Author: Yes, it can be done, and that's not all. Vegan Meringue Cookies can happen in your kitchen with ingredients you probably already have in your cupboard! So what's the secret ingredient? Aquafaba is what it's called. Now let's break that down a little.
Aqua = water. Faba = bean.
So what does that make? Bean water! (or chickpea water) I know, you are totally drooling right now. Bean water cookies. Yum? It's true, you can make a meringue out of the water that's leftover in a can of beans, and it's basically exactly the same result as if you were to use egg whites, except totally vegan! Celebrate, yay, exciting, hands to the sky, woot woot!
I am not the brilliant genius who figured this out but it's a pretty amazing discovery and the vegan community is going wild. I see lemon meringue pies, macaroons, and fluffy batters in the future... vegan desserts all with an ingredient that I was throwing out. Pure brilliance.
After a few experiments I discovered the key is to buy chickpeas that are unsalted or no salt added. When I tried making meringues with a can of chickpeas that had salt added (check the ingredients), they were still pretty darn good, but they did have a slight smell and taste of bean. Not terrible, but not what I was aiming for. When I used the water from a can of unsalted chickpeas, that bean taste disappeared and all you can taste is perfect meringue heaven. Scrumptious. Some serious meringue connoisseurs (aka friends) tried these, and they actually preferred them to egg white meringues. Win for the vegans!
How do we make these delights?
Take a 19oz can of no salt added chickpeas, and pour out all of the chickpea brine. It should make about a cup of liquid. Save the chickpeas to do whatever you like with later on.
Add the chickpea liquid to the bowl of a stand mixer along with the vanilla and cream of tartar. If you don't have a stand mixer, you can also use an electric hand mixer. Whipping by hand is not recommended as it will likely tire you out and just not work!
Start blending on high and slowly add in the sugar as it beats. You may need to stop and scrap down the sides to get any of the sugar that is stuck to the sides of the bowl.
Keep beating, and it should start to get fluffy. The goal is to achieve stiff peaks. If you only have soft peaks, you're not there yet...
...Still too soft, keep beating.
Ah, just right. When you lift the beater the meringue should hold a stiff peak, even if you jiggle the bowl, the peak should stay as is. It took me about 6 to 6 ½ minutes to reach this stage in my mom's Kitchen Aid Mixer.
Now line a large baking tray with parchment paper. You can stick down the corners of the parchment by adding a small dot of the meringue, to help hold the parchment in place.
Use a piping bag or a spoon to dollop the meringues on the baking sheet.
When you are done:
You will have a whole bunch of pretty little meringues, ready to go into the oven. Bake for 1 ½ to 2 ¼ hours, rotating the pans half way through. Now it's a little difficult to tell exactly when they are done, and I really racked my brain on how to share this information, but there is not much of a visual cue, so you are going to have to go with your gut a little on this one. If the meringues are small or you want a chewy center, opt for less time. If they are large or you prefer a meringue that is crunchy all the way through, opt for more time. It's not very easy to tell when they are ready just by look, so the best way is if you are able to take one out of the oven, (carefully tear a piece of parchment off with a meringue on it) let it cool, and see if it's are the correct texture, and if it is, take the rest out of the oven. If not, bake longer.
When you take them out of the oven, let them cool and enjoy! Store in a dry place so they maintain their shape.
Common Questions:
Vegan meringue cookies are easy to make and have the same crispy shell and airy center as the original version. And this vegan meringue cookie recipe uses a one-of-a-kind ingredient: aquafaba. So what are some common questions about this amazing recipe? Does vegan meringue freeze well? Yes! Freezing aquafaba meringues is just as easy as freezing meringues made with animal products. To freeze your vegan meringues, line an airtight container with greaseproof paper and place as many meringues in a single layer as possible. Done! Is vegan meringue gluten-free? Yup! This is a gluten-free recipe! Can you buy just aquafaba? Unfortunately, no. Not yet, anyway. but the bright side is you get a lovely bunch of chickpeas to play around with so win-win!
