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This classic vanilla meringue cookie recipe is made with just 4 ingredients and is my absolute favorite. Check out this easy meringue recipe and all of my favorite tips and takeaways to make the perfect little cookie.
Meringue Cookies are one of my favorite quick and easy recipes to make for the holidays. In this post, we will share our favorite simple meringue recipe, how to make meringue cookies, exactly how long to cook meringues, and more. You’ll be baking the perfect meringues in no time at all!
Looking for more holiday treats? You might also enjoy this peppermint bark.
FAVORITE MERINGUE RECIPE
If you’ve been following my site for a while, you should know by now I would have a favorite meringue recipe to share. This recipe is super simple and it only calls for a handful of ingredients.
Not only that, but the meringue comes together really quickly, it’s easily piped, and bakes perfectly for that slightly hardshell casing with the marshmallow-like inside.
It’s also a great meringue to make if this is your first time making it.
WHAT IS MERINGUE
The French term meringue refers to the final product of stiffly beaten room temperature egg whites combined with sugar that is baked until lightly crisp. The three main ingredients of meringue include egg whites, sugar, and cream of tartar or another acidic ingredient such as lemon.
Meringue is used for many different applications, the most common being a topping for pies, cakes, and meringue cookies. The latter of what we will be sharing today.
INGREDIENTS NEEDED FOR MERINGUE
To make these meringue cookies, you only need to have a handful of ingredients. Here is what you will need to have on hand:
egg whites – must be at room temperature. Let them sit out for at least 30 minutes but no longer than 2 hours.
granulated sugar
cream of tartar
vanilla – if coloring the meringue cookies you can use any vanilla. If you want to make white meringues, use clear vanilla if available.
gel coloring *optional – a little goes a long way, and meringues are always pretty with color.
To make this recipe work, you need to allow the egg whites to sit at room temperature for 30 minutes. We will share our other favorite tips on how to make meringue cookies below.
If you need to grab this recipe and run, head to the Jump to Recipe button at the top of this page or scroll down to the bottom of this page for the full recipe card. There you will find the full recipe with notes, tips, and tricks.
MERINGUE COOKIES RECIPE
To learn how to make a classic vanilla meringue cookie recipe, you first have to learn how to make the meringue. We are going to share our step by step process with you for our super-simple meringue recipe. You’ll want to save this recipe for future baking!
How to Make Meringue
Heat Oven to 250 degrees Fahrenheit.
Heat the oven to 250 degrees Fahrenheit. Take two cookie sheets and line them with parchment paper and set aside.
Mix.
Add the room temperature egg whites, cream of tartar, and vanilla to a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Turn the mixer on medium speed and whisk until the ingredients are foamy. About 1 minute.
Add.
While the mixer is still on medium speed, slowly add 1 Tbsp at a time of the sugar. Do not add more sugar until the first tablespoon has been completely dissolved. About 30 seconds in between each addition. Once all of the sugar has been added, turn the mixer on high speed and allow it to mix for 3 minutes, or until the meringue is forming stiff peaks. DO NOT OVERMIX. Once you get stiff peaks, STOP.
Color.
If you’re adding color to the meringue, add it as soon as you get the stiff peaks formed in the meringue. Then beat the meringue for an additional minute or until the color has fully incorporated into the meringue. AGAIN, DON’T OVERMIX.
Pipe.
Fit a #32 Wilson Star to a pastry bag and fill it with the meringue. Grab the lined cookie sheets and carefully pipe the meringue cookies about 1 to 1 1/2 inches in diameter and space them about 2 inches a part from each other. You should be able to fill 2 large cookie sheets and still have some leftover meringue.
Bake.
Place the piped cookies into the oven and bake on 250 for 40 minutes. DO NOT OPEN THE DOOR. Once the cook time has finished, turn the oven off and leave the meringue cookies in the oven for an hour. Seriously. **DO NOT OPEN THE DOOR**
Serve.
Remove the cookies from the oven and serve! They should have a slightly crunchy outside shell with a marshmallow-like inside when you bite into them.
This is such an easy meringue recipe and one we make over and over. Follow those simple steps above and you’ll be piping the perfect meringues before you know it!
You can store any leftover meringue cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to two weeks! That’s if they last that long.
TIPS AND TAKEAWAYS:
EGG WHITES: Make sure the egg whites have been sitting at room temperature for 30 minutes (but no longer than 2 hours) before starting the recipe. You can read more of the great egg debate about refrigerating eggs or not here.
DON’T OVERMIX: When mixing together your ingredients, it’s important to make sure everything is completely mixed well, but don’t overmix the ingredients. As soon as you have a glossy meringue that forms stiff peaks, stop mixing.
DON’T OPEN THE OVEN: You will be tempted, but keep the oven door shut for the entire cooking time and finishing time in the oven. Opening the oven could cause the meringue to flatten.
