Light, airy and perfect vegan meringue cookies. Cute and fun and made with chickpea aquafaba resulting in totally perfect meringue!
I was daunted by the idea of vegan meringue for a long time and now I don’t know why.
Honestly, making these was incredibly easy!
If you are new to the idea of aquafaba, let me tell you about it. A few years back some geniuses discovered that the water (brine) from a can of chickpeas acted pretty much exactly like egg whites when whipped.
Basically the proteins from the beans leaches out into the water and makes that water very similar to egg whites in how it behaves. So you can use that water for all sorts of egg-like things!
I have actually used aquafaba before, very successfully, when I made my vegan mousse.
So goodness knows why I was daunted by the idea of vegan meringue, but somehow I just was.
But these came out so beautifully. So now you know I am definitely thinking about some vegan lemon meringue and vegan pavlova.
I researched a lot of recipes and methods, and tried a few different things and this recipe is exactly what worked best for me.
I also found some good troubleshooting tips for making vegan meringue that were very helpful from the Lazy Vegan Baker.
How To Make Vegan Meringue
You will find full instructions and measurements in the recipe card at the bottom of the post. This is a summary of the process to go along with the process photos.
To make these you just take some of the water from a can of chickpeas, and place it in your electric mixer with some cream of tartar.
You start off slow to get it nice and foamy.
Then you speed it up and as you can see things start to get very creamy and glossy!
You add your sugar and vanilla slowly as it whips and let it go until you have nice and glossy stiff peaks.
Pipe it out onto a parchment lined tray, as you can see I had a bit of trouble with my uniformity, some are quite a bit bigger than others!
Then you bake at 250°F (121°C) for 45 minutes and then you switch OFF the oven BUT don’t open it for another hour. This is really crucial. You leave the oven closed for an hour after it finishes baking, without opening it!
Ingredient Notes
Aquafaba (chickpea water) – this recipe uses 6 tablespoons of aquafaba, the liquid left behind from a can of chickpeas. This is roughly half of what you would get from one 15-ounce (425g) can of chickpeas. You can throw the rest out or use it in other recipes requiring aquafaba.
Cream of tartar – this really works for stabilization and it’s exactly like you would use if you were whipping egg whites.
Granulated sugar – works best for this as it provides the structure for the meringues.
Does It Taste Like Proper Meringue?
The end result of this recipe is the most perfect meringues ever. Absolutely perfect! Really, the perfect texture and perfect taste.
Now this is the curious part – if you taste the meringue mix before it goes into the oven, you can taste the chickpea water, the chickpea flavor is there.
So you might be sceptical at this stage, but have faith because once baked, all traces of chickpea flavor vanishes.
All that you are left with is perfect sweet airy light crispy meringue.
How To Store Your Meringues
Store them in an airtight container in the fridge for 5 days. If it’s even vaguely hot or humid where you are, put them in the fridge pronto.
We are currently having high humidity and within a very short time (like 15 minutes) these were starting to get sticky and wanting to collapse.
We put them in the fridge and they went back to perfect in seconds. So just beware of that. Hot and humid weather leads to sticky meringue collapse. So airtight container in the fridge and they will stay perfect for snacks for around 5 days.
More Gorgeous Vegan Desserts
- Vegan Sugar Cookies
- Vegan White Chocolate
- Vegan Cinnamon Rolls
- Cashew Ice Cream
- Vegan Coconut Cookies
- Vegan Energy Balls
Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below!
Vegan Meringue
Ingredients
- 6 Tablespoons Aquafaba liquid from a can of chickpeas*
- ¼ teaspoon Cream of Tartar
- ½ cup White Granulated Sugar (100g)
- ½ teaspoon Vanilla Extract
Instructions
- Place the chickpea liquid (aquafaba) and cream of tartar into the bowl of your stand mixer.
- Start at slow speed and whip until foamy.
- Then gradually increase speed until white and glossy and stiff peaks start to form.
- Add the sugar in slowly while whipping at fast speed.
- Add in the vanilla.
- Keep whipping until glossy stiff peaks form.
- Preheat your oven to 250°F (121°C).
- Line a baking tray with parchment paper.
- Pipe the meringue mix into cookie shapes onto the parchment lined tray. Alternatively you can spoon it out, but I found piping to be much easier.
- Place into the oven and bake for 45 minutes. After 45 minutes, switch off the oven but DON’T OPEN IT (excuse the caps, but this part is very important). Leave the oven off, but don’t open it for one hour. Time it.
- After the meringues have baked for 45 minutes and then sat in the oven for a further 60 minutes without opening the oven, remove them from the oven.
- They should be airy crispy perfection! If the weather is at all hot or humid, put them in an airtight container and store them in the fridge for the most long lasting results.
