Peppermint Meringue Cookies Recipe:

Sweet & Airy Treat

When you need a sweet & airy treat, consider trying our peppermint meringue cookies recipe!

Not only are they delicious, but they are gluten-free so you may share them with your friends.

Vegan friends? Yes!

Yes! Read through to see our VEGAN recipe for peppermint meringue cookies!

Meringue cookies are some of my favorite cookies. They are light, airy, and crisp. Indeed, these tiny treasures become part of the party decor. Edible decorations! In fact, meringue cookies may be shaped in many ways to use for edible decorations for your cakes.

Meringues can be flavored in a variety of ways. The original vanilla is delicious. But lemon meringue bursts with tangy flavors. And then there is the chocolate chip cherry meringue version, just heavenly!

This peppermint version with ribbons of red around the outside is a favorite for the holidays. They are stunning and make wonderful gifts for the holidays. But don’t limit yourself to enjoying them in December.  Peppermint love spans the twelve months of the year!

 

A Few Tips for Using our Peppermint Meringue Cookies Recipe

Egg whites must be pure to whip properly. Therefore, before you begin, make sure your mixing bowl and beaters are clean and free of any greasy residue.  Even the smallest amount of grease left behind prevents the egg whites from whipping up.

Take care when separating the eggs. If any yolk gets into the egg whites, you’ll need to start over. Again, egg whites must be pure. It’s best to break each egg into a small bowl, removing the yolk. Then add the white to your mixing bowl. Do this one at a time with each egg. That way, if one yolk breaks, it doesn’t affect all.

Once your meringue is shiny and holds a stiff peak, stop whipping. It is possible to overbeat the egg whites! You seek that perfect peak.

Bake meringues at a low temperature, about 225°F,  for about an hour. Turn off the oven. Leave cookies in the oven for another hour or so depending on the humidity. On a humid day, it takes longer for them to dry out. Consider that totally dry meringue nearly melts in your mouth!

However, if you prefer for your meringues to be slightly chewy in the center, you will want to remove them sooner. Test them after they’ve baked for an hour and go ahead and remove them from the oven when you are happy with the result.

Make them your own! You can use any extract flavor you want as well as any color food coloring. In fact, this recipe easily adapts to any holiday or celebration!

Peppermint meringue cookie ingredients

Assemble your ingredients- you only need 5 ingredients to make these easy meringue cookies

• Egg whites – Make sure to use room temperature egg whites; they whip up easier
• Cream of tarter – Needed to stabilize the egg whites
• Sugar – Granulated white sugar works best for meringues
• Peppermint extract – Added for flavor
• Red food coloring – Though optional, this provides the color. 
  • Most bakers use red food coloring gel. However, you might also try more natural options.
    
    • Natural options include red fruit (pomegranate, cherry, cranberries), hibiscus flowers (steep in water to draw the coloring to use), and even beet powder.
      

How to make peppermint meringue cookies?

This peppermint meringue cookie recipe is incredibly simple to make.

 

 

 

If you like the centers to be slightly chewy, you can remove them as soon as they reach the texture you desire.

Learning to Pipe Meringue Cookies

Use a large piping tip when piping meringue cookies. Squeeze the piping bag gently to pipe little “kisses” of meringue then release the pressure and lift the bag away. Repeat for each cookie. While your first cookie might not be perfect, your technique improves with practice.

HINT: No pastry bag? A plastic food storage bag works fine. Just cut off a corner and attach your tip to the corner.

ANOTHER OPTION: The tip certainly creates a beautiful rosette. However, You can also make delightful cookies by just spooning small dollops onto the parchment paper.

 

And the Vegan Version…

VEGAN MERINGUE

(Airy and Perfect!)

 

 

Meringue cookies combine egg whites, sugar, and vanilla. Whipped, then baked, these tiny delights create a delightful treat for holidays or any day. 

Light, airy, and perfectly sweet vegan meringue cookies. Cute and fun and made with chickpea aquafaba resulting in totally perfect meringue!

I was daunted by the idea of vegan meringue for a long time and now I don’t know why.

Honestly, making these was incredibly easy!

If you are new to the idea of aquafaba, let me tell you about it. A few years back some geniuses discovered that the water (brine) from a can of chickpeas acted pretty much exactly like egg whites when whipped.

Basically, the proteins from the beans leach out into the water and make that water very similar to egg whites in how it behaves. So you can use that water for all sorts of egg-like things!

I have actually used aquafaba before, very successfully when I made my aquafaba peppermint chocolate mousse!

So goodness knows why I was daunted by the idea of vegan meringue, but somehow I just was!

But these came out so beautifully! So now you know I am definitely thinking about some vegan lemon meringue and vegan pavlova!

HOW TO MAKE VEGAN MERINGUE

 

To make these you just take some of the water from a can of chickpeas, and place it in your electric mixer with some cream of tartar.

Cream of tartar really works for stabilization and it’s exactly like you would use if you were whipping egg whites.

Then you speed it up and as you can see things start to get very creamy and glossy! You add your sugar and vanilla slowly as it whips and let it go until you have nice and glossy stiff peaks.

Granulated sugar works best for this as it provides the structure for the meringues.

Steps to vegan peppermint meringue cookies

This peppermint meringue cookie recipe is incredibly simple to make.

1) Beat the aquafaba and cream of tartar together until it is very foamy.

2) Gradually add the sugar with the mixer on medium speed.

3) After adding all the sugar, beat at high speed until the mixture forms stiff shiny peaks.

4)  If you are using food coloring, use a pastry brush to paint red streaks inside a piping bag fitted with a piping tip.

5) Fill the bag with the meringue and pipe mounds onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone mat.

6) Bake at 225ºF (some prefer 250°f for the vegan version) for 1 hour. Turn the oven off, leave the door closed, and let the meringues continue to dry for another hour. The extra time works best for the vegan version. However, if you like the centers to be slightly chewy, you can remove them as soon as they reach the texture you desire.

Pipe vegan meringue cookies just as above

Use a large piping tip when piping meringue cookies. Squeeze the piping bag gently to pipe little “kisses” of meringue, then release the pressure and lift the bag away. Repeat for each cookie. While your first cookie might not be perfect, your technique improves with practice.

And, just like that, you are a PRO at our Peppermint Meringue Cookies Recipe, vegan or not!

Other recipes coming soon….
Vegan Mousse (with Aquafaba!) Vegan Gluten Free Chocolate Chip CookiesVegan Oreo CupcakesVegan Chocolate CaramelsVegan Blackberry MuffinsVegan Coconut PancakesVegan Oatmeal Bars

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