A classic recipe for meringue cookies! These light and airy meringues make for a great treat any time of the year, but I especially love them as a Christmas dessert!If this is your first time making meringues I recommend reading over the tips in the post and watching the video before beginning.
Prep time: PT20M
Cook time: PT120M
Total time: PT140M
Rating
4.94 stars (716 reviews)
Keywords
how to make meringues, meringue, meringue cookies, meringues
Ingredients
4 large egg whites (room temperature)
½ teaspoon cream of tartar
⅛ teaspoon salt
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract¹
Categories
cookie
Dessert
Cuisine
French
Steps
Preheat oven to 225F (105C) and line a large cookie sheet (or two regular-sized cookie sheets -- make sure they will fit in your oven together) with parchment paper. Set aside.
Combine egg whites, cream of tartar, and salt in a large, completely clean, completely grease-free bowl².
Using an electric mixer or a stand mixer (with either the whisk or paddle attachment), stir on low speed until mixture becomes foamy.
Increase speed to high.
With mixer on high, gradually add sugar, about 1 Tablespoon at a time, stirring after each addition until sugar is dissolved (about 15-20 seconds between each addition).
Beat until mixture is thick, shiny, and has increased in volume. Mixture should have stiff peaks and sugar should be completely dissolved (you can test this by rubbing a small bit of the mixture between your fingers, if it feels gritty, the sugar isn't dissolved).
Stir in vanilla extract and any other extract you may like to use. If using food coloring, add the food coloring at this stage, too.
Fit a large disposable piping bag with a large tip (I used Ateco 846, but any large star tip will work or you can just snip the edge of the piping bag for a “kiss” formation) and transfer meringue to prepared piping bag and pipe onto prepared cookie sheet. The meringue cookies can be pretty close to each other as they won’t spread, and you will want to bake all of the cookies at the same time, so make sure you make enough space.
Bake on 225F (105C) for 1 hour. Turn off the oven once the baking time has passed, and do not open the oven. Leave the oven door closed and allow cookies to cool completely in the oven (1-2 hours) before removing.
Meringue cookies should be crisp and can be stored in an airtight container. Keep away from heat and moisture as it can soften your meringues.
Nutitrion
Serving Size: 1 meringue cookie
Calories: 21 kcal
Carbohydrates: 5 g
Protein: 1 g
Fat: 1 g
Sodium: 12 mg
Sugar: 5 g
Reviews
Jill J on 2026-09-24 (5 stars): Just delicious! The best meringue recipe I’ve made. Thank you.
Rosy on 2026-09-08 (5 stars): This recipe is very easy. I followed it exactly and my cookies were delicious.
How long do they keep if I store them in a ziplock bag or plastic container?
Marjorie L Tyler on 2026-09-01 (5 stars): I make these all the time and people begging me to make them for them they're so delicious. great recipe
Joy on 2026-08-11 (4 stars): I wanted a recipe to replicate the meringues I had in the UK. This recipe was tasty and easy to follow. My only complaint is that the meringues were a bit too sweet for me. Is it possible to reduce the sugar and still have the recipe work? I liked it a lot!
Purple on 2026-06-30 (5 stars): Super easy to make! My kids (12 year old and 9 years old) Made them all by themselves with my supervision, but they did not need any help. The meringues turned out amazing, thank you so much for creating this awesome recipe.
Maddie on 2026-06-28 (5 stars): This recipe is awesome!
123cookiesforme🍪👍 on 2026-06-18 (5 stars): I LOVE vanilla meringue cookies. probably one of my fav cookies ever.
Keep up the absolute WONDERFUL work Sam!
🍪👍🫰🫰🫰🫰🫰
