Peppermint Meringues
These festive red and green-striped peppermint meringues are super simple to make and a fun treat for the holidays!
All you need is just 4 ingredients and only a few minutes of active work to make these peppermint meringues— your oven does the rest! They’re light and airy, with a crisp outer layer and a chewy center.
Just look how cute these bite-sized peppermint meringues are! They’re a lot of fun to make too. And they’d be perfect for an edible gift, on a cookie tray, or treat anytime this holiday season.
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Egg whites
- Granulated sugar
- Peppermint extract
- Red and green gel food coloring
How to Make Peppermint Meringues
- Prepare piping bag. Use a paint brush to lightly brush red and green food coloring in stripes up the sides of a piping bag fitted with a star tip.
- Warm egg whites and sugar. Place egg whites and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer and place over a pot of simmering water. Stir frequently until sugar is dissolved.
- Whip to stiff peaks. Beat egg white mixture with the wire whisk attachment at high speed until meringue holds a stiff peak, about 4-5 minutes.
- Fill piping bag. Use a spatula to scoop meringue into the piping bag.
- Pipe onto sheet pan. Pipe out meringue into a bowl until color starts to come through, then pipe starbursts onto a sheet pan lined with parchment.
- Bake. Bake at 175°F until meringues are crisp but not at all browned, about 2 hours.
- Store. Once cooled, store in an airtight container for about a week.
Tips for this Recipe
- Your mixer bowl and whisk attachment need to be clean and completely free of any grease or fat or your egg whites will not whip up properly.
- To properly separate your eggs, making sure no yolk (i.e. fat) contaminates your whites, see my tutorial here.
- Gel food coloring is required for this recipe, as liquid food coloring won’t stick to the sides of the piping bag.
- I prefer to use a stand mixer when whipping meringues, but a hand mixer would work too.
Can I Make this Recipe without a Piping Bag & Tip?
Yes! I love the looked of these piped meringues, and if you don’t have a piping bag, follow this tutorial for how to use a plastic ziplock bag instead. But if you prefer, you can skip the bag altogether. Instead, do your best to swirl the food coloring into the whipped whites and use a cookie scoop. What your meringues lack in presentation, they’ll more than make up with flavor.
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This recipe was originally published December 2010.
Peppermint Meringues
Ingredients
- 3 large egg whites
- ¾ cup granulated sugar (150 grams)
- ½ teaspoon peppermint extract
- red and green gel-paste food coloring
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 175°F and line 2 sheet pans with parchment paper.
- Put the egg whites and sugar in the metal bowl of a stand mixer. Place over a pot of simmering water and stir occasionally until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture is warm, about 3 minutes.
- Return the bowl to the stand mixer and beat on high with a whisk until the meringue reaches stiff peaks, about 5 minutes. Add the peppermint extract.
- Use a small paint brush to paint the inside of a pastry bag fit with a medium star tip with 3 stripes each of the red and green food coloring.
- Fill the pastry bag and pipe into 2 inch sized stars on the prepared sheet pans (Note, the first little bit of meringue to come out of the pastry bag will not have the stripes because it was inside the tip and not the bag. Pipe it out into a bowl until you see the stripes, then begin piping the stars).
- Bake for about 2 hours until meringues are crisp but not browned. They should peel off the parchment easily. Let cool and store in an airtight container for up to 1 week.
NOTES
- Your mixer bowl and whisk attachment need to be clean and completely free of any grease or fat or your egg whites will not whip up properly.
- To properly separate your eggs, making sure no yolk (i.e. fat) contaminates your whites, see my tutorial here.
- Gel food coloring is required for this recipe, as liquid food coloring won't stick to the sides of the piping bag.
- I prefer to use a stand mixer when whipping meringues, but a hand mixer would work too.
49 Comments on “Peppermint Meringues”
Well done. You are such a terrific blogger and more importantly a terrific person. I may have never known that if weren't for the contest and all the talent and heart you showed through every round. So pass the peppermint and remember how sweet life is! GREG
Congratulations on your success with the blogging challenge! I wish you could have won (your entries rocked!), but that was a huge accomplishment. I want to try my hand at these. Do they taste good with other flavors besides peppermint?
