How to make French Meringue Cookies
French meringues are easy to make but they take a long time to bake. Have patience, it’s worth it.
First, separate your eggs
Place the egg whites into the bowl of the stand mixer,
save the egg yolks for PASTRY CREAM. Get a recipe for pastry cream HERE
Beat it
Beat the egg whites until foamy, then add cream of tarter and salt. Slowly add the powdered sugar and beat the mixture until it becomes shiny. I like to use powdered sugar because it dissolves easily into the egg whites.
Add GEL FOOD COLOR if you want colorful meringue cookies. A little goes a long way so just add a tiny bit, I use a toothpick. Dip it into the gel color and then into the meringue mixture and combine. If you need more color just repeat the process as needed. Gel food color won’t dilute your mixture like liquid food color will, it’s much easier to control.
Pipe it up
Pipe the meringues onto a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. If you don’t have a piping bag you can spoon it into mounds and shape it as you like.
How to make French Meringue Cookies
Ingredients
- 3 egg whites from large eggs
- 1/2 teaspoon cream of tarter
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1 and 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- gel food coloring optional
Instructions
- Line 2 sheet pans with parchment paper
- Preheat your oven to 200 degrees, if you have a convection oven use that option.
- Beat the egg whites on the mixer for 30 seconds on medium speed, until the whites become foamy
- Add the salt and cream of tarter continue to beat the egg whites on medium speed
- Slowly add the sugar a half cup at a time and continue to beat until the egg whites become shiny, about 3-4 minutes
- Add a tiny amount of food coloring if you are using it and swirl it into the meringue
- Using a pastry bag with a star tip pipe the meringue onto a parchment lined sheet pan. If you don't have a pastry bag you can spoon the meringue onto the parchment lined cookie sheet.
- Bake the meringues for 1 -2 hours if your meringues are large. The meringues should be dry when done but not browned.
- Turn the oven off and let the meringue cookies cool in the oven with the door closed for about an hour.
- Let cool completely and store in an airtight container if not using right away
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