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Vegan Meringue Cookies
Servings: meringues (roughly)
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Ingredients
- 1 cup aquafaba, (the liquid from a 19oz can of unsalted chickpeas)
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
- ¾ cup white sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200F (100C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Add the aquafaba to a mixer bowl along with the vanilla extract and the cream of tartar. Start beating on high, and very slowly as it whips, add in the the sugar one spoonful at a time. You may need to stop and scrape off any sugar that stuck to the sides of the bowl. Continue to beat, stopping every now and then to check the meringue. When stiff peaks hold in the meringue without it collapsing, they are ready. It took me about 6 to 6 ½ minutes to reach the stiff peaks.
- Use a pastry bag, or a spoon to dollop on the meringue into even mounds onto the prepared baking sheet.
- Bake for 1 ½ to 2 ¼ hours, rotating the pans half way through. Now it's a little difficult to tell exactly when they are done, and I really racked my brain on how to share this information, but there is not much of a visual cue, so you are going to have to go with your gut a little on this one. If the meringues are small or you want a chewy center, opt for less time. If they are large or you prefer a meringue that is crunchy all the way through, opt for more time. It's not very easy to tell when they are ready just by look, so the best way is if you are able to take one out of the oven, (carefully tear a piece of parchment off with a meringue on it) let it cool, and see if it's the correct texture. If it is, take the rest out of the oven. If not, bake longer. When they are ready let them cook and enjoy!
- Store in a cool dry place. They are best eaten that day, but if your environment is very dry (not humid), they can last a few days.
Nutrition
⭐ Did You Make This Recipe?
I’d love if you left a rating and comment, it helps others find the recipe and makes my day! 💕Bon Appetegan!
Sam.
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Ko says
The best things that I have ever made
Sam Turnbull says
So happy to hear that!
Jenn Swanson says
Mine are in the oven smelling delicious now! I used white bean aquafaba...so not sure how this will work. They are rather flat looking, so will try beating them longer. I did it for 6 mins, but might need longer next time. The batter tasted amazing (and you can lick the bowl when it's not egg!) I'm excited to try these. I used vanilla extract because I'm allergic to almonds. Thanks for the weirdly amazing recipe! 🙂
Sam Turnbull says
Haha! My pleasure! For the next time, if you beat them longer, I noticed that the aquafaba doesn't seem to get over beaten and break like egg whites do, so no worries about over doing it! Enjoy!
Savanna Phares says
I also noticed that if you add just a tad more sugar during "the end" of the beating process that the meringue will start to set more and have more structure or maybe just conserve like 1 tbsp to sprinkle in at 6 minutes
Sam Turnbull says
Oh, that's an interesting tip! Thanks, Savanna!
Manj says
"... if you giggle the bowl, the peak should stay as is...."
Sam, I love you. I read the above and my heart just smiled as I myself giggled, and maybe jiggled at the same time.
Thanks for sharing this. I've got my first ever meringue in the oven, though it's gone flat, hence here looking for some tips- think I got them
Big hugs and happy creating ✌️
Sam Turnbull says
Bahahahaha! Whoops!! That's a funny typo, haha. Big hugs to you, I hope you enjoy your meringues!
Manj says
Thank you love 😉 Got off of them and into aquafaba ice cream and mousse and toum....Endless fun. 😉
Sam Turnbull says
Oooh! Sounds yum!
T.E. says
My favorite meringue cookies are coffee pecan. I cant wait to try the aquafaba.
This sounds perfect because I don't like super sweet cookies. My new favorite is to add ground pecans and a little Starbucks Italian Roast Via or instant espresso to standard a meringue kiss recipe. I like it better than my usual with white chocolate chips or crushed candy canes.
Sam Turnbull says
Sounds delightful!! I hope you love them T.E. 🙂
Michelle Richards says
Hi Sam, can I use canderel instead of Sugar?
Thanks
Michelle xx
Sam Turnbull says
Hmm... I've never cooked with canderel or any artificial sweetener, so I tried doing a bit of research to discover if meringues could be made with artificial sweetener, and from what I found, it doesn't look like there is a lot of success. Hope that helps!
Michelle Richards says
Thanks, I'll stick to caster sugar and divide the points for weight watchers
Michelle xx
Sam Turnbull says
Great! Enjoy 🙂
Arielle says
I made these today. For those of you looking, I found salt free chickpeas in the natural foods section of my grocery store (Giant), rather than with the rest of the canned beans.
