French Meringue Cookies

Happy Easter week, everyone! To celebrate, we’re making — and eating — oodles of French Meringue Cookies. Are you familiar with these gluten-free treats? They are crispy on the outside, and soft and pavlova-like on the inside. You can pipe the egg white batter into fanciful shapes, or simply spoon it onto a baking sheet. Here’s the recipe:

Watch the above video to see how French Meringue Cookies are made. Then scroll down for a few notes and the printable recipe. Hungry for more? Subscribe to my YouTube channel. 

The Five Ingredients for French Meringue Cookies:

Egg whites. Make sure these are at room temperature — cold egg whites won’t mount properly.

Salt.

Cream of Tartar. You can find this in the baking aisle at any grocery store. Cream of tartar is an acid that prevents proteins in egg whites from sticking together. As a result, the whites beat up to their full, billowy potential.

Caster Sugar. This sugar has a fine grain that dissolves readily. If you can’t find caster sugar (or if you refuse to buy it), go ahead and use regular granulated sugar.

Pure Vanilla Extract or some other flavoring. You can have great fun flavoring your meringues. I once added rose water to the batter, and the cookies smelled heavenly indeed. You might like to experiment with peppermint extract, lemon extract, or almond extract.

How to Make French Meringue Cookies:

1. Preheat the oven to 200°F. Put the egg whites, salt, and cream of tartar in the bowl of a stand mixer outfitted with the whisk attachment. Beat at medium speed until the whites turn foamy — about 90 seconds.

2. With the mixer running at high speed, add the caster sugar one tablespoon at a time, allowing 15-20 seconds between each subsequent addition. (If you are using regular granulated sugar, add it even more slowly — just one teaspoon at a time.) Beat in the vanilla extract. Continue beating until the whites turn glossy and hold a stiff peak.

(At this point, you can use the batter as is, or beat in droplets of food coloring. My habit is to use half of the batter in its natural hue, and dye the remaining half. Blue, yellow, and pink — pastels all — are great colors for French Meringue Cookies.)

3. Spoon or pipe the batter onto parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing them 1 inch apart. My piped cookies are approximately 1 1/2-inches in diameter.

4. Bake the cookies for 1 hour. Then turn the heat off, but allow the cookies to remain in the oven until they dry completely — usually 2 hours. If desired, you can leave the cookies in the turned-off oven overnight.

How to Store French Meringue Cookies

Once the cookies have cooled completely, store them in an air-tight container at room temperature. Stored this way, the cookies will retain their wonderful crispness for at least 5 days. Proper storage is especially important in humid conditions. Damp air is the enemy of the French Meringue Cookie!

And here is the printable recipe:

Print Recipe

French Meringue Cookies

These cookies are made with stiffly beaten egg whites. They are melt-in-your-mouth delicious.

Prep Time20 mins

Cook Time1 hr

Course: cookies, Dessert

Cuisine: French

Servings: 48 1.5-inch-diameter cookies

Equipment

• A stand mixer outfitted with the whisk attachment
• A piping bag outfitted with a large star tip
• Baking sheets
• Parchment paper

Ingredients

• 4 egg whites from large eggs, at room temperature
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1 cup caster sugar (super-fine sugar)
• 3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 200°F.
• Put the egg whites, salt, and cream of tartar in the bowl of a stand mixer outfitted with the whisk attachment. Beat at medium speed until the whites turn foamy -- about 90 seconds.
• With the mixer running at high speed, add the caster sugar one tablespoon at a time, allowing 15-20 seconds between each subsequent addition. (If you are using regular granulated sugar, add it even more slowly -- just one teaspoon at a time.) Beat in the vanilla extract. Continue beating until the whites turn glossy and hold a stiff peak.
• At this point, you can use the batter as is, or beat in droplets of food coloring. My habit is to use half of the batter in its natural hue, and dye the remaining half. Pastel shades of blue, yellow, and pink are great colors for an Easter parade of French Meringue Cookies.
• Spoon or pipe the batter onto parchment-lined baking sheets, allowing 1 inch of air space between each cookie. (The cookies for this recipe are approximately 1 1/2 inches in diameter.)
• Bake the cookies for 1 hour. Then turn the heat off, but allow the cookies to remain in the oven until they dry completely -- usually 2 hours. If desired, you can leave the cookies overnight in the turned-off oven.