Annalise:
Like you, I am sadder today than Friday. But life goes on beyond pfb and I am taking away all the "goodies": new friends, like you!!!
Your blog is sweet, I am looking forward to your future posts 🙂
These meringues are so cool (never seen two-tone meringues!)
Amelia
It's been a pleasure and an inspiration to read each of your post in #pfb2010, you are a fantastic food blogger and a very talented food photographer. Just remember that with all competition sometimes better contestants are chopped to make later decisions easier (it happens with everything from TopChef to Dancing with the Stars-but I digress). You did deserve to move forward, you are that good!
Keep up the awesome work, I am happy that Project Food Blog opened my world to blogs like yours, you have a forever follower.
These look absolutely wonderful. I attempted these last year and they looked like a mess. I wish I had your talent.
xo I am your newest follower.
I think there's a lot to be said for making the Top 24… it's an achievement in and of itself. Sure, it kinda sucks to be in the bottom 12 and not move ahead, but that's a pretty impressive-looking dozen, don't you think? (Especially that Isabelle girl.. she's awesome) 😉
Love these meringues – the red stripes are just adorable! I've got a truckload of egg whites in the freezer right now (it's one of the hazards of ice-cream-making), so I'm totally adding these to my cookie-making plans for the holiday.
Congratulations on making it this far, Annalise! I was rooting and voting for you all the way, but I can imagine that you must feel a little relieved to not be in competition anymore! Keep baking beautiful treats and inspiring your readers, including me. You are an amazing talent in the kitchen, in and outside of any contest!
i really love how gorgeous your photos are… and this meringue looks amazing.
Annalise, this statement:
"I can't help but feel bad that my blog wasn't quite good enough to make it to the top 12."
pretty much sums up how I am (still) feeling about PFB. Yes it's a great achievement to get as far as we did but I can't stop wondering what I could have done differently to make it to the final 12.
In any case I am focussing on the positive which is the friendships and great new reads I have found, such as you and your blog. Glad to have "met" you and your blog is firmly ensconced in my reader now.
Hugs, you rocked all the challenges xox
I went through the same mourning/happiness process when I was eliminated. Every challenge totally creaped up and while I think there was some personal growth, it was also crazy stressful. You got SO far – congratulations. It's an amazing accomplishment… and now you have a few more moments to bake just for yourself. These little treats look delicious 🙂
Thank you everyone for the nice comments!
Mindy, yes meringues are very adaptable flavor-wise. You can substitute any extract for the peppermint. You can probably even use other methods of flavoring, but without trying them myself I can't give you specific suggestions.
Wow this is brilliant! They really look like peppermint candies and I can just imagine how good these would be. I know this probably isn't much consolation, but PFB (like any contest were voting is involved) is more a popularity contest than a reflection of the quality of your blog. I managed to make it to round 9, but since only 3 people are moving on, I'm thinking my chances aren't very good.
Peppermint perfection. Little pop and melt in your mouth treats. Sweet and spunky just like you. I have adored reading your posts throughout the Project Food Blog challenge and applaud you for your achievements. As a new fan and follower, I look forward to more amazing recipes and posts.
Judy
I have discovered your beautiful blog through PFB and have been enjoying reading it ever since.
It has to be disappointing, but as Mark said, these contests are a lot like high school:)
You are a talented person, and a lot of people will continue to follow you, even without the PFB.
Congratulations on your food blogging adventure! And those peppermint meringues look delicious!
these are adorable! I don't usually do a lot of holiday themed baking, but I might just make these for a christmas party!
Oh my goodness, those little meringues look AWESOME! I love the stripes – I'm not at all careful enough to do anything like that, but I love them.
You did awesome in the competition, lovely. You should be proud of yourself! I'm proud of you =)
Jax x
Those are so cute! I've done something similar to this at the bakery I work at! People love this!
You should be proud you made it so far…that is an amazing accomplishment!! These meringues are gorgeous…so perfect for the holidays!
This is such a lovely blog! I love your photos – colourful, simple & stylish. They make me want to run into the kitchen and start baking immediately.
congrats on being in the top 24. these are adorable!
