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These baked Meringue Cookies are sweet, crisp, and practically weightless. They are like biting into a little sugar cloud. They melt in your mouth and look so pretty on a cookie tray, especially when piped into delicate little kisses and tinted with a hint of color.

Pale pink meringue kisses in a white bowl.

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I have a lot of recipes here on this site that begin with meringue. Recipes like chocolate Swiss meringue buttercream, angel food cake, and coffee macarons. It may seem pretty simple to whip egg whites and sugar together until fluffy and stiff, but it can actually be kinda tricky if you’re not sure what you’re doing.

And I get a lot of questions about it! So I thought it was about time I put together a comprehensive guide for how to make meringue. And these cutie-patootie baked meringue cookies are the perfect place to start!

For these meringue cookies, we aren’t so much baking the meringue as drying it out.

These bake at a really low temperature (only 200 degrees F), for a long time. This gets them nice and crisp all the way through, without browning at all.

How To Make Meringue

The overall idea of meringue is pretty simple. It’s really just egg whites and sugar whipped together until fluffy and stiff.

I like to add a few other ingredients as well, such as cream of tartar to make the meringue more stable, vanilla extract, and salt to balance the flavors.

If you want to make meringue without cream of tartar, just sub in a few drops of lemon juice or white vinegar. They all pretty much do the same thing.

And you can get creative with flavors too. Vanilla isn’t the only option! Try adding almond extract, rosewater, lemon, or orange blossom water for example. You could even fold in freeze dried fruit (like raspberries) that’s been ground to a powder in the food processor.

Here’s Why You’ll Love This Recipe

  • Light & Airy: Crisp on the outside and slightly chewy in the center, just like the best bakery-style meringues.
  • Naturally Gluten-Free & Low-Calorie: Just 10 calories each and made without flour or butter.
  • Customizable: Swap out the extract or add color for different flavors and themes.
  • Make-Ahead Friendly: These cookies keep beautifully and don’t lose their crunch.

Ingredients You’ll Need

The recipe card at the bottom of the post contains the full list with all of the amounts. Refer to that when you’re cooking.

Overhead image of baby pink meringue cookies in a white bowl with a pink cloth.
  • Large egg whites: The star of the show. Make sure they’re at room temperature for the best volume.
  • Cream of tartar: Helps stabilize the egg whites and create those strong, stiff peaks.
  • Kosher salt: Just a pinch to balance the sweetness and enhance the flavor.
  • Granulated sugar: Sweetens and gives the meringues their signature crisp texture.
  • Vanilla extract: Adds classic flavor; feel free to substitute other extracts if you like.
  • Icing color (optional): A drop or two of gel color gives a beautiful pastel hue without deflating the meringue.

In Photos: How To Make Meringue Cookies

Step 1: Prep the Oven

Start by preheating your oven to 200°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set them aside.

Step 2: Whip the Egg Whites

Place the egg whites in a clean, grease-free mixing bowl. Add the cream of tartar and salt. Begin mixing on medium speed until the mixture becomes foamy and opaque.

Step 3: Add the Sugar Slowly

Increase the mixer speed slightly and begin adding sugar, just a little at a time. This step is key! Go slowly (about 1/4 teaspoon at a time) to ensure the sugar dissolves fully.

If the sugar is added too quickly, the meringue may collapse or become grainy.

Step 4: Whip to Stiff Peaks

Once all the sugar is added, turn the mixer to high and continue whipping until the meringue is glossy and holds stiff peaks. You should be able to turn the bowl upside down without it budging.

Step 5: Add Flavor & Color

Mix in the vanilla extract, and if you’re using color, fold it in gently with a spatula.

Step 6: Pipe the Meringue

Transfer the meringue to a piping bag fitted with a star tip. Pipe small 1-inch diameter kisses onto your prepared baking sheets, spacing them slightly apart.

Step 7: Bake Low & Slow

Bake in the preheated oven for 2 to 2 1/2 hours. They should feel dry and crisp, but not take on any color. Once baked, let them cool completely in the oven with the door cracked open.

Light pink baked meringue kisses on a parchment-lined baking sheet.

Tips & Troubleshooting

Why Won’t My Meringue Stiffen?

While the ingredients may be simple, the technique could really make or break you.

