Vanilla Meringue Cookies
Vanilla Meringue Cookies are simple & easy to make with just 3 ingredients. Perfect as gifts or served for any holiday, party, or celebration!
Servings 24 cookies
Ingredients
- 2 egg whites
- ½ cup caster or superfine sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ⅛ tsp cream of tartar optional
- food color optional
- sprinkles optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 250F and line a large sheet pan with parchment paper or a Silpat mat.
- Add the egg whites to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat on medium-high speed until the egg whites start to become frothy.
- Add the cream of tartar, if using.
- Add the caster sugar a little bit at a time with the mixer on medium-high speed until the meringue is close to forming stiff peaks.
- Add the vanilla extract and beat until the meringue forms stiff peaks.
- If desired, transfer half of the mixture to a separate bowl and gently fold in pink or red gel food coloring. Be very gentle, making sure to not deflate the egg whites!
- Carefully transfer the mixture to a piping bag fitted with a large star, large round, or large open star attachments. Pipe small dollops (about 1” in diameter) that are at least 1″ inch apart.
- Bake the meringues for exactly one hour, and then turn off the oven and slightly open the oven door but leave the meringues inside! Allow them to slowly cool to room temperature inside the warm but cooling oven.
- Store in an airtight container for up to 1 week at room temperature.
Notes
The egg whites can, but don’t have to be at room temperature in this recipe.
**This recipe will work with powdered egg whites or meringue powder. Use 1 tsp powdered egg whites or meringue powder + 1 tbsp water for each egg. So or this recipe 2 tsp powdered egg whites or meringue powder + 2 tbsp water.
If you don’t have caster or superfine sugar, granulated sugar can be substituted but you’ll end up with a slightly denser meringue.
Cream of tartar helps stabilize the egg whites and prevent cracking. If you don’t have it, this recipe can definitely be made without it!
I used 1/2 teaspoon of light pink gel food coloring to color half of the batch. To make the white and pink swirl, I added the white meringue to the piping bag followed by the pink meringue— without cleaning out the piping bag between the two.