These mini meringues are as easy to make as they are adorable! Crunchy on the outside with a soft, pillowy center, they are melt in your mouth delicious! You can modify the flavors for any holiday or occasion!
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Why You'll Love These Meringues!
The best thing about these mini meringue cookies is that you can customize them however you want! Different flavor extracts, food coloring, and piping tips can make this 1 recipe look a dozen different ways!
- Peppermint for Christmas or the winter holidays
- Coconut for summer
- Lemon or lavender for spring
- Vanilla for anytime of year!
You might also like these ghost meringue cookies for Halloween!
Ingredient Notes
You only need 3 ingredients to make these mini meringues! (Plus some optional flavoring and food coloring if desired!)
Egg whites - I've recently started "aging" my egg whites and I've found it helps with my consistency. This is absolutely not necessary, but it's super easy to do so I recommend trying it out. Weigh out 100 grams of egg whites into a small bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and poke a few holes in the top. Place in the fridge for at least 24 hours but up to 3 days. Make sure to remove the egg whites from the fridge at least an hour before baking.
Flavor extracts - A few drops of gel flavor extract to your meringue! Always use gel if you can because regular extracts add to much extra liquid. I like to use vanilla bean paste or the flavor extract pastes from Taylor and Colledge (coconut, lavender, peppermint, and lemon are all delicious)!
Gel food coloring - I like to choose fun colors to match the flavor of the meringues! Always use gel food coloring when making meringue so that you don't add extra liquid to the meringue. AmeriColor soft gel paste is my favorite brand!
Fun piping tips - I like to use different piping tips for each flavor, but you can just use a classic round tip if you prefer. I love this set of extra large piping tips for the meringues.
The complete list of ingredients and amounts is located in the recipe card below.
How to Make Meringue Cookies
Preheat the oven to 200°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone liner.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, add the egg whites and cream of tartar and whisk on medium speed until frothy.
Gradually add in granulated sugar about 1 tablespoon at a time and increase mixer to medium-high speed. Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form (about 5-6 minutes).
If you want to make multiple flavors/colors, divide the meringue into small bowls. Then add in the your desired extracts and food coloring and very gently fold until completely incorporated. Be careful not to deflate the meringue while mixing.
Spoon meringue into a piping bag fitted with a large round tip (or your favorite fun piping tips).
Hold the bag perpendicular to the baking sheet. Using slow, even pressure, pipe small 1 inch kisses of meringue. Space the meringues about 1 inch apart on your baking sheet as they won’t spread.
Bake at 200°F for 1 hour. Then turn off the oven and allow the meringues to continue drying in the oven for another 1-2 hours.
Remove from the oven and allow the meringues to cool completely to room temperature.
Meringue Tips & Tricks
These mini meringue cookies are easy to make but they can give you a little bit of trouble if you’ve never made meringue before. But these tips will help you get perfect meringue every time!
- Make sure your egg whites are fully at room temperature before you start making your meringue! Cold egg whites take much longer to form stiff peaks.
- Make sure the bowl of your stand mixer is fully clean and dry. Wipe out the bowl with a small amount of lemon juice or white vinegar to ensure there are no residual traces of fat from a previous recipe as that can prevent your meringue from forming.
- Add in the sugar super slowly while beating the egg whites. If you add it in too quickly, you could deflate your meringue.
- Invest in some silicone mats! They aren’t expensive and they will make your life so much easier!
- Also invest in an oven thermometer to make sure your oven isn't too hot or too cold because improper temperature can affect the texture of the meringue kisses.
Tips for Success!
For best results I always recommend using weight measurements (especially when baking) because it's the most accurate. Kitchen scales are super affordable and also reduce the number of dishes you have to do! However, all my recipes also include US customary measurements for convince. Use this chart to convert measurements for common ingredients!
Substitutions: In all my recipes, I've included substitutions that I know will work, but I cannot guarantee results if you substitute ingredients that I have not recommended. [For example, granulated sugar and honey are indeed both sweeteners but they have very different properties so they can not always be swapped 1:1. Using honey in a cookie recipe that calls for granulated sugar will yield a giant mess.] In the recipe card you'll find links to the specific ingredients/brands that I use.
A note on salt: I almost exclusively use Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt because it's the best all-purpose salt for cooking and baking. If you're not using kosher salt, consult this handy guide for a conversion chart! When in doubt, if you're using table salt just reduce the amount by half for baked goods. When cooking, I prefer to under-salt because you can always add more! If you've over-salted, adding a little bit of acid (like lemon juice) can help.
Recipe FAQ's
Store these mini meringues at room temperature for up to 3 days!
The meringues will be very light and completely dry to touch. They will also lift off the parchment paper easily.
The meringues will be super light and crisp once the oven has dried out all the moisture in the egg whites. If you don't let the meringues fully dry, they will get chewy. Or if you leave the meringues in a humid place (like the fridge) you will absorb moisture and lose their crisp texture. If they get chewy after being left out, pop in the oven for about 10 minutes at 200°F.
When meringue cookies cool too quickly, they crack. To prevent meringue from cracking cool them in the oven after they are cooked completely so that they slowly come down to room temperature.
I don't recommend it but you can freeze meringues in a pinch! Place in a rigid airtight container, layered with parchment paper and store in the freezer for up to a month. Just note that the meringues will be very brittle after freezing and they may soften a bit as they thaw.
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Recipe Card
Mini Meringues
Ingredients
Meringues
- 3 large egg whites
- ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ teaspoon flavor extract
- ¼ teaspoon gel food coloring
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone liner.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, add the egg whites and cream of tartar and whisk on medium speed until frothy.
- Gradually add in granulated sugar about 1 tablespoon at a time and increase mixer to medium-high speed. Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form (about 5-6 minutes).
- If you want to make multiple flavors/colors, divide the meringue into small bowls. Then add in the your desired extracts and food coloring and very gently fold until completely incorporated. Be careful not to deflate the meringue while mixing.
- Spoon meringue into a piping bag fitted with a large round tip (or your favorite fun piping tips).
- Hold the bag perpendicular to the baking sheet. Using slow, even pressure, pipe small 1 inch kisses of meringue. Space the meringues about 1 inch apart on your baking sheet as they won’t spread.
- Bake at 200°F for 1 hour. Then turn off the oven and allow the meringues to continue drying in the oven for another 1-2 hours.
- Remove from the oven and allow the meringues to cool completely to room temperature.
Notes
Nutrition
The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Snazz says
Easy and delicious