When I was in elementary school, my favorite book to check out from the library was Roald Dahl’s Revolting Recipes, which contained recipes with titles such as, “Snozzcumbers,” “Fresh Mudburgers,” and “Bruce Bogtrotter’s Cake.” My absolute favorite, however, was a dessert called “Stickjaw for Talkative Parents,” which was simply a batch of meringue cookies with a chewy caramel inside each.
Thus began my love for meringue cookies. Since traditional meringue consists of whipped egg whites and white sugar, my conversion to a healthy, plant-based diet basically eliminated meringue cookies from my diet.
BUT
Within the past few months, a miraculous discovery called aquafaba has emerged as the vegan equivalent of egg whites. I had heard about aquafaba, but had never actually tried whipping it into meringue until a couple of weeks ago. And when I watched the tiny amount of chickpea brine whip into beautiful stiff peaks, my eyes filled with tears of joy (well, almost).
All you need is 6 T. of chickpea water to make one batch of meringue cookies!
I attempted to make these with coconut sugar, and they ended up in the trash. Unless you like calorie-free sugar replacements, there really is no substitute (that I know of!) for white sugar in meringue. So while I generally say you should avoid refined sugar, sometimes you need to impress guests or simply celebrate the holidays with a little sugar. You’ll live, I promise.
This meringue can also be used on top of pies, in pavlova, baked Alaska, etc. — basically anything you’d make with regular meringue. The flavor and texture are the same — if not better — than meringue made with egg whites. Try it!
One thing I have noticed is that some brands of chickpeas form stiffer meringue than others. Definitely choose a salt-free can, and try different brands to see which one you prefer.
Before I give you the recipe for my peppermint meringues, I’ll give you a basic meringue cookie recipe so you can make other flavors. Besides the peppermint, I also like vanilla with mini vegan chocolate chips and mocha. I’m open to other ideas though!
- 6 T. aquafaba (brine from a can of salt-free chickpeas)
- ⅛ t. cream of tartar
- Pinch sea salt
- ½ - 1 t. vanilla, or other flavoring of choice
- ½ cup white cane sugar
- Preheat oven to 225 degrees F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In an electric mixer with a whisk attachment, beat the aquafaba, cream of tartar, and salt on high until stiff peaks form. This could take anywhere from 6 to 15 minutes, depending on your mixer.
- With the mixer still running, add the flavoring and gradually pour in the sugar, stopping once or twice to scrape down the sides of the bowl.
- Transfer the meringue to a large plastic bag with a corner snipped off or a pastry bag, and squeeze meringue onto baking sheet in circular motions to make 2-inch cookies.
- Bake about 1 hour, then allow to cool completely on the baking sheet. Cookies will crisp more while cooling. Enjoy!
This meringue is like traditional meringue in that it gets sticky when exposed to humidity. I recommend making it on a sunny day and storing the cookies in an air-tight container.
These meringue cookies are fun hot cocoa toppers!
This meringue recipe is great to make with kids too! Even though I rarely let Abby have sugar, these cookies are so light and airy that I don’t feel so bad about letting her have one on occasion.
She loves them!
OK, now for my Christmas cookie of choice, peppermint meringue cookies!
- 6 T. aquafaba (brine from a can of salt-free chickpeas)
- ⅛ t. cream of tartar
- Pinch sea salt
- ½ t. peppermint extract
- ½ cup white cane sugar
- ½ cup vegan chocolate chips, melted
- ¾ cup crushed candy cane
- 1 t. cocoa (optional), for dusting
- Preheat oven to 225 degrees F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In an electric mixer with a whisk attachment, beat the aquafaba, cream of tartar, and salt on high until stiff peaks form. This could take anywhere from 6 to 15 minutes, depending on your mixer.
- With the mixer still running, add the peppermint extract and gradually pour in the sugar, stopping once or twice to scrape down the sides of the bowl.
- Transfer the meringue to a large plastic bag with a corner snipped off or a pastry bag, and squeeze meringue onto baking sheet in circular motions to make 2-inch cookies.
- Bake about 1 hour, then allow to cool completely on the baking sheet. Cookies will crisp more while cooling.
- Gently dip the bottoms of each cookie in the melted chocolate, scraping the excess off on the edge of the bowl or cup, then dip the chocolate end into a bowl of candy cane bits. Transfer each dipped cookie to a sheet of wax paper to harden. Put 1 teaspoon of cocoa in a small strainer and shake about one foot above the cookies to dust them with the cocoa.
- Store cookies in an air-tight container.
Aquafaba meringue is so simple to make, is super tasty, and makes beautiful cookies! Nobody will know these are vegan, and as a fun ice breaker, you can have people guess the main ingredient! 🙂
Let me know if you try these, and what you think about them.
I’m in love!
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