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I’ve been trying to make healthier, refined sugar free, paleo meringue cookies for SO long now and we finally nailed them! Meringue cookies are one of my all-time favorites! They are simple, crunchy, light, naturally gluten-free, and perfect to have for entertaining or for a treat. These Maple Meringue Cookies are refined sugar free, light, and the perfect beautiful cookie everybody will love!
Meringue Cookies
I won’t lie, these Meringue Cookies took several attempt to get them just right! We wanted them to be light and crunchy and just sweet enough using only unrefined sweeteners. We tried honey, maple sugar and even beet sugar before settling down on maple syrup as the perfect sweetener for these cookies. The maple flavor is present, but it is subtle and adds a really great dimension to this elegant cookies.
Tips for Making Meringue Cookies
- It’s easier to separate the egg whites while they’re cold, but let them sit at room temperature for about 20 minutes so they whip up easier.
- Make sure you have a clean mixing bowl and whisk attachment before you start whipping the egg whites! Any grease leftover in the bowl could prevent your egg whites from whipping up.
- To get your parchment paper to lay flat without moving on the sheet pan pipe a small portion of the meringue mixture on the back of the parchment on each corner.
- Don’t open the oven up after you’ve finished baking the Meringues! Let them sit, undisturbed in the oven the entire 2 hours. They need that dry environment to continue to cook and dry out.
- Once you take them out of the oven make sure to store any Meringues in an air-tight container that will not be consumed right away so they stay nice and crisp.
While made with minimal ingredients, meringues can be a trickier cookie to make without the classic white refined sugar. We spent a lot of time perfecting this recipe and are so excited for it to finally make it to LCK!
Are meringue cookies good for you?
They are certainly a healthier cookie made with minimal ingredients!! Plus, since they are made with egg whites, you get some protein bonus!
Can you over whip a meringue?
Yes. When you over whip the egg whites past stiff peaks they get grainy or “dry” and can then collapse back to liquid.
How long can I store meringue cookies?
When stored in an airtight container and placed in a cool, dry place, meringues can stay fresh for roughly 2 weeks. Freezing is the best option if you think you won’t be using meringues for a while! We like having them in the freezer for guests. When kept in the freezer, meringues can stay fresh for months, but be careful of moisture when defrosting them as this will soften the outside of the meringue.
Can you make meringue ahead of time?
Yes!!
Tools we use for this meringue recipe:
Want other cookie recipes? Try these paleo favorites:
- Carrot Cake Cookies
- Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Double Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies
- Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
Watch the video here:
Easy Maple Meringue Cookies (Paleo & Refined Sugar Free)
Ingredients
- 3 egg whites 90g
- 1/3 cup maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- pinch fine sea salt
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 200ºF and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a clean bowl of a heavy-duty stand mixer add egg whites, maple syrup, vanilla extract and salt. (see note)
- With a clean whisk attachment, beat on low speed until the mixture is foamy and then increase speed to medium-high until stiff peaks form, about 3 minutes.
- To form the meringue cookies you can simply scoop 1 heaping tablespoon sized dollop on to the parchment paper, or use a piping bag with a star attachment to pipe about 24 cookies.
- Bake at 200ºF for 2 hours. Do not open the oven. When finished baking, shut off oven and leave inside for another 2 hours or so.
- Once finished cooling in the oven, the meringues are ready to eat. If not eating right away you must store in an air tight container immediately or they will go soft. Store in an airtight container for up to two weeks.
Notes
Can these be made into chocolate meringue by adding cacao powder?
We haven’t tried using cocoa powder! but, if you add some in let us know.
As a heads up for those of us with ‘sticking’ issues; I baked these for 2hrs at 90-95°c (200°F = 93
333°c…), rested for another 2, but they stuck. So I stuck them back in at 100°c (212°F) for an hour and 1hr rest, came off no problem.
Reading the reviews people have problems with the maple syrup leaking out, what are your thoughts on maple butter? Since Maple Butter is just whipped maple syrup
I haven’t tested that!
This looks so good! I love that the ingredient list is so simple and natural!
