Chocolate Meringue Cookies Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is the trick to making meringue? ›

If you put meringues in an oven that is just blasting with heat (which is what I used to do), it will just caramelize (or burn). And then you'll find that the meringue doesn't even go hard on the outside, but rather it will just stay soft and go all shriveled. Not to mention it will probably taste dreadful too.

Chewy meringues are the result of two possible situations, under-baking and humidity. If they are under-baked they might always be a little chewy. For humidity, you can try popping the meringues back into the oven on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet at 200°F for 10 minutes to try crisping them up a bit.

The trick is to store the baked, cooled meringues in the freezer, where the dry, cold air prevents them from attracting moisture and losing their crispness. This means you can make plain meringue cookies anytime, yes, but you'll also have so many other desserts waiting at your fingertips.

A couple ideas… never use a plastic bowl, metal or glass only and make sure there is not even a drop of egg yolk. Fat will cause your whites to not reach stiff peaks. Also, adding cream of tartar or a little lemon juice will help make a solid meringue.

A baked meringue should have a chewy center and a crisp exterior. ‌Solution: Leave meringues to cool in the oven. After turning the oven off, you can leave meringue cookies inside to finish drying out. Crack the oven door if you're worried the heat will be too high.

To check if the meringue is done whipping, grab the whisk and swirl on the bottom of the bowl. You should feel some resistance against the whisk.

A warning — if you add your sugar too slowly the mix will get too fluffy and the texture of the meringues will be too open. Over whip the egg whites and you risk making them too firm and they will risk losing the moisture that they hold.

Italian meringue, like Swiss meringue, is cooked. It's the most stable of all three meringues, and it's ideal for buttercreams, piped decorations, topping tarts, and baking into cookies. Here, there's no double boiler involved.

Why is my meringue like marshmallow? ›

It doesn't have to be perfect, but if there are too many undissolved pieces of sugar, it means it's not fully dissolved into the protein layer of the egg whites. When this happens, your meringues won't come out crisp and they might seep liquid during baking as the sugar melts out of the meringue.

Authentic meringue cookies follow a 1:2 ratio of egg whites to sugar. The meringues should be on the sweet side and have a crisp texture that instantly melts in your mouth.

This is a good cookie to make in the evening; meringues can be left in the oven (with the heat turned off) overnight. Baking vegan? A good substitute for the egg whites in this recipe is aquafaba, the liquid drained from a can of chickpeas.

If you have leftover meringues, you can store them at room temperature or in the freezer for up to 1 month. If it's a warm or humid day, place your meringues in the fridge for 30 minutes first to make sure they're cool.

For the giant meringue, leave the oven on low all night to dry, crisp and caramelise it. If you prefer to make smaller piped meringues just bake them for the allocated time before bed, turn the oven off and leave them overnight to cool to rid of any tackiness.

It can take a while for a meringue to reach stiff peaks and for the sugar to dissolve—about five minutes with a hand mixer. If the sugar has not dissolved (for example, if it tastes gritty), keep beating.

In a large clean, grease-free bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, use the whisk attachement to whip the egg whites on low speed until foamy bubbles appear at the top. Add the vanilla bean paste and vinegar (or cream of tartar) and continue whipping until really foamy.