These homemade gluten free meringue cookies are crisp, sweet, and delicious. You can shape meringues in many ways, from a drop style to piping them into pretty shapes. They are quick and easy to make with just a few simple ingredients!
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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.
For the holidays, I decided to pipe these gluten-free meringues into little trees, and I show you how with a short video! If you are a cookie fanatic, check out all of my gluten free cookie recipes!
Why I love these gluten free meringues:
- They are almost fail-proof to make. I share lots of flavor recipe variations below so you can enjoy all the different flavors of meringues!
- 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!
Allergen Information:
These meringues are gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free, oat-free, and nut-free.
Ingredient Notes:
- Egg Whites – Be sure no yolk is mixed into the egg whites!
- Sugar – Try to use superfine sugar.
- 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 imitation vanilla, it will affect the flavor.
If you make many holiday cookies, try my delicious Gluten Free Spritz Cookies!
How To Make Gluten Free Meringues:
Step 1: Add all ingredients to a stand mixer bowl and blend at low speed. You can also use a handheld mixer.
Step 2: Gradually increase the speed to medium-high and mix for 4-5 minutes until your meringue forms stiff white peaks. See how the egg whites are stiff in my photo.
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Step 3: Add the meringue to a piping bag. If you are doing drop-style meringues, skip this step and use a spoon to drop the meringue mixture onto the
Pipe the trees onto a parchment paper-lined
The secret to using piping bags:
- The secret to adding the meringue to a piping bag is to fold the edges 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 ensure 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 to make green tree meringues.
🔑 Sandi says: 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 email me if you need more help!
Try adding these fun flavors to your meringues:
- 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.
Frequently Asked Questions:
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.
How to Store Meringues:
To store your Christmas meringue cookies, place them into an airtight 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 Peppermint Cookie Cups
- Buttery Gluten Free Shortbread
Love This Recipe?
If you made and enjoyed this recipe, I would be incredibly grateful if you could leave a comment below. Please include which flour blend you used. This will help others know this recipe is delicious. Thank you!
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
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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 airtight 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!
SPECIAL NOTE
Please know that every gluten free flour blend has a different starch to grain ratio. If you use a blend I didn’t test, my rule of thumb is to add more flour if your dough or batter is wet and add more liquid if the dough or batter is too dry!
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.
It worked very well!
I am so glad you loved these meringues, Alice. Thank you!
What size tip are you using for piping the meringue?
Hi Margaret it is a star 32 tip. (It is the Wilton brand.)
Your recipe should state that when adding sugar to add 1 tsp at a time.
Good morning! These little trees look lovely and I already have little gold star. I have a question-I was very pleased to see gluten and dairy free. You mentioned “gluing” the stars on with a dot of icing -would that just be with just some icing sugar and water mixed together to keep it dairy free? Thanks so much!
Hi Pat. I used a simple paste made of powdered sugar and water. You can buy icing in a squeeze bottle at many grocery stores in the baking area.