With just four ingredients, these cookies are airy bites of lemony sweetness. They dissolve the minute you pop them in your mouth. If you’re looking for an easy naturally gluten-free dessert, this flourless meringue recipe is just the thing!
What Are Meringue Cookies?
Also known as French meringue cookies, these pillowy clouds of sweetness taste almost like candy. The texture is light and airy with a crisp outside. They are made from egg whites whipped with cream of tartar and superfine sugar with a little lemon juice for flavor. The stiff meringue is then piped into bite-sized rounds on a cookie sheet and baked at a low temperature until dry and crispy, but not browned. Italian meringue is different from these cookies, it’s a soft frosting made with whipped hot sugar syrup to produce a glossy cake frosting.
Ingredients in Meringue Cookies
Egg Whites – Use the whites from freshly separated eggs or use boxed whites. Ensure that there are no bits of egg yolk in the whites (and no oil residue in your bowl or utensils) or the whites will not beat properly. Sugar – This recipe works best with superfine sugar (also called bakers sugar, caster sugar, or berry sugar). This sugar has a finer consistency than granulated sugar so it better. If you don’t have any on hand place some sugar into a food processor and pulse several times until uniformly fine-grained, but not powdered. Cream of Tartar – Cream of tartar is acidic and it helps to stabilize the egg whites and add volume. It creates light fluffy and glossy meringue. You can find cream of tartar online, in the baking aisle, or often in the bulk section of a grocery store. (If you have some leftover, it’s also used in snickerdoodles). If you don’t have cream of tartar, be sure not to skip the lemon juice or to add a bit of white vinegar to the egg mixture. Lemon Juice – My Grandma always added lemon juice to her meringues. The flavor it adds is mild and light and the acidity is an added stabilizer. If preferred, you can skip the lemon juice and add 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract in place.
How to Make Meringue Cookies
Meringues aren’t difficult to make but do follow the recipe directions carefully because that will produce the best texture.
Variations
Color Add a little bit of gel food coloring to make the meringue cookies extra pretty. Flavors Flavoring of all kinds can also be used. Almond, lemon, peppermint, coconut, and vanilla extracts all make very tasty meringues.
Classic Christmas Cookies
© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
