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.
Ali says
Do you use a fan oven.?
Alison Andrews says
No it’s a conventional oven.
Nicole says
Fun and easy recipe! I didn’t read the yield so I accidentally made 16 big ones but they turned out great. I chilled the bowl and aquafaba before mixing and it puffed up in just a few minutes. Next time I’ll try mix ins!
Alison Andrews says
Fantastic! Thanks for sharing Nicole!
Mindy says
I am not a meringue maker but I found using this recipe so easy and super tasty, even with really out of date cream of tartar. Thank you for sharing. Haven’t searched here yet but looking for a vegan macaron recipe.
Alison Andrews says
Awesome Mindy! Thanks for sharing. We haven’t made any macarons yet but it’s on the list! 🙂
Daisy D. says
I’ve made these twice already and they just keep getting better! I’ve even added food dye to make the meringues various colors and it turned out great. My only concern is they got a bit sticky. I put them in the fridge so hopefully that helps. Overall very tasty!
Zee says
Absolutely perfect! I’m not vegan but I don’t like making traditional meringue cookies because I either have to find another use for the yolks or throw them out, which feels wasteful. Now, instead of creating waste, I can use something that I would have otherwise thrown out. These turned out wonderful, they’re super crunchy but also melt in your mouth if you let them. I accidentally used a whole 15.5 oz can’s worth of aquafaba (got mixed up with another recipe) and they still turned out fine, so I guess there’s a little room for error as well 🙂 planning to add some chocolate chips to the leftover meringue before I bake it to see if i can make chocolate chip ones.
Alison Andrews says
Awesome! Thanks for sharing Zee!
Beth says
Would the aquafaba being cold affect it? Or the fact that my cream of tarter is very old? I’m using my Kitchenaid on slow to no avail.
Alison Andrews says
You start off slow just until foamy but then you go to full speed. It would take forever if it’s on slow the whole time. It needs to whip and whip very fast. Cream of tartar being old could of course have an impact, but not a big one.
MaryEllen Ruddell says
Is it possible to put in some chocolate chips?
Alison Andrews says
I’m not sure! It may be fine, but could also affect the structure. Let us know how it turns out if you do try it. 🙂
Daniel says
They came out perfect for me. Thank you!
They do have a little bit of a sour aftertaste( which I liked anyway) . Is it the aquafaba that does this?
Alison Andrews says
So glad they came out perfectly! I didn’t notice this with the ones I made, but yes it is most likely from the aquafaba.
Tanya says
Mine aren’t crispy just sticky
And gooey – what have I done wrong
Alison Andrews says
It could be humidity, put them in an airtight container in the fridge and see if that solves it.
Tanya says
Thanks – I decided to put them back in the oven – they crisped up a lot better however were slightly overcooked but nice – having another go today
kris says
These were fantastic!! I didn’t put vanilla for fear of it collapsing. Will the McCormick vanilla flavoring work?that’s the only thing we have
Alison Andrews says
Yes that will work fine! 🙂
Michelle Excell says
For the first time in life I made meringue cookies & being a new Vegan this was the PERFECT recipe. THANK YOU for such great tips. I did everything like you said only using lemon flavor. They came out BEAUTIFUL & DELICIOUS! Thanks again I REALLY appreciate ALL the tips????????
Alison Andrews says
That is wonderful, so happy to hear that Michelle! Thanks for the wonderful review.
amara says
I haven’t made meringues since I was a child, using egg whites. I’m thrilled with how well these came out. I put little round sprinkles on some and they look so cute! Thanks!
Alison Andrews says
So happy they worked out well Amara! Thanks for sharing!
Vanessa says
I just made the meringues and they are fabulous! I used to love meringues and now (as a vegan), I can enjoy them again! Thanks for the recipe!
Alison Andrews says
Awesome! Thanks Vanessa!
Penny Mouskis says
Thank you for this great recipe which worked perfectly. I used a little less vanilla and my own aquafaba from boiling chickpeas for hummus. I put bicarb in the water to boil the chickpeas so maybe that helped! The result looked exactly like your picture and tasted great.
Alison Andrews says
Awesome! Thanks for sharing Penny!
Kat Draxl says
Perfect and so easy! Thanks for the recipe!
Alison Andrews says
Thanks Kat!