The texture is spot on, but I still found them.... beany. (I actually really dislike chickpeas anyway, which is part of the problem.) I'd still be interested in trying it with another type of bean. I think that folks who haven't encountered the ingredients list probably won't be bothered by the flavor, though.
Sam Turnbull says
I wonder if different brands of aquafaba have different tastes? I served mine to a professional baker and she was blown away by them. Glad you loved the texture Arielle!
Mimi says
Saltless can beans are very hard to find. Usually have to drive hours to find them. Can I use the water from when I make the chick peas from dry beans? Will that work? Also, interested if other beans work. I can occasionally find black beans salt-free. Thank you in advance. Looking forward to making these!
Sam Turnbull says
Hi Mimi, not sure where you live but unsalted beans are almost always available in my local grocery store. Sometimes it doesn't say on the front of the can, but if you check the ingredients you can see. You can use salted chickpeas as well, it will just have a slight bean taste. And yes, I believe you can use homemade aquafaba, you can look up a recipe for that. As for other types of beans I haven't tried that, but the taste, texture, and color might be different.
Sarah says
I tried making these tonight, but can you tell me what might be wrong? The batter tasted great and I got stiff peaks after probably ten minutes with my stand mixer. I baked them for two and a half hours at 200 and they never hardened at all- they were still totally sticky and not at all solid. I turned up the oven to 250 out of desperation and ended up blackening them, and yet they were still gooey. We don't have much humidity. Any insight? Thanks!!
Sam Turnbull says
Hi Sarah,
It's a bummer they didn't work for you! It's difficult to know without being in the kitchen with you, but it just sounds like they needed to bake longer. Slightly varying temperatures in ovens, humidity in the air, slightly different measurements can all have an effect. If you try them again, after the two-hour point, I would just check on them every 15 minutes until the desired texture is reached. Hope that helps!
Aimee says
Hi Sam, can I used this for a meringue topping for a fruit pie, like lemon meringue pie that is not going to be baked or will it not hold shape unless its cooked?
Sam Turnbull says
Usually the meringues on lemon meringue pies are baked for a bit as well, and yes it totally works for that, I will have a recipe in my cookbook 🙂
Jesse says
My favorite cookie when I was not vegan was raspberry meringue cookies with raspberry jello can I use vegan jello to get the same affect.
Sam Turnbull says
I've never tried it myself, but if you have done it with traditional meringues, I can't see why it wouldn't work here. Enjoy! 🙂
Mya says
Some of my classmates made raspberry vegan meringues not too long ago using fruit puree. I'm not sure what their ratio was but it is possible.
Stephanie says
I just made these for the first time! I used Aquafaba with sodium, and the meringues still turned out, but there is a slight chickpea flavour. It didn't affect anything else though! I baked them for probably an hour and 50 minutes and they turned out nice and crunchy!
Sam Turnbull says
Yes, that's exactly the result I had. The salted aquafaba is still good, but there is a slight chickpea flavour. I think you'll find with the unsalted that the chickpea flavour disappears! So happy you enjoyed them 🙂
Nicola says
I tried these last night and they exploded in the oven after 6 minutes hahahahah! I was crushed lol
Sam Turnbull says
Oh no!! Exploded!? I have never heard of that before. My guess is that your oven temperature might have been to high and an exterior shell was formed before the interior was cooked? If you think that might be right you could pick up and oven thermometer to test your oven.
Maia says
Is it ok to use the liquid from great northern white beans instead of the liquid from chickpeas? If so, what makes chickpea liquid so specially suited for this?
Sam Turnbull says
I have never tried it myself, but yes, apparently all beans work the same. If you give it a go, let us know how it tastes!
Maia says
The bean taste was definitely there, but that is because there was sodium added. Oops! I also had a hard time getting them to take shape, but the texture was perfect! In any case, they were a big hit at the potluck I took them to, so it worked out in the end!
Sam Turnbull says
So happy you enjoyed them! 🙂
GJ says
I don't like canned beans. Can I subtitute with water from the chickpeas cooked in pressure cooker?
Sam Turnbull says
I haven't tried it myself but this YouTube video explains how to make aquafaba. Hope this helps!