Video
Notes
- This amount of chickpea liquid is roughly half of what you’ll get from one 15 ounce (425g) can of chickpeas when drained. You can throw out the rest or use it for other egg replacement purposes or for another batch of vegan meringue.
- Keep the meringues stored in a covered container in the fridge for 5 days.
- Recipe adapted from A Little Insanity.
Anna says
Mine melted in the oven. I have been making egg meringue cookies for years , but this is my first time substituting it for chickpea juice. My beautiful cookies melted in the oven. I have attempted twice. The first batch flattened and got a bit dark at suggested degree setting. The second one I backed at 150 and it turned to soup.
Helen says
Do you think this recipe would work with granulated sweetener instead of the sugar? I would love to hear if anyone has tried it.
Kale Assassin says
This was my first time making meringues and my first time using aquafaba. My family has been vegan for over 10 years now, I came across your recipe and was so excited to try it. I have to say it was so simple and delicious, ours turned out perfectly the first try. I added some orange zest with the vanilla and it was wonderful. I can’t wait to make these again with different flavors, my kids devoured them.
Alison Andrews says
Yay! So pleased to hear they came out great! Thanks so much for the wonderful review. xo
Dawn F. says
I teach a food science class in which I have a student that follows a vegan lifestyle. I’ve been able to adapt every recipe that we make but didn’t think I could do the meringue cookies. But I researched and found your recipe so we tried it yesterday. There was no difference between a vegan merigue and an egg based one. Your directions were easy to follow and my student was so appreciative being able to make and eat the same thing as her classmates.Thank you!!
Alison Andrews says
That is fantastic to hear! I’m so pleased. Thanks so much for sharing Dawn! 🙂
Brittani says
I don’t know what I did wrong ? they were getting fluffy and after adding the sugar, the more I whipped them, the soupier they got! ?
Alison Andrews says
Hi Brittani, the sugar has to go in slowly and it also has to go in at the right moment. It can be a little tricky, but once you get the hang of it, it will be easy!
Lauren says
Hi i was wondering if I could use this in an vegan angel food cake recipe or do you think it wouldnt raise properly?
Alison Andrews says
Hi Lauren, I haven’t tried it, but that’s given me an idea! Will have to try it in an angel cake sometime. I think it might work great, but can’t say for sure. Let us know how it goes! 🙂
Laura says
Have never made aquafaba meringues before, but I’d like to add lemon juice and some rind to this recipe to make them lemon meringues for Easter. Any help on amounts of the lemon juice would be helpful, as I don’t want to water these down and ruin the batch. Might also try some dragon fruit powder I have bc it’s a deep magenta color and would be beautiful for Easter too. Thanks in advance!
Alison Andrews says
Hi Laura, I’m not sure what impact that might have, it might be better to use lemon extract as you’d get all the flavor without having to add much liquid at all. Anyway hope it goes well! All the best! xo
Laura says
Oh great idea, I’ll try that! Thanks so much for the recipe.
Alison Andrews says
Awesome! Let us know how it goes! xo
Cynthia says
This is the first aquafaba recipe that worked for me! So pleased! Thank you so much!
Alison Andrews says
So happy to hear! Thanks for the great review. 🙂
Meaghan says
Hi! Thanks for this great, easy recipe. This was my first attempt at aquafaba meringues. I didn’t have any cream of tartar on hand, so left it out, with no substitution, and they turned out perfectly. I made a double batch, divided into thirds, left 1/3 vanilla, added pulverized dehydrated strawberries to 1/3, and then some sifted cocoa powder into the last third. They all turned out great, however, the cocoa caused some sort of reaction that made that batch flat as pancakes – still delicious though! Can’t wait to try them again and work on my piping technique. Also looking forward to using this technique for a pavlova this summer!
Alison Andrews says
Sounds awesome Meaghan, and that’s super interesting about the cocoa making that batch turn out flat but so happy they were all delicious anyway. I’m super keen on making a pavlova myself! Thanks so much for the wonderful review! 🙂
Erika EA Suarez says
Super interesting to know that you can do it without cream of tartar. I happen to have a can of chickpeas I’m about to use so I want to try this out. Wasn’t sure if it would work without.
Bunty says
I tried these today after two days and four attempts and finally got them right. I also cross referenced several recipes and after trial error and disaster have arrived at this one.
The aquafaba from a 400g can of chick peas (No salt), 1 sachet Dr Oetker’s cream of tartar, 1 tsp apple cider vinegar, I cap Madagascan vanilla essence and 125g of caster sugar.
