- 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
Spritz 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.
Meringue Cookies
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.
Dawn E says
These cookies were delicious . I added peanut butter powder to half the batch. It worked great.
Deborah says
I would have never thought to add peanut butter powder. What a great idea! Thanks for sharing!
ellie says
perfect every time.
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.
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