BE ADVENTUROUS: Try different piping tips to give your meringues a different shape and look. Use different colors and multiple colors at once. Add different flavors, dip them in chocolate, and sprinkle them with other ingredients. The sky is the limit once you have the meringue recipe mastered.
MORE HOLIDAY TREATS
Cream Cheese Dip
Gingerbread Cupcakes
Chocolate Chip Eggnog Bars
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Meringue Cookies
This classic vanilla meringue cookie recipe is made with just 4 ingredients and is my absolute favorite. Check out this easy meringue recipe and all of my favorite tips and takeaways to make the perfect little cookie.
Course Candy Dessert, Dessert
Cuisine American
Prep Time 15minutes
Cook Time 50minutes
Oven Rest Time 1hour
Total Time 2hours5minutes
Servings 90
Calories 6kcal
Ingredients
2/3cupsugargranulated, white
3egg whites
1/4tspcream of tartar
1 1/2tspvanilla
Instructions
Heat the oven to 250 degrees Fahrenheit. Take two cookie sheets and line them with parchment paper and set aside.
Add the room temperature egg whites, cream of tartar, and vanilla to a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Turn the mixer on medium speed and whisk until the ingredients are foamy. About 1 minute.
While the mixer is still on medium speed, slowly add 1 Tbsp at a time of the sugar. Do not add more sugar until the first tablespoon has been completely dissolved. About 30 seconds in between each addition. Once all of the sugar has been added, turn the mixer on high speed and allow it to mix for 3 minutes, or until the meringue is forming stiff peaks. DO NOT OVERMIX. Once you get stiff peaks, STOP.
If you’re adding color to the meringue, add it as soon as you get the stiff peaks formed in the meringue. Then beat the meringue for an additional minute or until the color has fully incorporated into the meringue. AGAIN, DON’T OVERMIX.
Fit a #32 Wilson Star to a pastry bag and fill it with the meringue. Grab the lined cookie sheets and carefully pipe the meringue cookies about 1 to 1 1/2 inches in diameter and space them about 2 inches a part from each other. You should be able to fill 2 large cookie sheets and still have some leftover meringue.
Place the piped cookies into the oven and bake on 250 for 40 minutes. DO NOT OPEN THE DOOR. Once the cook time has finished, turn the oven off and leave the meringue cookies in the oven for an hour. Seriously. **DO NOT OPEN THE DOOR**
Remove the cookies from the oven and serve! They should have a slightly crunchy outside shell with a marshmallow-like inside when you bite into them.
Notes
EGG WHITES: Make sure the egg whites have been sitting at room temperature for 30 minutes (but no longer than 2 hours) before starting the recipe.
DON’T OVERMIX: When mixing together your ingredients, it’s important to make sure everything is completely mixed well, but don’t overmix the ingredients. As soon as you have a glossy meringue that forms stiff peaks, stop mixing.
DON’T OPEN THE OVEN: You will be tempted, but keep the oven door shut for the entire cooking time and finishing time in the oven. Opening the oven could cause the meringue to flatten.
BE ADVENTUROUS: Try different piping tips to give your meringues a different shape and look. Use different colors and multiple colors at once. Add different flavors, dip them in chocolate, and sprinkle them with other ingredients. The sky is the limit once you have the meringue recipe mastered.
**Nutrition facts are based on my best estimation for this recipe. They may not be accurate depending on what brands you use or modifications you might make to the recipe. For most accurate calculations, I recommend using a nutrition calculator with the exact brands and measurements you use with the recipe.
Did you make this recipe? Or planning to?Share a photo, mention @pinkwhenjen, and tag #pinkwhen on Instagram and in your Instagram Story. Don’t forget to RATE this recipe once you’ve made it!!
These pumpkin snickerdoodles are the perfect fall twist on traditional snickerdoodles. With pumpkin puree and pumpkin spice added into the batter, these cookies have the perfect fall flavor.
These pumpkin snickerdoodles have the same great taste of traditional snickerdoodles, with their tasty cinnamon and sugar coating. But the cookie batter has pumpkin puree and pumpkin pie spice added right in, to give the cookies a subtle, but also perfect pumpkin flavor.
I love the simplicity of snickerdoodle cookies, but when I saw pumpkin snickerdoodles floating around the internet, I knew they were something I needed to try.
The cookie is soft and chewy, like a snickerdoodle cookie should be (My original recipe from 6 years ago was still a bit cakey, but these have been adapted and improved to be more like my chewy pumpkin cookies). They’re perfectly soft, and chewy, with a little bit of crispiness on the edges, and they are perfectly pumpkin spiced.
How to make Pumpkin Snickerdoodles?