With a hand electric beater (I don’t have a stand one) SLOWLY whip the aquafaba and cream of tartar and vinegar until foamy, then carry on whipping until it doubles in size and goes white and resembles whipped cream (About ten minutes). After this slowly add the sugar one tbsp at a time, whipping on fastest or turbo setting for one minute and then leaving the mixture to rest for a minute between sugar spoonfuls. Also add the vanilla essence at this stage.
Add the last of the sugar and whip until your peaks are so stiff you can hold the bowl over your head without getting the mixture everywhere. LOL
Then carefully spoon the mixture into a piping bag with a large star nozzle and pipe blobs onto a parchment lined baking tray. Then immediately put into an oven at 90 degrees C (I have a temperamental old fan oven) and leave for forty five minutes, Then switch off the oven and leave the meringues in there without opening the door. When I finally got mine out they were crisp outside, white and chewy in the centre, but quickly became firmer at room temperature (I live in the UK and it’s March…LOL)
My friend and I ate them with Alpro fruit soya yogurt, blueberries and raspberries.
I am so pleased they finally worked, prior to that I had a burnt sticky mess or a pile of very brown hard meringue. Keep persevering, they are worth it.
Alison Andrews says
Hi Bunty! So glad to hear they worked out great in the end and it sounds like they were delicious. Thanks for sharing your tips! 🙂
Bunty says
No problem, I am now thinking of making lemon meringue pie!! Very pleased . x
Emma says
First time making meringue, vegan or otherwise and this recipe is great. I’m not a baker but since going vegan am trying more. I think I did something wrong along the way, as mine are beautiful on the outside but the inside is very chewy like marshmallow fluff. Still tastes fantastic and will try again another time.
Alison Andrews says
Hi Emma, so glad you liked the recipe! I would put the meringues in the fridge just in case there is humidity getting to them (that can cause a softer/chewy/marshmallow texture and see if that brings them back. 🙂
samantha says
hi, do you think this recipe would work if instead of small cookie-sized dollops, I filled a 9-in round pan? if yes, how long do you think i’ll have to bake it for? im thinking of having a meringue layer for a cake..thanks!
Alison Andrews says
Hi Samantha, I have absolutely no idea! That would be an experiment for sure.
Samantha says
I just made these and I swear it’s some kind of sorcery! So, so good!! I used all of the liquid from a can of chickpeas, 1/2 c of brown sugar (I was out of white) and about 5 packets of Splenda! For some reason, some of the meringues melted, but most were perfect and DELICIOUS! Thank you for posting this!
Alison Andrews says
Haha, so glad they worked out great Samantha, thanks so much for the awesome review! 🙂
Lindsay says
This recipe worked great! I am not vegan, nor have I made meringue before. But I had some aquafaba after cooking chickpeas, so decided to try it. Nice and dry but melt in your mouth texture. One thing for me was how SWEET they became after baking (I was sampling pre-cooked and they were not nearly as cloying). Like, cotton candy sweet. If I try them again, I would experiment with the sugar ratio- I think the added vanilla increases the sweet as it bakes. But for technicality, this recipe was spot on!
Alison Andrews says
Thanks for sharing Lindsay! 🙂
Tim says
I couldn’t get the stuff to whip up stiff… I read somewhere that the Aquafaba can be too watery and needs to be reduced so it is as thick as egg whites actually are. Do you know anything about this?
Alison Andrews says
I have not heard that and I haven’t found it to be true. They do whip up stiff as you can see in our photos and our video. You can only do this in a stand mixer. I can’t speculate about what might have caused yours not to work. There is a troubleshooting guide to aquafaba meringue that I linked to in the body of the post (and linked again here). Maybe there is something in there that will be helpful and more specific to you.
Jacqui Kruzewski says
I used a hand held electric beater on full power. I have a big stand mixer but find it is less effective with such small amounts. My Aquafaba was not nearly as thick as egg white. The thing is you need to whip the Aquafaba for much longer than you would egg whites. Just keep going till it has stiff peaks, then add the granulated sugar (not caster) and cream of tartar plus vanilla and madly beat it again till I got a stiff glossy meringue. You add a bit of sugar at a time and whisk it until it disappears, then keep adding more gradually in that way. When using paste colouring I’d add a bit at a time and really whisk it in. If adding flavouring with small amounts of oil (Lemon, orange etc) leave it till last and then whisk it like mad again. It takes a lot more effort but it’s worth it.
Alison Andrews says
Thanks for weighing in Jacqui, very helpful info there!
julia says
Another thing that doesn’t work: mixing in a blender tilted to one side. My theory was that this would incorporate more air into the mixture, but the result of this was not meringue-like at all.
Alison Andrews says
Yes, this is a stand mixer only recipe!
Tim says
Why does this not work like that?