These vegan meringue cookies are light, crisp, and sweet with absolutely no beany taste at all. And they're simpler to make than you'd think!
The secret to perfect vegan meringues is aquafaba, the liquid from canned beans. Aquafaba is a great egg replacer, and it works like a charm in meringue recipes!
Why white bean aquafaba?
Chickpea aquafaba is the most popular, but you don't have to use the liquid from canned chickpeas. For recipes with a more delicate flavor, white bean liquid is your friend.
Chickpea liquid whips up more quickly than white bean, but it definitely has a bean-y flavor. That's fine in something like a brownie or cake, where other strong flavors overpower it. In something like a meringue, though, that flavor comes through.
White bean aquafaba has a more neutral flavor, so you end up with a meringues that tastes like meringues, not like beans.
A bit of fun cooking science
Wondering how thin, runny bean liquid whips up into luscious, creamy peaks? It's science!
Just like egg whites, the liquid from canned beans contains protein. When you whip the liquid, you actually change the structure of the protein, wrapping it around tiny air bubbles. The sugar and acid -- in this recipe's case, cream of tartar -- help stabilize those protein-wrapped bubbles.
If you have kids, this is a fun, edible science lesson to do with them!
Recipe notes
I definitely recommend that you use an electric hand mixer for this recipe. This is a smaller batch situation, so a stand mixer may not be able to reach the liquid enough to whip it up.
A crank hand mixer will work in theory, but since you have to whip vigorously for an extended period of time, it's not the best option.
White bean liquid takes a bit longer to form peaks than chickpea does. Expect a good 15-20 minutes of beating on high. The chickpea meringue takes closer to 10.
But that extra time is so worth it for the improved taste!
Before you start whipping, you want to make sure that your bowl is squeaky clean. Oil is the enemy of stiff peaks, so make sure that there's no residual oil in your bowl from a previous recipe.
Wondering how to know when you have soft peaks? It takes about 15-20 minutes to get the soft peaks you need for these cookies. You've reached the soft peak stage when the batter is no longer runny. When you take the beater out and hold it up, the batter shouldn't run off. It should hold its shape, but the peaks will be a bit droopy on top.
Don't skip the sitting time. This recipe calls for leaving your cookies in the oven for at least two hours after you turn it off. This additional drying time will help the cookies stay crisp for longer. If you skip it, they will soften within just a few hours of baking.
Store cooled meringue cookies in an airtight container on the kitchen counter or in the pantry. They will keep for two to three days.
Your meringue cookies will soften over time, because they will absorb moisture from the air. How long they keep depends a lot on how humid your kitchen is.
What to do with the leftover white beans
When you make meringues with aquafaba, you're left with lots of beans. If you need a recipe for your white beans, try these!
Vegan meringue cookies recipe
Ingredients
- 1 15 ounce can white beans - drained, liquid reserved. You can set those beans aside, because we are done with them!
- ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar - or ½ teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup organic sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200° F.
- In a large, high-sided bowl, combine the bean liquid, cream of tartar, vanilla extract, and a heaping tablespoon of the sugar, and whip with an electric hand mixer on high, adding sugar by the heaping tablespoon until it's all incorporated. Continue whipping until your aquafaba forms soft peaks. This can take anywhere from 15-25 minutes.
- Scoop tablespoons of your meringue onto cookie sheets lined with parchment paper.
- Bake each batch for two hours. Your cookies are ready when they’re crisp all the way through. If they look runny at all, give them 10 extra minutes, then check again.
- Turn the oven off, but leave the cookies in there for another 2 hours to cool before removing your vegan meringue cookies from oven.
Meghan
This looks awesome. Have you tried pipping it? I’d like to attempt making merengue “bones.”
Becky Striepe
Ooh I haven't, but what a cute idea! It should work fine, just make sure your piping bag and tip are both totally clean, if you've used either for frosting in the past. Fat is the enemy of meringue!
Jau
Do we use powdered sugar or regular sugar?
Becky Striepe
I used regular sugar.
Samantha Richardson
I made these the other week for the first time and they were delicious! I doubled the recipe, but only the meringues on the top shelf crisped up (the others were still a wobbly blob - due to my rubbish oven). But I put the remainder of the crispy ones in an airtight bag and they stayed crispy and delicious for at least a week! I ate mine with coconut whipped cream and fruit. Yum!
Becky Striepe
Oh wow! That is great to hear that they kept for so long, and your serving idea sounds delicious!
Nicole Dawson
I have yet to have any success with making meringue cookies using aquafaba but I'm going to keep trying. You've given me hope!
Becky Striepe
You can do it!!
olivia
I whipped it for 30 min lol
Radhika
I made a batch of ice cream using chick peas water, but it tastes so much beany, why so?
And also like other people reported that it flattens down when we add flavoring, I added vanilla extract and it got flat, still I kept it in freezer, let see what happens..
Becky Striepe
The chickpea brine does taste be any to me, also. You might try white bean instead. It's a lot more neutral.
Amber
Hello, lovely to find your blog making Aquafaba with White Bean instead of the popular Chickpea. The Meringue turned flat when I put it in the oven. It was 200 degrees and I used a ziploc bag with tip cut for piping. Everything was clean and no oil came in contact. I am wondering what your advice for what made them go flat 2 times in a row 2 days in a row. I used a hand mixer for 10 mins to get the liquid nice and stable. I used cream of tartar and added sugar in 1 teaspoon at a time ( didnt want too much sugar for some reason) But; when I whipped it looked nice and reached peaks that made me feel it was time. Any ideas to stabalize the base of my Meringue also; is using aluminum foil ok? Just checking all bases as to what the heck happened LOL.
Becky Striepe
Oh no! I am sorry to hear that they fell! The only thing I can think of is the amount of sugar, if you were trying to reduce it too much. Sugar helps stabilize the structure, along with the whipped up proteins. Foil should be OK, but you could try parchment paper instead. Let me know how the next round goes!
Kd Marabello
I cooked the white beans myself. So how much liquid do I measure out for this recipe?
Becky Striepe
Hmm good question! I have not used the liquid from home-cooked beans. I'd say start with 1/2 cup liquid, and add the sugar more slowly, until you get stiff peaks.
Ajne
I was just looking through the comments to see if anyone else had the same idea to use the liquid from homemade beans instead of canned. Have you tried this and how much liquid did you end up using? Did you use the soakwater or the cooking water? My idea is that the cooking water might have more in the way of starch.
Becky Striepe
I've heard folks have success with this, and I think they simmer it further to thicken before using . The canned bean liquid is thicker than cooked. Definitely the cooking water, not soaking. I'd say 3/4 cups liquid should work.
Maggie
I cooked a half pound of chick peas in water to cover by 2 inches. Cooked until just tender. I sorted the beans from the water. 1/2 cup of this water whipped up quickly and made the cutest meringues until I tried to bake them at 425F. They puddled on me. Suddenly. It was fun to watch. Back to the lab. I mean kitchen.
Becky Striepe
Oh bummer! You might try simmering the liquid to reduce it some. I think the canned liquid is thicker than from fresh beans. Also! Did you use cream of tarter or vinegar? A little acidity helps a lot! Keep us posted, and thank you so much for sharing your experiences!!
CountyGrrl
I stuck mine in the fridge today (because I brought some sticky ones to work) and they did get back to being crispy... almost crispier than when they first came out of the oven. Worth a try on a bigger batch.
Becky Striepe
Ooh that is good to know! Were they on a plate or in a container?
Deb B
Just tried for the first time and so far so good. I was amazed at how the garbanzo bean liquid whipped up into meringue. Very excited it worked for me first time. They are still in the oven, about 1 hour left to the final results. Because I didn't believe 1 - 15oz can could produce a lot of vegan meringues for a crowd, I doubled it and used 2 cans. Not a good idea unless you have big commercial ovens. LOL Thank's for a great vegan meringue. I am looking forward to trying other beans for the color aspect. A bean meringue for every holiday!
Becky Striepe
Isn't it exciting when it comes together that first time? When those stiff peaks first formed I did a meringue dance!
Julie
I tried the meringue recipe today with juice from my own cooked beans. They were setting up nicely, but not yet at stiff peaks,
I turned my Kitchen Aid on high to finish. beating. Apparently it was too strong!
When I added a teaspoon of flavour, the meringue collapsed completely! (I had added cream of tartar before to stabilize, and had beaten it in for a few minutes.) I also had the juice at room temp, since that is what you do with eggs.
Any ideas of why that happened??
Becky Striepe
Oh man! What a bummer. It's hard to say, since bean liquid can vary. You might have needed more sugar, since that can help it get stiffer. Overbeating is another possibility. My cheap I hand mixer may not get as high speed as a stand mixer. Don't give up! I had a couple of epic fails too before finding the sweet spot. (Did my pun take the edge off at all?)
Julie
The other thing is that I sprout my beans, and toss the soaking water. Should I be using the soaking water to cook them? I can add seaweed to take some of the gas out of the beans.
Becky Striepe
Hmm that might help. I know it's the protein in the bean water that helps. Do you think the seaweed would leave a taste in the water, though?
Julie
It would add salt for sure. Most canned beans have salt added anyway. I didn't a pinch of salt when I tried the meringues
Poppy
Ah, So sweeeeeet Becky! They are adorable! I'm so glad you had success with a different kind of bean, I'm sure all they other beans were starting to envy the attention the chickpea was getting!! <3
Becky Striepe
Yeah! I was nervous when they took so long to form peaks, but it finally worked! I've seen folks also mention red beans and want to try that too!
narf77
Excellent share and cheers for all of the additional links. I am going to get brave and attempt to use a can of black beans to see if I can't make black meringues. Imagine black meringues with matcha or black sesame paste filling? I am also going to see if I can't use this mix (minus the sugar) to make fluffier vegan omelettes.
Becky Striepe
Oh man. Please report back on all of these things!
Joël
Hi, please to see this delicious recipe ! Just to inform you that I discovered the chickpeas' white and that you'll find some more recipes from my blog (www.revolutionvegetale.com).
I'll also pubish recipes that refers to my work :)
Andrea
It took me a long time before I could add beans to cake, but now one of my favorite recipes contains beans. Maybe someday I'll be able to make the leap to bean liquid meringue. :)
Becky Striepe
I believe in you, Andrea!