The most important thing when making meringue is timing. Here are a few things to keep in mind:

  • Add the sugar in too early and your whites might never get fluffy enough.
  • Add it in too late and your meringue might weep because the crystals didn’t have time to dissolve.
  • Add it in too fast, and it could deflate all the air out of the meringue.

It’s a really delicate balance! But if you start adding the sugar when the whites are starting to look foamy and a little white, and keep it going in S-L-O-W-L-Y (I’m talking like 1/4 teaspoon at a time!) you should be ok.

There’s one other thing that is SO important when it comes to making meringue, and that’s to make sure that everything is SUPER clean!

Make sure your bowl and your whisk are 100% free of any trace of fat. If any of your tools are at all greasy, your whites won’t whip up properly. Wash everything in very hot, soapy water and dry it well. Even the most microscopic trace of fat could make it impossible for your meringue to reach that critical stiff peak stage.

And do you know what contains fat? Egg yolks! So be really careful when you separate the eggs too. If you accidentally pierce the yolk you can forget about ever making a proper meringue.

Close-up image of a baked meringue cookie with a bite taken out of it, showing the light and airy interior.

Meringue Cookies FAQ

Can baked meringues be made ahead of time?

You might be able to get away with baking meringues ahead, but you’d be taking a big chance.
If it’s a dry day, that’s probably your best bet. But if it’s at all rainy or humid, you’re going to have trouble. They might come out of the oven just right, but over time they will re-absorb moisture from the air and become sticky.

I’ve had this problem a few times before and it’s so frustrating. You will be so much better off if you make them just before you plan to serve them.

How do you store meringue cookies?

If you live in a really dry environment, and you want to take your chances, place the meringue cookies in an airtight container and seal it tightly to keep the humidity out. They can last for a few days at room temp without spoiling, but they may become a bit sticky.

Hopefully this info will come in useful for you the next time you need to make a meringue-based confection! And if you have a question I didn’t cover here, feel free to leave it in a comment below, and I’ll get back to you with an answer as soon as I can.

What other ways can you use meringue?

These little meringue kisses are super cute and fun to snack on by the handful. But once you have meringue making mastered, there are all sorts of things you’ll be able to make with ease.

Here are a few examples:
-> Pipe the meringue into a cup or nest shape, and it can be filled with lemon curd, berries, or ice cream.
-> Try your hand at Pavlova – it’s baked a little faster so it remains soft and marshmallow-y inside.
-> Top a lemon meringue pie or baked Alaska – the meringue that tops these desserts doesn’t get baked at all; instead it’s toasted with a brulee torch or under the broiler.
-> If you can make a proper meringue, you’re halfway to making French macarons!
-> You can also make my favorite ever frosting: Swiss meringue buttercream!

More Meringue Recipes

Pale pink meringue kisses in a white bowl.
4.85 stars (19 ratings)

Meringue Cookies

Servings: 60 1-inch diameter cookies
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 2 hours 30 minutes
Total Time: 2 hours 40 minutes
These baked meringue cookies are crisp, sweet, & light as a cloud! Plus, lots of tips on how to make meringue that’s stiff and fluffy as can be.
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Ingredients

Instructions
 

  • Preheat the oven to 200 degrees F. 
  • Place the egg whites in a large, clean mixing bowl, and add the cream of tartar and salt.
  • Whip the whites on medium speed until foamy and just beginning to turn white.
  • While continuing to whip, add in the sugar very slowly (about 1/4 teaspoon at a time). 
  • When all the sugar has been added, turn the mixer up to high speed and whip until the meringue is glossy and very stiff. 
  • Stir in the vanilla extract, then fold in the color (if using). 
  • Transfer the meringue to a clean piping bag fitted with a French star tip, and pipe 1-inch diameter kisses onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. 
  • Bake the meringues in the warm oven for 2 to 2 1/2 hours, or until light and crisp (do not brown). 
  • Serve immediately.

Notes

*A few drops of lemon juice or white vinegar can be substituted.
**Other types of extracts can be substituted to taste.
Calories: 10kcal, Carbohydrates: 2g, Sodium: 13mg, Potassium: 5mg, Sugar: 2g
Cuisine: American
Course: Dessert, Snack
Tried this recipe?Mention @bakingamoment on Instagram or tag #bakingamoment.

Author

  • Allie is the creator and owner of Baking a Moment. She has been developing, photographing, videographing, and writing and sharing recipes here since 2012.

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