I have been wanting to try a meringue cookie forever now… I never have before! If there is ever an option of sugar cookies or chocolate I tend to pick that over meringue.
I am a silly silly girl. These cookies are much easier than I thought and such a unique and delicate texture! I am smitten. (Plus they are about 15 calories per cookie so you an eat a lot without feeling guilty. Plus they are naturally gluten free. Its win-win folks.)
And knowing I can change up the vanilla and use peppermint or orange or banana or strawberry or almond extract really opens up a world of possibility for these sweet confections.
Being a complete fan of all things Shabby Chic, I had to make a few girly White Christmas trees. I resisted the glitter and sprinkles. Well, until after this picture was taken that is!
Christmas Meringue Cookies
Ingredients
- 4 egg whites, at room temperature
- 1/2 tsp. McCormick® Cream of Tartar
- 1 c sugar
- 1 tsp. McCormick® Pure Vanilla Extract
- Food Coloring (Red and Green for Christmas cookies)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 225°F.
- Beat egg whites in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until frothy. (If using a freestanding mixer, use wire whisk attachment.) Add cream of tartar; beat until soft peaks form. Increase speed to medium-high.
- Add sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating until sugar is dissolved and stiff peaks form.
- Beat in extract and food color until well blended.
- Place meringue into pastry bag fitted with a 2D, 1G, or large star tip. Slowly pipe out in a circle for the small meringue cookie. For the tree, pipe out a small circle then continuously make smaller circles working your way up.
- Bake both sheets of meringues at the same time 45 minutes. Turn oven off. Let meringues stand in oven 1 hour or until completely cooled.
Hope you can try these sweet and easy meringues! Oh, and I promise I will attempt a post without red, green,and white. I may be stuck in a color rut. 😉
Amanda Rettke is the creator of I Am Baker, and the bestselling author of Surprise Inside Cakes: Amazing Cakes for Every Occasion – With a Little Something Extra Inside.Over the course of her 15+ year blogging adventure, she has been featured in and collaborated with the Food Network, New York Times, LA Times, Country Living Magazine, People Magazine, Epicurious, Brides, Romantic Homes, life:beautiful, Publishers Weekly, The Daily Mail, Star Tribune, The Globe and Mail, DailyCandy, YumSugar, The Knot, The Kitchn, and Parade, to name a few.
Just took my eggs out of the fridge to bring to room temp and going to try my hand at these gorgeous lil morsels! Throwing a baby shower for my sister and have some gluten free guests attending that will love these sweet treats. Hopefully mine will come out looking like yours! Thank you for the recipe.
I’m trying to make these but I’m new to merengue. Any can you tips foe when they are super runny? Like soup?
It sounds like your egg whites either A) didn’t get whipped stiff enough. You should be able to pick your whisk or spoon out of the whites and the peaks should not move or shrink. Or B) you had some grease in your bowl and the egg whites broke. Your bowl needs to absolutely clean of anything greasy. I hope this helps a bit.
For a cookie exchange, someone gave me a link to this site. Apparently, they added something that was not in this original. Sorry for the confusion.
How did you get a really red meringue color? Whenever I
use my red food coloring it comes out pink though I must
admit I tend to go light on food coloring. Did you just use
a LOT?
It might be the brand of food color. I have always used Wilton food color and always had the same experience with red. I was learning to decorate cookies and the teacher recommended Americolor brand. They have a RedRed, and it works much better. I bought it on Amazon.
What kind of food coloring? Is it liquid, gel or powder?
I am trying to make red meringue rose cookies for a friend. But for the life of me I cannot get the true red color. I use an entire bottle of Wilton red food gel and all I get is a salmon color. 🙁 And I’m using exactly 4 eggs. Do I need to add two bottles? Is there a different one you recommend? Is there a trick? Was looking up answers and saw your super red meringue cookies and want to know your secrets! Lol thanks for any help!!
Do you have a chocolate or chocolate chip meringue recipe?
Could I use a cookie press to do these? I don’t have a pastry bag.