These Christmas meringue cookies are crisp, sweet, and delicious. You can shape meringues in so many ways from a drop style to piping them into pretty shapes. For the holidays, I decided to pipe my gluten free meringues into little trees and I show you how with a short video!
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Tis the season for making cookies and these cute little meringue trees are so easy to make! All you need is four simple ingredients! You can add fun flavors with the options I list or make these meringue cookies with the more traditional vanilla flavoring.
If you are a cookie fanatic, check out all of my gluten free cookie recipes!
Why these gluten free meringues are great:
- They are almost fail-proof to make.
- You can make and decorate them in any shape for any holiday.
- I love making meringues when I need to use up egg whites! If you have a recipe that only requires yolks, now you can use the whites to make these meringue cookies!
If you are making a lot of Christmas cookies, I have a lot of easy gluten free Christmas cookie recipes on the blog!
Ingredient notes:
- Egg whites - Be sure there is no yolk mixed into the egg whites!
- Cream of tartar - This helps give your meringues structure. Always check to see if your cream of tartar is gluten free.
- Vanilla - Please use pure vanilla extract for this recipe. There are not a lot of ingredients in this easy meringue recipe and if you use immitation vanilla, it will affect the flavor.
If you are making lots of holiday cookies, try my delicious Gluten Free Spritz Cookies too!
Recipe step by step directions:
Step 1: Add all of the ingredients to a standing mixer and begin to blend at low speed. You can also use a handheld mixer.
Step 2: Gradually increase the speed to medium-high and continue to mix for 4-5 minutes until your meringue forms stiff white peaks. You can see how stiff the egg whites are in my photo.
Step 3: Either add the meringue to a piping bag. If you are doing drop-style meringues, skip this step and just use a spoon to drop the meringue mixture onto the cookie sheet.
Pipe the trees onto a parchment paper-lined cookie sheet. See the video below for a visual of how to squeeze the bag to get the tree shapes. I squeeze some meringue through the star tip and lift slightly while not squeezing, then squeeze a little more for each "section" of the meringue trees.
The secret to using piping bags:
- The secret to adding the meringue to a piping bag is to fold the edges of the bag down halfway on the outside towards the tip. This way you can get the meringue into the bottom near the tip. Continue to add meringue until the bag is full.
- Wrap a twist tie around the wide end of the bag. This will prevent the meringue from spilling out over the top all over your hands when you squeeze it!
Step 4: Bake the meringues for 45-60 minutes at 250º F. The actual bake time will depend on how large and tall your meringues are piped.
Decorating the Christmas meringue trees:
- These trees are fun to decorate with sprinkles! Be sure to look at my gluten free sprinkles list to make sure the sprinkles you use are gluten free.
- Dip the bottoms in chocolate.
- Add 2-3 drops of green food coloring to the meringue ingredients while in the standing mixer so you can make green tree meringues.
HINT: Many sprinkles are not heat resistant and will melt in the oven. I find it easier to use sprinkles after they bake. I used icing dots to adhere the stars onto my tree meringues.
You can always drop me a comment or question if you need more help!
Check out my fun International Gluten Free Cookie Recipes! This digital cookbook has 15 easy-to-make gluten free cookies from around the world! It is perfect for holiday baking!
I can't wait to hear which cookies you try first!!
Flavor variations:
- Peppermint - Add 1 teaspoon of peppermint extract.
- Coconut - Add 1 teaspoon of coconut extract.
- Pumpkin spice - add 1 teaspoon of pumpkin spice.
- Almond - Add 1 teaspoon of almond extract.
- Dip the base of each meringue in dark chocolate.
Tips and Recipe FAQ:
When the meringues lift off the parchment paper easily and feel firm, they are ready. If the meringue isn't finished baking, it will be a bit sticky.
Meringues should be crunchy.
If your meringues are chewy, you probably didn't bake them long enough, or you have a lot of humidity.
You can easily fix sticky meringues by baking them longer.
Yes, cream of tartar is gluten free. It is not made with grains.
You can freeze meringues but you will need to bake them at 200º F for 10-15 minutes to re-crisp them.
Storage:
To store your Christmas meringue cookies, place them into an air-tight container. They will keep fresh for up to 3 days. If they get sticky, you can re-crisp them in an oven at 200º F for 10 minutes.
More Gluten Free Christmas Cookies:
- Gluten Free Pfeffernusse
- Easy Gluten Free Russian Tea Cookies
- Gluten Free Gingerbread Linzer Cookies
- Buttery Gluten Free Shortbread
Recipe
Gluten Free Meringues
Ingredients
- 4 egg whites
- 1 cup sugar Super fine if you can find it.
- ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract * see note
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200º F.
- In a mixer, add the egg whites and whip on low for 1 minute.
- Add in the cream of tartar, vanilla, and sugar and whip up for 4-5 minutes until the meringue is stiff and forms very stiff peaks.
- You can pipe the meringe into shapes, or drop it onto a parchment paper lined cookie sheet by the spoonful.
- If you are piping the meringue, grab a large star shaped frosting tip. Fill a piping bag and use a twist tie to close off the end. (*see notes)
- Squeeze some meringue onto the cookie sheet then stop piping and slightly lift the tip and squeeze again. See the video above so you can see the movement. You can make your trees as tall as you like but note the taller they are, the easier they can tip.
- Bake the meringues for 45-60 minutes. The actual time will depend on how wide and tall you made your meringues. If you are doing drop style, you will bake them closer to 60 minutes.
- Remove them from the oven and allow them to cool. If your meringues do not lift off the parchment paper easily, you may need to bake them longer.
Notes
- Many ask if cream of tartar is gluten free. It is gluten free.
- Please be sure to use pure vanilla extract and NOT imitation vanilla for this meringue cookies recipe.
- These will keep up to 3 days in an air-tight container. If they get sticky, you can re-warm them in the oven at 200º F for 10 minutes.
- If your meringues turn out sticky, it is because you didn't bake them long enough or you have a lot of humidity.
- Peppermint - Add 1 teaspoon of peppermint extract.
- Coconut - Add 1 teaspoon of coconut extract.
- Pumpkin spice - add 1 teaspoon of pumpkin spice.
- Almond - Add 1 teaspoon of almond extract.
- Dip the base of each meringue in dark chocolate.
- These trees are fun to decorate with sprinkles! Be sure to look at my gluten free sprinkles list to make sure the sprinkles you use are gluten free.
- Dip the bottoms in chocolate.
- Add 2-3 drops of green food coloring to the meringue ingredients while in the standing mixer so you can make green tree meringues.
- The secret to adding the meringue to a piping bag is to fold the edges of the bag down halfway on the outside towards the tip. This way you can get the meringue into the bottom near the tip. Continue to add meringue until the bag is full.
- Wrap a twist tie around the wide end of the bag. This will prevent the meringue from spilling out over the top all over your hands when you squeeze it!
Nutrition
Nutrition Disclaimer
Nutritional information is an estimate provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the actual nutritional information with the products and brands you are using with your preferred nutritional calculator.
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