I voted for you everytime and I congratulate you for all your winning entries and for making it as far as you did. You put yourself in a vulnerable position and came out knowing you have the gumption to get as far as you did. Keep the recipes coming. I thoroughly enjoy them.
That is so neat! I've always wondered how they got those stripes in these kinds of baked goods or icing too! Do you think you could do this trick for buttercream for a cupcake?
Laura, absolutely! It would be lovely!
These are so beautiful! Totally festive and perfect for Christmas!
These peppermint meringues are terrific, elegant, playful and yummy! Sorry you had to go through this disappointing experience but think of all the great achievers in this world who overcame hurdles and let-downs. Cheers!
Annalise! You are so talented. I think it's such an accomplishment that you made it so far in the competition. I think you rocked it. And these look delish. I'd probably find a way to mess them up. Sigh.
I didn't have red gel, so I used green. Close enough! Thanks for the recipe, they are DELICIOUS. 🙂
You are the #1 sweets blogger in my book. You are my most trusted source for excellent recipes for when I get in the kitchen to bake. You are a gem!!! Thank you for sharing your fantastic recipes and gorgeous photos with all of us.
Leslie, you have completely made my day and week!! 🙂 I’m printing this comment out and hanging it on my wall as a reminder for tough days. Thank you so much for reading and baking along with me! xoxo
Me, spazzing out to my husband after reading your comment: “Oh my gosh, you will never guess what just happened. My favorite baking blogger wrote back to ME!! Look! LOOK!”
Been beating my egg whites for 20minutes now and nothing.
You should add that the eggs need to be fresh, no yolks and to add something like Cream of Tartar, lemon juice, or vinegar in order for them to stiffen up.
I wasted eggs trying to make these without knowing this.
You shouldn’t have to add anything to you egg whites except sugar and flavoring. Plus, everyone knows no yolks, or your whites want fluff to form peaks.
Bake for 20 hours ???? You posted 20 hours???
Nope, just two. 🙂 Sorry for the confusion!
You seriously bake these for TWENTY (20) hours!?!
Oops, thank you for catching my typo so quickly! They should be baked for 2 hours. 🙂
Did you change the picture (and possibly the recipe) recently? I saved this page a week or so ago and it looks different now!
Yes, I just updated the photos. But the recipe is the same!
These look so festive and delicious! I’ve never made meringues before, but you’re inspiring me!
I followed this recipe to a “t” despite my misgivings, and sure enough I beat these for 20 minutes without getting any stiffness. I started again and this time did the meringue properly: beat egg whites, extract, and cream of tartar, then slowly added the sugar. You must have magical eggs to be able to get stiff peaks when adding the sugar all at once in the beginning! I do like the tip of letting the egg whites warm up over simmering water as I always forget to let mine get to room temperature.
I add the sugar all at once and let it dissolve into the egg whites over the stove before whipping (it’s called a “swiss meringue”). In my opinion, this produces a more stable meringue. You’re right, if I were just to add all the sugar at once to cold or even room temp eggs before whipping it wouldn’t work.
So I made these and followed all the directions, I saw ppl complain about there egg whites not turning out right and id have to say my were easy and turned out fabulous!!!!! Perfect. Thanks for the recipe.These will be a huge hit at ny Christmas party. Wish I could post a pic, they look just as the pictures 🙂
Yay! Thanks so much for the comment Missy, and I’m so happy you enjoyed the recipe!
Any tips on how tom paint the bag and fill it without making a huge mess and lessening the intensity of the color? I just did a trial run and wound up with bright red hands and wimpy pink stripes!
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I do not see the quantity. Ie. How many eggs, how much sugar?
The full recipe with quantities is at the bottom of the post! 🙂
Just made these today. I just don’t understand all the comments about the egg whites not whipping to stiff peaks. I am very basic novice at candy making. But I followed the recipe to the T and the meringues are perfect! I didn’t need cream of tartar. I used 9 tbsp All Whites (equivalent to 3 large egg whites). Be careful of the double boiler so you don’t get scrambled egg whites. And I highly suggest waiting till they are completely cool to take off the parchment. I loosened a few too early and the underside was tstill tacky and kind of collapsed. These are beautiful and delicious! I think next time I will add cocoa extract for a chocolate peppermint meringue.