These cookies start out with melted butter because it helps the cookies to be more chewy. Because the butter is melted though you’ll have to chill the dough before baking the cookies so the cookies aren’t too flat. But back to the cookie dough. You’ll melt the butter in the microwave for about a minute or so then let it cool at room temperature for about 10 or 15 minutes so it’s not hot when you add it to the sugars.
In a large bowl combine the melted butter, white sugar, and brown sugar until just combined. Since the butter is melted you don’t really need to cream them together like normal cookies, though I still mix mine for about 1 minute. Then add in the egg yolk, pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling – plain unsweetened puree) and vanilla extract. Stir those into the sugar until they are just combined.
Then you’ll add your dry ingredients to your wet ingredients. I just dump them straight into the bowl. You’ll need flour, baking soda, salt, cream or tartar, pumpkin pie spice, and ground cinnamon. Mix it all together till you have a nice soft dough. The dough will be quite soft because of the melted butter and needs to be chilled. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and place the bowl in the fridge for 1 hour, up to 1 day.
When you’re almost ready to bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 350 degrees farenheit. Then combine your sugar and ground cinnamon for rolling the cookies in. Then scoop your cookie dough into 1 1/2 tablespoon sized balls. They should each weigh about 30 grams. Roll the dough scoops into nice balls. Then roll those balls into the cinnamon sugar, and roll them all around to coat them evenly in the cinnamon sugar mixture.
Then place them on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone liner. Place them a 2-3 inches apart from each other as they spread a bit. I usually just put 8 dough balls per pan. Bake those till the cookies look set, and the stops start to crack nicely. Carefully remove the pan from the oven and allow the cookies to cool on the pan for about 5 minutes, then transfer them to a cooling rack to continue cooling. Repeat with remaining dough.
How to store Pumpkin Snickerdoodles?
These pumpkin snickerdoodles will stay good for 5 or 6 days if kept in an airtight container at room temperature. Although I think they will be best on day 2 or 3. And actually the pumpkin flavor gets a bit stronger on day 2 than right after you make them.
The recipe only makes 18 cookies, so be sure to double it if you’re making the cookies for a crowd.
These pumpkin snickerdoodles are a delicious fall cookie. They are soft, chewy, with a little bit of a crisp bottom. They have the perfect subtle fall flavor, and just the right amount of spice. You’ll gobble them all up in no time!
Looking for more Pumpkin Cookie Recipes?
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
Chewy Pumpkin White Chocolate Chip Cookies
Pumpkin Crinkle Cookies on Dessert Now Dinner Later
Pumpkin Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting on Gimme Some Oven
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Pumpkin Snickerdoodles
These pumpkin snickerdoodles are the perfect fall twist on traditional snickerdoodles. With pumpkin puree and pumpkin spice added into the batter, these cookies have the perfect fall flavor.
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Prep Time: 10minutes
Cook Time: 12minutes
Chilling Time: 1hour
Total Time: 1hour22minutes
Servings: 18
Calories: 144kcal
Ingredients
1/2cupbutter(melted and slightly cooled)
2/3cupgranulated white sugar
1/3cupbrown sugar
1egg yolk
1/3cuppumpkin puree
1tspvanilla
1 1/2cupsflour
1/2tspbaking soda
1/2tspsalt
1/2tspcream of tartar
1/2tsppumpkin pie spice
1/2tspground cinnamon
For the cinnamon sugar coating:
1/4cupsugar
1tspcinnamon
Instructions
Melt the butter in a small microwave safe bowl. Set aside at room temperature and allow co cool for about 10-20 minutes.
Mix together the melted butter, white sugar, and brown sugar until combined.
Add in your egg yolk, pumpkin puree and vanilla extract and stir until just mixed together.
Add the flour, baking soda, salt, pumpkin pie spice, and cinnamon to the wet ingredients and stir together till you have a soft dough.
Cover the bowl and place the bowl in the fridge for 1 hour, up to overnight.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Line a cookie sheet with a silicone liner or parchment paper.
Combine the cinnamon and sugar in a small bowl for rolling.
Scoop your dough into 1 1/2 TBS sized balls, and roll into balls.
Dip your dough into the cinnamon sugar and roll around to full coat.
Place cookie dough balls on the prepared cookie sheet, placing them about 2 inches apart.
Bake on the medium rack in the oven for 11-13 minutes until the tops of the cookies are set and the cookies just start to crack.
Allow to rest on cookie sheet for about 5 minutes before removing to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Repeat with additional cookie dough (only bake one pan at a time)
Soft Pumpkin Cookies are the best cookie recipe for fall! They are topped with Cream Cheese Frosting and spiced with cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger. They are melt-in-your-mouth-delicious – I bet you can’t eat just one!
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I’m not sure it’s officially fall until I’ve made a batch of spiced pumpkin cookies! The minute I smell the scent of pumpkin spice it’s like a switch turns on and I am all about the fall season – even if it still feels like summer!
