After weeks and weeks of my mom nagging me to make meringue cookies, I finally gave in and made them (well, if I’m being honest…I waited until I baked something with egg yolks so I could make these cookies with the leftover egg whites ;) ). My mom LOVES meringue cookies, an addiction I will really never understand. She likes the light, airy crunch to them so much that she ate half a sheet of the cookies while I was snapping pictures!
These cookies are only a few ingredients and pretty easy to make, but despite the simplicity, they come out looking like something you bought at a bakery. They’re crunchy, airy, and pretty healthy in the cookie spectrum. Just make sure to store these in an airtight container.
6 egg whites (room temperature)
½ teaspoon cream of tartar
1 ½ cup powdered sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Fahrenheit.
Put the egg whites into a large mixing bowl and beat until frothy (about 10 seconds with a hand-mixer).
Add in the cream of tartar. Using your mixer, beat until soft peaks form.
Slowly add in the sugar (I do about ¼ cup at a time) while continuously beating the egg whites until stiff peaks begin to form.
Beat in the vanilla extract (until thoroughly combined).
Put the stiff meringue into a piping bag (or do what I do and use a zip lock bag with one corner cut off) and pipe your desired designs onto a nonstick cookie sheet or cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.
Bake for 2-3 hours (just watch to make sure nothing burns…you’re basically just drying out the meringue so it can be crunchy). Crack the oven and allow the cookies to cool completely before serving.
Enjoy!
