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These meringue cookies are pretty and delicious and naturally gluten free. Dress them up for Valentine’s Day with a little chocolate and sprinkles.
I am a huge meringue fan. One of my favorite meringue based desserts is Pavlova and this Boccone Dolce is pure melt in your mouth heaven. These Toffee Meringue cookies just melt in your mouth. Creating the perfect meringue cookies is easy with this step by step tutorial.I love meringue. The taste and the texture are both perfection.  I also love how light and airy it feels in my mouth – there must not be any calories in it, right?  As far as cookies go, it is low calorie and there is no fat either.
Perfect Meringue
I also love how easy it is to make once you know the tricks. There are a couple of tricks to making perfect meringue. A perfect meringue can be eaten without it totally falling apart in your hand. When you bite into it, it still holds it shape but has a nice crispness to it with a bit of chewiness in the inside. It should have just a bit of chewiness, you don’t want it too chewy but you don’t want it totally crispy either.
How to Make Meringue Cookies
There are four tricks I have discovered to making perfect meringue cookies.
- Use eggs at room temperature. Eggs at room temperature whip better and higher.
- Using a chilled bowl will help your egg whites beat easier and quicker.
- Be sure your bowl is clean, and grease free. Any bit of fat will ruin your meringue and will cause your egg whites not to whip properly.
- Bake it low and slow. I often bake my meringue night before and then turn off the oven and let it sit in the oven all night.
Egg White Cookies
Combine your egg whites, sugar, pinch of salt and cream of tartar and beat it until stiff.
After you have whipped your egg whites with the cream of tartar and granulated sugar, fold in the powdered sugar.
You want to bake your meringue on a parchment covered cookie sheet. I used a piping bag and tip to make my hearts. I used my largest star tip and formed the right hand side of my heart first. See the video below for more details on how to pipe.
I then repeated that same shape on the opposite side to form a heart.
Bake them at 200 degrees for two hours or bake for one hour and then turn off the oven and just let them sit in the oven for a few more hours. Often, I make mine at night and after I turn off the oven I just let them sit in the closed oven all night.
They should easily come off the parchment paper and be light as air.
The meringues are pretty much perfect just the way they are but I wanted to dress them up a bit for Valentine’s Day. I melted some white chocolate (or you can use Wilton Melts). I dipped half of the heart into the chocolate. Be gentle as they are a bit fragile.
Then add sprinkles!
Let the chocolate set up and then enjoy!
For some of our favorite Valentine treats try these:
- Cupcake Fondue
- Valentine’s Day Hot Chocolate Bar
- Shortbread Heart Cookies
- Raspberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake
- Chocolate Lava Cupakes
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Did you know I wrote a cookbook? Check out the Holiday Slow Cooker Cookbook for 100 delicious recipes.
Chocolate Dipped Meringue Cookies
Ingredients
- 4 egg whites
- 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
- 1/2 cup granulated white sugar
- 1 cup powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 200 degrees
- Line cookie sheet with parchment paper or a brown paper bag
- Beat egg whites until foamy.
- Add in cream of tartar and beat until soft peaks form
- Slowly add in granulated sugar and beat until stiff peaks form.
- Fold in powdered sugar.
- Place meringue in a piping bag with a large star tip and pipe on to baking sheet.
- Bake for 2 hours or bake for 1 hour and turn off oven and leave in oven overnight.
Lori Hackman says
These are very good
Jennifer says
Mine didn’t turn out quite as pretty as yours, but they still look great. My hearts are a little more abstract! I used egg whites that I had frozen a while back from some other recipe. I was concerned that they may not work out but they were great. I think they may have whipped up even more than regular egg whites. I didn’t have enough room on my tray for all the meringue. I squeezed little stars between all the hearts and still had to toss a little. Great recipe; thanks!
Liz says
These worked out so well! I was a little worried when the powered sugar kind of clumped as I poured it in, but they seemed to work great!
Are they supposed to be a bit chewy on the inside like Pavlova, or just crispy through the entire cookie?
Leigh Anne says
They can be a bit chewy sometimes but sometimes mine turn out crispy all the way through – the weather can definitely affect it!
Cristy says
These look so yummy. I have included them in my roundup of 20 Yummy Heart Shaped Treats.
http://happyfamilyblog.com/20-yummy-heart-shaped-treats/
Cristy
http://happyfamilyblog.com
Mary says
I am really excited to try these for a school Valentine’s celebration on Friday. I have to make them the night before. Because they need to be dairy free, nut free, and gluten free, I am planning to dip them in Enjoy Life brand chocolate. Can I dip them the night before and store in an airtight container? Will the advance chocolate dipping turn them into a wet mess? I can’t risk waking up to a disaster the day of the party.
Leigh Anne says
Mary, they will be fine made a day or two ahead. Just keep them in an airtight container. have fun!