Easy Vegan Meringue Cookies
Easy and delicious vegan meringue cookies that you’d never know are vegan! Low calorie and low in sugar, these gluten free cookies are so fun to make!
Didn’t think vegan meringue cookies could exist? Think again!
Recently, I’ve been experimenting more with aquafaba (see the section below), so I thought why not try and make a vegan meringue cookie to help you use every bit of your chickpea can?
Waste not, want not 😉
In fact, I shared these with my family, and even my sister’s friend, and no one could believe that they were vegan (nor gluten free nor low calorie!)!
You’ll laugh at this: before they tried them, they were absolutely poking fun, saying there’s no way these will taste like meringue. After the first bite, they were asking for the recipe ha!
That, my friends, is how we do it 🙂 Let’s make these vegan meringue cookies!
What is aquafaba?
Good question! I touch upon this in my Vegan Baking 101 post, but essentially, aquafaba is the liquid that chickpeas in a can (or a box) sit in.
When you buy chickpeas, most people just think to use the chickpeas and discard the water, but that water (aquafaba) can be a wonderful substitute for eggs in vegan baking!
Or in this case: meringue cookies 🙂
How to use aquafaba for meringue
So we know that aquafaba is the liquid that comes from a can of chickpeas, but how can you turn it into a fluffy vegan meringue that basically mimics a regular meringue?
Easy! To make these vegan meringue cookies, you’ll first need to know how to make vegan meringue.
For the vegan meringue cookies, you’ll need:
- Aquafaba (about 2 15-ounce cans of chickpeas)
- Cream of tartar
- Powdered sugar
That’s the basic recipe for a vegan meringue. To start, begin whipping the aquafaba using either a hand mixer or a stand mixer until it forms fluffy white peaks (much like regular meringue). This process will take about 5-7 minutes, airing on the longer side if you’re using a hand mixer.
Then add in the cream of tartar and beat again to fully incorporate. Finally, while you’re beating the meringue, you’ll sift in about 1/2 cup of powdered sugar at a time, waiting to add each increment until the last is fully incorporated.
The end result will be a very fluffy and creamy mixture, but quite as fluffy as the peaks when we first started beating.
How to make vegan meringue cookies
Now that we’ve made the vegan meringue, let’s finally put together the vegan meringue cookies!
Once the meringue is made, you can add in the optional food coloring. I used beet powder, but you can use turmeric, matcha, spirulina, blue pea powder, or regular vegan food coloring bottles!
Add in the food coloring to the meringue and continue beating until it’s fully incorporated. Then fill a large piping bag with a tip and begin to pipe the cookies onto an extra large baking sheet with parchment paper (or 2 large baking sheets), making each cookie about 1 or 1 1/2 inches in diameter and spreading the cookies about 2 inches apart.
You should get about 36 meringues.
Then place the baking sheets into the oven preheated to 220F. Let the vegan meringue cookies bake for 1 hour, rotating the pan every 15 minutes. Once the cookies are done, turn off the oven but leave the cookies in the oven to rest. They’ll need to rest for 1 hour.
After they’ve rested, you can serve and enjoy!
How long do vegan meringue cookies last
What I love about vegan meringue cookies is that they can last up to 2 weeks when stored at room temperature in an airtight container.
You can also store these cookies in the freezer for up to 3 months!
I hope you love the meringue cookies as much as I do! If you give them a go, let me know down below in the comments section.
As always, I absolutely love to see your beautiful creations, so be sure to tag me on Instagram and Pinterest!
Happy vegan meringue making!
More healthy flourless dessert recipes:
Paleo Vegan Flourless Chocolate Cake
Vegan Flourless Chickpea Brownies
Vegan Flourless Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Healthy Vegan Peanut Butter Buckeyes
Paleo Vegan Sweet Potato Mousse
Want to save this recipe for later? Add it to your favorite recipe board on Pinterest!
Easy Vegan Meringue Cookies
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 120
- Total Time: 2 hours 15 minutes
- Yield: 36 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: French
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Easy and delicious vegan meringue cookies that you’d never know are vegan! Low calorie and low in sugar, these cookies are so fun to make!
Ingredients
- 1 cup aquafaba (water from a can of chickpeas- about 2 cans of chickpea; see Note)
- 1 tsp cream of tartar
- 1 3/4 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Optional: 2 tsp beet powder
Instructions
- To start, preheat the oven to 220F and line an extra large or 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, use a hand mixer or a stand mixer to beat the aquafaba until it forms stiff, fluffy white peaks, much like making regular meringue. This will take about 5-7 minutes.
- Add in the cream of tartar and beat again for 30 seconds to combine.
- Gradually add in the powdered sugar as your continue to beat the aquafaba, using only 1/2 cup increments max at a time and waiting until that increment is fully incorporated. The mixture should still be fluffy, but not as fluffy as when you first started beating the aquafaba to form peaks.
- Add in the vanilla extract and beet powder, and continue to beat until fully incorporated.
- Spoon the meringue into an icing bag with a tip or a plastic bag with a corner snipped (this will be harder and messier, but still a viable option). Pipe 1 to 1 1/2 inch meringue cookies onto the baking sheet, spacing them about 2 inches apart. Do this for the entire vegan meringue or if you run out of space, bake in batches.
- Place the cookie sheets into the oven to bake for 1 hour, rotating the pan every 15 minutes.
- After 1 hour, turn off the oven but leave the meringue cookies inside the oven to rest for another hour.
- Remove from the oven and serve. These meringue cookies will keep for up to 2 weeks when stored in an airtight container at room temperature. Additionally, you can freeze them for up to 3 months.
Notes
Typical cans of chickpeas in the United States come in an average size of 15 ounces, which should yield about 1/2 cup aquafaba per can. To use up the chickpeas as well, toss them over a salad or use them to make these flourless gluten free vegan brownies!
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 25
- Sugar: 5.7 g
- Sodium: 0.2 mg
- Fat: 0 g
- Saturated Fat: 0 g
- Trans Fat:
- Carbohydrates: 5.9 g
- Fiber: 0 g
- Protein: 0 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
Wow I had no idea I could turn my leftover chickpea water into gorgeous cookies! So cool! Love the natural pink color too 🙂
Aw enjoy!! Thank you so much for the rating!
I followed the recipe and they all melted into a puddle!
Hi Shanna- so sorry to hear this! It sounds like you didn’t whip the aquafaba into stiff peaks, exactly as you would egg whites. To do this, you really need to take around 7 minutes to whip it until it can hold it’s shape (and essentially you can turn it upside down and it won’t fall out). Otherwise, the cookies will melt into a puddle.