Meringue Cookies

Name: Meringue Cookies
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 70 min
Total time: 90 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: French
Ingredients: egg whites 3 ea; sugar 140 g; vanilla extract 1 tsp; lemon juice 1 tsp; salt 1 tsp; cocoa powder 8 g

Quick answer

Total time: 90 min
Level: Easy
Servings: 4 servings
Ingredients: 6

About this dish

Made from nothing but egg whites and sugar whipped to a stiff gloss, with no flour or butter, these shatter into light, dry crumbs.

The oven is kept low because the goal is to dry them out rather than bake them, and a pale, nearly white finish is what you are after. Folding cocoa powder into part of the meringue gives a second flavor from the same batch. Humidity is their weak point: left out in the air, the shells soften and turn sticky.

Ingredients

servings

IngredientAmount

egg whites3 ea

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Instructions

6 steps

1

Place 3 egg whites in a clean, grease-free bowl with 1 tsp salt and 1 tsp lemon juice.

Whip on medium speed until the foam turns fine and even, because any grease can stop the meringue from rising properly.
2

Add the 140 g sugar in 4 or 5 small additions while continuing to whip.

Stop only when the sugar grains are no longer visible, the meringue looks glossy, and the peaks stand firm without bending over.
3

Add 1 tsp vanilla extract and fold gently so the foam does not collapse.

For a cocoa version, mix 8 g cocoa powder into part of the meringue just until the color is even, without overmixing.
4

Line a tray and transfer the meringue to a piping bag, then pipe small portions.

Keep the pieces similar in size so they dry evenly at 100C and do not leave some centers soft while others overbake.
5

Bake at 100C for 70 minutes, treating the oven like a dryer rather than a hot bake.

If the cookies start taking on too much color, briefly open the door to release heat and keep the shells pale.
6

After baking, let the cookies cool completely on the tray.

When the outside breaks crisply under light pressure, move them straight to an airtight container so humidity does not make them sticky and dull their snap.