Yvonne says
I just put my pan into the oven, and I am AMAZED! I think this vegan meringue beat up silkier than the egg meringue! I'm curious to see how they'll taste out of the oven. I only had salted chickpeas, so I used almond extract to give them a little bit of a cherry flavor (to mask any potential "off" taste). The "raw" meringue tasted incredible...I never would've guessed they were vegan. I'm planning on making mint, mint-chocolate chip, chocolate, and cherry (with chopped maraschinos) in the future if these turn out well. Thanks for the recipe, and thank you for providing the link on how to make your own aquafaba!
Sam Turnbull says
It's so cool isn't it!? I also find that there is no risk of over beating the meringue/ hope you love them Yvonne! Your flavour additions sound amazing!!
Marni says
White sugar is NOT vegan.
Sam Turnbull says
Hi Marni, white sugar isn't vegan if bone char is used to refine the sugar. I believe this is a practise only used in the US as far as I know. Many brands are totally vegan, you just have to check with the company to find out. Here in Canada, one of the more common brands of white sugar is vegan as you can see on their FAQ page. In the US any organic sugar will be vegan if you are unsure of what brand to buy. Hope that helps!
Robyn says
Also you can buy vegan white sugars. That are specifically labeled as such. In San Francisco I know Whole Foods carries it (I buy it specifically for baking) so I'm sure if you have the same or something similar near by, you could find it.
Sam Turnbull says
Perfect! Thanks for the tip Marni!
Maia says
Tried this with raw sugar and it turned out just fine, if anyone wants to know
Sam Turnbull says
Thanks Maia, great to know!
Estrella Guillen says
These worked for me! My only nay-say is that they were too sweet (for me). But I am super excited to make these again. Also, I baked for 1 hour an 45 minutes and they were a tad bit overbooked. I probably should have stopped at 1.5 hours. <3 Star
Sam Turnbull says
So happy they turned out for you 🙂
Eli says
Im so sad these disnt turn out for me. The good thing was that unlike egg meringues that often easily brown and stay a bit chewy and sticky, these dried up great and stayed pure white. The problems I had was that some of them either flattened, disappeared or turned out hollow(all from the same batch) and even if they kept their shape they all stuck the the wax paper like crazy and they tasted and smelled strongly of chickpeas. Why?!?!?! 🙁
Sam Turnbull says
Oh I am so sad to hear that. Make sure to use parchment paper, not wax paper so that the meringues don't stick. Did you use aquafaba from a can of unsalted chickpeas? I find when you use the aquafaba from a salted can of chickpeas it has a lot more chickpea taste. Hmmmm it's very odd that within one batch there were so much variation in the outcome. I am really not sure why. The only thing I can think of is if your oven has temperature differences... some ovens have hot spots. I wish I could be more help Eli!
Heather says
I'm sad, we tried making these but they totally melted flat and squidgy in the oven! Any ideas what went wrong? I really really want to make these 🙁
Sam Turnbull says
Oh, I'm sad too! Meringues are picky things whether they are vegan or not. It sounds like maybe the meringue wasn't whisked enough? It should have stiff peaks that stand straight up. If you think it was stiff enough other problems might be if it's too humid. It's best to make meringues on dry days. I hope those tips help? I want them to work for you!
Aruna says
Hi iam excited to try this, pls tell me how to store the lft over aquafaba whipped cream and how long can I store it.
Sam says
Hmm, I haven't tried it myself, but my guess is it wouldn't store very well. The bobbles will likely, slowly pop, and you will be left with liquid. I would recommend using all the aquafaba when you make it. You can always half the recipe if you like. Alternatively, aquafaba would store for a few days in the fridge, or freeze well, before it is whipped (just the liquid from the can). Hope that helps!
darshna says
Hi
I live in the UK , can you tell what sugar you used was it caster or icing .
Thank you
Sam says
I used granulated sugar 🙂
Darshn says
Thank you Sam
Can't wait to have a go.
Josef Rosenfeld says
Just made these for Easter, easily found salt free, did use a hand mixer, so it took a while. Plan to tweak the recipe a little, maybe some more vanilla, but the people who ate them all thought they were good and no one suspected that they were not made with eggs.
Sam says
Haha that's awesome! Love it. So happy you were able to fool everyone 🙂