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Vegan Meringues are light, fragrant, crunchy and sweet just like regular meringues, but they are made without eggs. You can eat your meringues plain, or top them with chocolate, nuts and fruits. Our recipe will teach you how to get this easy but tricky treat right on your first try.
Tips
- Use a timer: to make sure you whipped your aquafaba enough it's easiest to set a timer on your phone as indicated in our recipe box. Whipping is crucial to success when making vegan meringues.
- Add the sugar slowly. Sugar should only be added 2 tbsps at a time, while whipping, and at intervals of about 1 minute. This way we are sure our foam won't collapse.
- Cook between 80° and 100°C (176°F to 212°F). Meringue must be cooked slowly at low temperature. Occasionally check your oven temperature to make sure it's not above 100°C (212°F).
- If in doubt, whip more! The greatest risk of failing when making vegan meringues comes from not whipping the aquafaba enough. You should get to really stiff peaks. So if you are in doubt, whip a couple minutes longer.
Frequently asked questions
Vegan meringue is made of sugar and aquafaba.
Aquafaba is the cooking water of chickpeas and other legumes. It's the liquid you find inside a chickpea can.
Vegan meringue was invented in 2015 by Goose Wohlt.
No, there is no need.
No, there is no need.
Storage
For best texture and flavour, eat your vegan meringues on the same day you made them. You can store them in an airtight container in a dry corner of your kitchen for a couple of days.
If you live in a hot and humid environment store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
Variations
1. Vegan meringues with chocolate and pistachio
We love to dip our meringues in dark chocolate and cover them with crushed pistachios as those ingredients make the meringue less sweet and give lots of flavour. To do this, melt some dark chocolate with plant-milk bain-marie, then dip the meringue in it, then dip it in crushed pistachios, and enjoy!
2. Vegan meringues with chocolate and hazelnuts
Another of our favourite toppings is dark chocolate and hazelnuts. To do this, melt some dark chocolate with plant-milk bain-marie, then dip the meringue in it, then dip it in crushed hazelnuts, and enjoy!
Recipe
Vegan Meringues
Equipment
- electric whisk
Ingredients
- 120 grams (½ cup) aquafaba (chickpea water)
- 160 grams (¾ cup) sugar
Instructions
How to whip the vegan meringue
- Take the liquid of a can of chickpeas (aquafaba) and with a sieve strain it into a clean bowl.
- With an electric whisk at full speed, whip up the aquafaba for 5 full minutes. TIP: use a timer, it's important to whip it for 5 full minutes.TIP: you should have a very very thick foam.
- After the 5 minutes of whipping, add the sugar while still whipping at full speed, 2 tbsp at a time, every one minute, until you run out of sugar. TIP: do NOT add the sugar all at onceTIP: use a timer and every 1 minute add more sugarTIP: in total it should take you another 5 minutes.
- Once the sugar is all added in, whisk at full power for another 2 full minutes.TIP: you want the sugar to almost completely dissolve in the foam.
How to shape and cook the vegan meringue
- Preheat the oven to 90°C (190°F). Line a baking tray with parchment paper or a silicon baking mat. TIP: if you use a silicon baking mat it's better to brush a very thin layer of vegetable oil on it.
- Shape the meringues with a spoon or with a pastry piping bag.
- Cook in the oven at a constant temperature of 90°C (190°F). Don't open the oven door in the first hour.Depending on the size of the meringue you might have to cook them from 1.5 hours to 3 hours.Smaller meringues kisses cook faster (1.5 hours), larger meringue cookies cook slower (2.5 hours).
- Once cooked, turn off the oven, crack the oven door open, and let the meringues dry in there for abour 20 minutes.
How to garnish your meringues
- Plain meringue: you can eat your meringue as is, without any topping. In this case, since they are very sweet, they are best served next to coffee or tea.
- Chocolate meringue: melt some dark chocolate bain marie, add some plant-milk to make the chocolate thinner, then dip the meringues in it, let it dry, and enjoy.
- Chocolate pistachio meringues: crush some pistachios, then melt dark chocolate bain marie with some plant-milk. Dip the meringues first in chocolate, then in the pistachios. Let cool and enjoy.
- Chocolate hazelnuts meringues: crush some hazelnuts, then melt dark chocolate bain marie with some plant-milk. Dip the meringues first in chocolate, then in the hazelnuts. Let cool and enjoy.
Video Recipe
Notes
Nutritional Values
Related recipes
Will you be cooking this dish at home? Let us know in the comments below!
Alicja
There is a cake in Poland called Kruszon also know as Plesniak or Skubaniec. It has an egg white meringue layer, I wanted to recreate the cake with a vegan meringue and I did it twice. First time around the temperature was too high I think and the meringue collapsed. Second time round it looked very very good, it baked at 100° for 1 hr 20 minutes. Once again it fell. Might the issue be that it doesn’t have enough time in the oven? Or perhaps it needs time to dry out?
Nico
Hi Alicja, first I would make sure to use the right ingredients. Aquafaba and white granulated sugar. No other sugar. Then the whipping time. It needs to be whipped a lot as I mentioned in the post. Then the cooking temperature. I'd try 90C. Then the baking time. If it's a big meringue it can take up to 3 hours to properly dry and stay up 🙂 I would say, 1.5 hours is minimum, you can also turn off the oven, open it, and let the meringue dry inside the oven while the oven is off. This also helps to dry the meringue.
Danielle Xavier
What recipe can I make or do with the chickpeas once I use all the water? I am doing large platters of vegan meringue and do not want to waste the chickpeas once I use all the water, suggestions?
Nico
Ciao Danielle! Thanks for commenting. I usually use the chickpeas in a salad (see recipe here: https://theplantbasedschool.com/chickpea-salad/) - during winter I add oven baked veggies such as carrots, beets and parsnip 🙂 Other times, I simply make a hummus; adding water, apple cider vinegar and a generous amount of food tahini, perfect with a salad and toasted bread! I hope that helps! Cheers, Nico
Nancy
These turned out great! My mother always made meringues out of egg whites at Christmas. She would dye them green and put tiny chocolate chips in them. They were delicious! I did the same with this vegan version and they turned out perfect. Thank you!!
Nico
Thanks so much Nancy, we are so happy you and your family liked the vegan meringue 🙂 I never thought of dyeing them, they must look so pretty 🙂
Fflur
The most incredible (vegan) meringue I have ever had. They were so easy and my family and I loved them. Thank you so much for this recipe 🙂
Nico
Hi Hi, so happy you and your family loved the meringues 🙂 Thanks for letting us know 🙂
Jason
If I want to double the recipe, do I also need to change the whipping time?
Nico
Hi Jason, no, it's not required to change the whipping time, but you might need a very large bowl and a big hand mixer as the aquafaba really grows in volume a lot. If you work with home equipment I'd probably do it in 2 separate bowls.