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.
Michelle says
My son is allergic to eggs, so I was so happy to try these. They came out perfect on the first try. Our slight variations were:
-we only have unrefined sugar, which is a little coarse, so I ran the measured amount through the blender to make it finer
-we added mini chocolate chips to 1/2; next time doing them all 🙂
-we baked on convection (same time and temp) to prevent hot spots and also help with dehydration
I was amazed that there were no gooey spots (and glad bc I didn’t want to taste the beans). They are so light and fluffy.
They really are perfect!!!!
Alison Andrews says
Wonderful! Thanks so much for posting Michelle! 🙂
Sheena says
I’m not sure what i’m doing wrong. I boiled my own chick peas, no salt added, reduced the liquid and went with the cream of tartar. All good so far, took a good 15mins in the mixer to form peaks and i could turn it upside down and was fantastic. I added the sugar slowly but it just went fluidy again and then added the 1/2 tsp vanilla and its been another 15mins in the mixer on high just not getting firm. Can you help? Hopefully i can re review for a 5 later! ????
Alison Andrews says
Hi Sheena, this recipe can be tricky, I’ve never used the water from my own boiled chickpeas, only the cans. It shouldn’t make a difference, but who knows! Did you come right in the end?
Sheena says
Like flat hard macaroons unfortunately but tasted better than the first attempt! Will try again with another batch! ????
Sam Greener says
Does anyone know if they will they freeze, please? And how to defrost?
Alison Andrews says
Hi Sam, I have never tried freezing these but from googling I find that meringues are usually freezable, so I would imagine these would also be. Freeze in an airtight container for up to 1 month. I would defrost them in the fridge overnight. 🙂
Liz says
I too would like to know if these freeze. They work amazing! But just eager to know if they freeze?
sarah says
they turned out perfect!!! i added about a cup of mini vegan chocolate chips but followed the recipe exactly for everything else. for anyone who hasn’t worked with aquafaba before— just keep beating it! i probably had the mixer running for 20-30 mins in order to get super thick stiff peaks. my mom is not vegan and she was very skeptical to try but she said the texture was even better than her egg white version! thank you alison!!
Alison Andrews says
Awesome! Thanks so much Sarah! xo
Fiona Kenshole says
I made these without leaving enough time! I cooked them for 45 minutes, then left them in the over for ten, then wrapped in foil in the back of the car for 20 mins, and OMG they were so good! Also I substituted 1/4 tsp of lemon juice for the cream of tartar, and that tiny hint of lemon was so good I am going to always do that. Everyone at the party wants the recipe – so thank you! I am going to try sandwiching them with cashew cream next time.
Alison Andrews says
So glad they worked out great! Thanks so much for the awesome review! 🙂
Jess says
This is the BEST vegan recipe for meringues! Followed the recipe and they turned out AMAZING!!! My boyfriend who isn’t vegan said they are the best he’s ever had, and wondered what sorcery I used to make them vegan 😉
Alison Andrews says
Fantastic! So happy to hear that Jess! Aquafaba really is like some sort of sorcery! 🙂 Thanks for the awesome review. 🙂
Alyssa T. says
Made these cookies as directed except I used coconut extract instead of vanilla extract. They tasted so amazing and the consistency is exactly like egg white meringue cookies. If you follow the directions…NO THEY DO NOT TASTE ANYTHING LIKE CHICK PEAS! If they are not the right consistency or taste like chick peas, you didn’t follow directions!
Thank you so much for this recipe, it’s absolutely amazing and delicious!!!
Alison Andrews says
Thanks so much Alyssa! So happy to hear they were great! 🙂
Kiera Sullivan says
Hi Alison! I am going to try this recipe tonight. I want to bake it into an 8-inch disc to place on top of a cake. Do you suppose I should adjust the oven temp or bake time? Thank you! Kiera
Alison Andrews says
Hi Kiera, I have no idea! The issue would be if it were quite a thick layer then it may need a longer baking time. But it would require a little trial and error. 🙂
Kimber says
I haven’t tried this recipe yet, but thank you for sharing this. I am allergic to eggs but LOVE meringue. ❤❤❤
We will try this soon!
Alison Andrews says
Awesome! Hope you’ll love the recipe when you try it! 🙂
hansa kantor says
hi, mine piped out great but halfway through they puffed up and turned kind of soupy and are slowly deflating 🙁 any idea what could have possible gone wrong?
Alison Andrews says
Hi there, do you mean while they were in the oven they deflated or while you were piping? If it was before they went in the oven then I would think that it needed to be whipped more. There are some good troubleshooting tips in this article from The Lazy Baker.
Mo says
Sorry, just doesn’t taste right to me. I thought they should taste like vanilla but they don’t. They taste weird. Granted I have nothing to compare them with but this is not what I was going for. I think the “earthy” flavor someone mentioned sounds like what I got.
Alison Andrews says
They should taste like meringues. Sorry you didn’t enjoy them! I didn’t have that experience as mine tasted very good once baked.
Charlotte says
These turned out amazing! I replaced the cream of tartar with rice wine vinegar because it was all I had, it worked fantastically.
Ally says
This was my first time ever making meringue, and I am beyond pleased with the results. They turned out great! I sprinkled cinnamon on a few (only about half a pinch each) and they kept their shape perfectly. And personally, I think the taste and texture is amazing.
Alison Andrews says
So glad it was a success Ally! Thanks for sharing. 🙂
Jen says
Used an ice cream scoop to portion them out so they were pretty big and could of done with extra cooking time. Apart from that they were really nice, some people commented on an aftertaste but others liked them and they all got eaten.
Alison Andrews says
Thanks for sharing and the wonderful rating Jen. 🙂
Travis says
Super happy with how these turned out. I’ve never made a meringue let alone a vegan one before this. Excited to explore flavors with subsequent batches. The only thing a little off about them was a slightly earthy note to mine for some reason. I had doubled the recipe, but I eyeballed the vanilla for the second tsp. I may have shorted it. Next time I’m going to try adding in some orange zest to half the batch like the other user mentioned and see if that doesn’t mask the earthy flavor profile I’m picking up. Overall fantastic recipe, and easy for a non baker to follow. Thanks for sharing!
Alison Andrews says
So glad they worked out great! I think a little extra vanilla should sort out the earthy flavor that’s coming through for sure. Thanks for the awesome rating! 🙂