So, if you’re looking for a way to get in the mood for all things fall you have to make a batch of these – they are the best pumpkin cookies ever.
Pumpkin Cookies with Frosting
These are not your ordinary cookies. They are impossibly soft, tender and flavored with just the right amount of spices. To take them over the top I frost them with my favorite cream cheese frosting making them the ultimate melt in your mouth pumpkin cookies. The combination is amazing!
It’s an easy pumpkin cookie recipe made from scratch and one that I’m sure will end up in your favorite cookie recipe file. I make them every year and you will, too, once you give them a try.
Ingredients for the Cookies
Melted unsalted butter – I love using melted butter in my cookies to give them a more toffee-like flavor
Pumpkin puree
Brown sugar – use dark brown sugar for extra flavor and color
Granulate sugar
Egg yolk – using just the yolk keeps them chewy and not cakey
Baking soda
Salt
Ground nutmeg, ginger, allspice, and cinnamon – use my DIY Pumpkin Spice instead if you prefer!
Vanilla extract
All-purpose flour
How to Make Pumpkin Cookies
Just when you thought it couldn’t get any better, it does! Have I mentioned this is an easy one-bowl cookie recipe? You have to love that.
You can use a stand mixer or a hand-held mixer to make the dough – it only takes a few minutes.
Mix the butter, pumpkin puree, and both types of sugar until smooth. Add the yolk, baking soda, salt, spices, and vanilla and mix again until well combined. Add the flour and mix until a smooth and soft dough forms.
Chill the dough for at least two hours. This will allow the dough to firm up so the cookies don’t spread too much while they bake.
Scoop two tablespoons of dough to form each cookie dough ball. Place them on a prepared baking sheet and bake the cookies at 350°F for 10 to 13 minutes. I tend to err on the side of slightly under baked, so keep an eye on them. Once they are no longer glossy on top they are done.
Cool them completely before frosting.
Pumpkin Cookie Pro Tips!
The dough needs at least two hours to chill or you can keep it in the refrigerator for up to two days. This is great when it’s busy – just make the dough ahead and bake it when you’re ready!
You can also freeze the dough for up to two months. The easiest way is to form the dough balls and freeze them on a cookie sheet. Transfer them to a freezer-bag and bake them later. You can bake them from frozen but you will need to add a few minutes to the baking time.
Or, you can bake the unfrosted cookies and freeze them for up to a month. Just let them thaw at room temperature before frosting them.
Cream Cheese Frosting
The pumpkin cookies are delicious plain but the cream cheese frosting just makes them even better. Slather it on each cookie and then dust the tops with some cinnamon for decoration.
Frosted cookies will keep for three days at room temperature. Just store them in an airtight container.
Make these soft pumpkin cookies for all of your fall events – they’re great for potlucks, parties, and holiday dinners! If you feel like sharing, that is. I wouldn’t blame you for keeping them all to yourself. Enjoy!
Other ways to make Pumpkin Cookies
Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cookies
Pumpkin Bars
Pumpkin Blondies
Pumpkin Nutella Bars
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Cookies
1/2cupunsalted buttermelted
1/3cuppumpkin puree
3/4cupdark brown sugar
1/4cupgranulated sugar
1egg yolk
1/2teaspoonbaking soda
1/2teaspoonsalt
1/2teaspoonground nutmeg
1/4teaspoonground ginger
1/4teaspoonground allspice
1teaspoonground cinnamon
1teaspoonvanilla extract
1 3/4cupsall purpose flour
Cream Cheese Frosting
4ouncescream cheesesoftened
1/4cupunsalted buttersoftened
1 1/2cupspowdered sugar
1/2teaspoonvanilla extract
Place melted butter, pumpkin, and both sugars in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. You can also use a hand mixer, if you prefer. Mix until smooth, about 30 seconds. Mix in egg yolk, baking soda, salt, spices, and vanilla. Mix in flour until batter is smooth. It’ll be a soft batter. Chill dough for at least 2 hours.
Preheat oven to 350°F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or silpat baking mats.
Scoop 2 tablespoon balls of cookie dough onto prepared cookie sheets. Bake for 10-13 minutes until they are no longer glossy. (I like to err on the side of under baked for a gooey cookie!) Cool completely before frosting.
To make the frosting: cream butter and cream cheese until fluffy. Slowly add in powdered sugar and vanilla. Mix until smooth. Frost cookies and dust with a bit of cinnamon.
Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days or freeze unfrosted cookies for up to 1 month.
Nutritional information not guaranteed to be accurate
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Keyword cookie, pumpkin
These easy and soft Pumpkin Cookies are the best cookie recipe for fall! They are topped with a cream cheese frosting and spiced with cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger.