Mardi Gras Meringues

Celebrate the season of Mardi Gras with these festive Mardi Gras Meringues. With a crisp outer shell and slightly chewy center, these delicate cookies will melt in your mouth.  Decorated with swirls of the Mardi Gras colors, these simple treats will bring a bit of the Fat Tuesday fun into your own home.

I’m truly a New Orleans girl at heart. You can take the girl out of the city, but you can’t take the city out of the girl. I’ve mentioned before how much I loved growing up in New Orleans. There isn’t a city quite like it at all.

Mardi Gras 

Right now, New Orleans is gearing up for their largest party of the year, Mardi Gras! There are parades every weekend, Mardi Gras balls in the evening, lots of King Cakes, and parties galore. I miss it.

So, even though I’m not there, I still try to bring a little of the Mardi Gras festivities into my own home.

This year, in addition making King Cakes, I made these pretty little meringues decorated in the colors of the Mardi Gras season; purple, green and gold.  I really do love how pretty they turned out.

The colors of Mardi Gras were chosen by the king of the Krewe of Rex (one of the oldest Mardi Gras krewes). The color purple represents justice, green represents faith and gold represents power.

What Are Meringues?

Meringues are light as air, melt-in-your-mouth “cookies” and they couldn’t be easier to make.  They’re made with egg whites and sugar which makes them so light and airy.  Cream of tartar is added to stabilize the egg whites and allow them to maintain their texture when whipped into stiff peaks.

A perfect meringue should have a crisp exterior and a delicate, slightly chewy center and once you know how easy they can be made, you’ll want to make them often.

One of the things I love about meringues is that you can leave them “plain”, you can flavor them simply with a hint of vanilla as I did in this recipe, you can bake them with bits of chocolate folded in or you can add a different flavoring instead of the vanilla, like almond extract or lemon.

Ingredient Notes

See recipe box below for ingredient amounts and full recipe instructions.

• Egg whites
• Cream of tartar
• Sugar
• Vanilla extract
• Food coloring

How To Make This Recipe

1. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat egg whites until foamy. Add the cream of tartar and beat until fluffy.
2. Add the sugar very slowly, about 1 tablespoon at a time while still beating.
3. Add the vanilla extract and continue beating until the meringue is shiny.
4. Evenly divide the meringue into 3 medium-sized bowls. Add 2-3 drops of purple food coloring to one bowl, 2-3 drops of green coloring to the second bowl and 2-3 drops of yellow coloring to the third bowl. Take a toothpick or the tip of a sharp knife and gently swirl the color into the meringue. You mustn’t STIR.
5. Meringues may be dropped by the tablespoonful onto the parchment paper lined baking sheets, or piped onto the sheets using a pastry bag, leaving a 1-inch space between each cookie.
6. Place baking sheets in the preheated oven and turn the oven off.
7. Leave the cookies undisturbed in the oven for at least 2 hours.

Looking to make just a few meringues? You’ll love this small batch meringue cookies recipe.

Expert Tips

•  Be careful not to leave any of the egg yolk with the egg white.This will interfere with the egg whites foaming.
• If your egg whites have been kept in the refrigerator, bring them to room temperature. Warmer eggs whip faster than cold eggs
• Use glass, copper or stainless steel bowls when making meringues. Plastic bowls can sometimes harbor traces of grease which will prevent the egg whites from getting stiff.
• Use super-fine sugar when making meringues because it dissolves faster than regular sugar and gradually add the sugar, a tiny bit at a time while beating continuously.
• Try not to over-whip the egg whites. The meringue should be shiny and glossy so stop whipping when stiff peaks form.
• If possible, try to avoid making meringues on humid or rainy days. This could affect how the meringue cookies turn out. If necessary, you might need to increase the baking time.

Ways To Use Leftover Ingredients

If you have any ingredients leftover from this meringue cookie recipe, you might consider using them in any of these recipes.

• Egg yolk: Eggnog, Apple Scones, Mini Irish Soda Bread, Mini Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Skillet Cookie
• Cream of tartar: Lemon Drop Meringues, Chocolate Mousse Pie with Biscoff Crust, Small Batch Snickerdoodles
• Sugar: Frosted Sugar Cookie Bars, Small Batch Donut Holes, Small Batch Whipped Cream
• Vanilla: Small Batch Apple Butter, Mini Spice Cake, Mini Devil’s Food Cake

If you’re looking for a Small Batch of Meringue Cookies, you can find that recipe as well as many other single serving recipes by visiting our One Dish Kitchen site.

Enjoy!

Mardi Gras Meringues

By: Joanie Zisk

Prep: 20 minutes mins

Cook: 2 hours hrs

0 minutes mins

Total: 2 hours hrs 20 minutes mins

Servings: 12 cookies

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Celebrate the season of Mardi Gras with these festive Mardi Gras Meringues. With a crisp outer shell and slightly chewy center, these delicate cookies melt in your mouth. 

Ingredients 

• ▢ 2 large egg whites, at room temperature
• ▢ 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
• ▢ 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• ▢ 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ▢ Purple, green and yellow food coloring

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Instructions 

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat egg whites until foamy. Add the cream of tartar and beat until fluffy.
• Add the sugar very slowly, about 1 tablespoon at a time while still beating.
• Add the vanilla extract and continue beating until the meringue is shiny.
• Evenly divide the meringue into 3 medium-sized bowls. Add 2-3 drops of purple food coloring to one bowl, 2-3 drops of green coloring to the second bowl and 2-3 drops of yellow coloring to the third bowl. Take a toothpick or the tip of a sharp knife and gently swirl the color into the meringue. It is very important that you DO NOT STIR.
• Meringues may be dropped by the tablespoonful onto the parchment paper lined baking sheets, or piped onto the sheets using a pastry bag, leaving a 1-inch space between each cookie.
• Place baking sheets in the preheated oven and turn the oven off.
• Leave the cookies undisturbed in the oven for at least 2 hours.

Notes

Cookies can be stored at room temperature in an airtight container for up to one week.

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