These were wonderful and easy to make. I didn’t have any frosting tips so I just dropped them by teaspoon on to the parchment. Will make again!
Adding 1/4-1/2 tsp of cream of tartar after 1st stiff peaks form and before the syrup will stop the weeping, providing that the whites are whipped until stiff, FYI.
I’ve been looking for a meringue cookie recipe…thanks so much for posting it!!
The maple syrup didn’t stay in the meringue so is puddles out at the bottom and caramelized the cookie to the parchment.
which when putting them off the wood explode in my hands…I cut out quarts of the cookie and parchment and boxed them for the night..
I woke up to them being sticky and gooey. (rainy weather what can I say) if I were to try this again I might use maple sugar instead.
either way I had an epic laugh about my total failure with them.
Calories in a cookie?
I LOVE meringue cookies and the piping in the pictures looks so beautiful! Just curious if this meringue recipe holds up for bigger meringues? Like making a paleo baked Alaska? Thanks Lexi!
Hi Zack–we haven’t tried so we can’t say for sure. My guess is that as long as the meringue is made correctly it would!
My cookies were tasty but stuck horribly to parchment. The part that broke off was crunchy and dry. There was also a brown ooze like maple syrup but dried out around the base of each cookie. I tried baking longer but maybe didn’t go long enough.
I have made meringue candies before but the bake was 1 hour at 200 then leave in until room temp. Does this bake 2 hours because the sugar is in liquid form? They just went into the oven now – time will tell 😉
How’d they turn out?
Having a “stuck to the parchment ” problem too….I make meringues with aquafaba often and haven’t had this happen…first time with egg whites and maple syrup…I’m baking a little longer too see if it helps and then I’ll pray they come off !
Yes—hoping the extra time of baking can help! We’d be interested to hear how they went!
I was really excited to try this recipe because I make meringues all the time and was looking forward to a healthier version. Unfortunately less than half an hour into baking the maple syrup started to leak out of the meringues. I followed the recipe to a tee, so I’m not sure what went wrong.
I’m afraid I had the same problem. Mine were definitely whipped enough and I added the cream of tartar. About an hour and 45 minutes in the maple syrup started weeping. When I took them out they were just soft and deflated and the syrup oozed out
These are by far the best meringue cookies I’ve ever had. They literally melt in your mouth. I followed the instructions to a tee and they came out perfect.
Same result with longer whip time. Is it the room temp eggs? Too low heat from oven? I’d love to have more than 1 unbroken cookie to show for my time! Thanks!
Hi Maggie. I’m sorry! If you still had issues with the meringue weeping than it’s a problem with the stability of your meringue. This one is a little tricky for me to guide you without watching the process / see the meringue. Did you try adding in cream of tartar to help stabilize it? Again, we didn’t need it during testing, but if you are having trouble I might try that.
Hello and thanks for the reply! I did follow everything to the T since it was my first time making the recipe. I used room temperature eggs. I am trying again today the exact same way with having whipped them a bit longer this time. Fingers crossed. The mixture had a bit more ‘build’ to it than yesterday. I’m just so sad none made it off the paper without crumbling or cracking apart. But peeling off the maple taffy from the paper was delicious!
Mine stuck badly to the parchment. They were SUPER delicate and broke apart but tasted great and light. Just the syrup oozed a little and they stuck. It was real syrup. What did I do wrong?
Hi Maggie! Sorry your meringue’s didn’t work out the way they were supposed to! First question is always: did you follow the directions exactly? And if yes, then it’s likely a problem with whipping the egg whites. More often than not bakers under whip them because they are afraid of over whipping them. If they aren’t whipped for long enough they aren’t stable and that is why they leaked and weren’t fully dry. Make sure to start slowly when you whip the eggs, and whip until you have stiff, glossy peaks. For extra security you could add half a teaspoon of cream of tarter for extra stability, but we omitted it in this recipe since we never ran into a problem of a leaky meringue. -Kelli
These are delightful, very helpful with trying to find Christmas sweets for those with dietary restrictions. We used, grade B maple syrup tends to add a little more maple and earthiness, gives a nice juxtaposition with the light crispiness of the meringue.