Colourful Meringue Cookies {Dipped in Chocolate}
Elegant. Light. Colourful. Just like spring, my Colourful Meringue Cookies bring brightness and beauty to any occasion! These airy, melt-in-your-mouth treats are an effortless way to add a pop of colour to your dessert table. Perfect for all spring celebrations, Easter brunches, baby showers, weddings, or sweet afternoon teas. They’re as delightful to look at as they are to eat. Dip these delicate meringue cookies in melted chocolate and your favourite crunchy topping—sprinkles, toasted coconut, or chopped nuts—and you have yourself an undeniably magical dessert!
Ingredients You’ll Need to Make This Recipe:
- Egg whites – Large, room temperature *for the most volume when whipped!
- Granulated sugar – Helps stabilize the meringue and add sweetness.
- Cream of tartar – A key ingredient for structure and stability.
- Gel food colouring – More colouring than you think, meringues get duller as they bake.
- Chocolate (dark, milk, or white) – Your favourite flavour chocolate for dipping!
- Toppings of your choice – Sprinkles, toasted coconut, or chopped nuts.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why won’t my egg whites whip up properly?
Ensure your bowl and beaters are completely grease-free. Even a small trace of oil or egg yolk can prevent your egg whites from reaching stiff peaks. I like to wipe down my mixing bowl with a paper towel dampened with lemon juice prior to starting to remove any lingering oily residues!
Can I use liquid food colouring instead of gel colouring?
Liquid food colouring can introduce more moisture, which might affect the texture and drying of your meringues. I recommend using a gel food colouring to avoid this potential challenge!
How do I store meringues?
I love to store my meringue cookies in the freezer to keep them fresh after baking! Simply keep them in an air-tight bag and remove them from the freezer at least 20 minutes before enjoying. They can also stay fresh in an air-tight container at room temperature for up to a week. Meringue cookies don’t love humidity – as it can make them sticky – so at all costs, try to keep them in a dry location!
Step-by-Step Recipe to Make my Easy Colourful Meringues
Preheat the oven to 225F (200F Convection bake). Line 2x baking pans with parchment paper. Set aside.
Meringues
In the clean bowl of an electric stand mixer, add the egg whites (note: be sure to carefully separate the whites from the yolks to ensure no oily, yolk residue contamination).
Add the cream or tartar and salt to the bowl. Begin mixing on low until frothy. Once frothy, begin slowly adding in the sugar (1 tablespoon at a time). Increase speed to high until stiff peaks form.
Add the vanilla extract and continue mixing until incorporated. Turn off the mixture.
Separate the meringue mixture into 3 small bowls.
To each bowl, add 1-3 streaks of gel food colouring (note: a different colour in each bowl) and mix with a spoon until the desired colour is achieved.
Add small dollops of meringue to the corners of your baking sheet, to prevent the parchment paper from sliding.
Transfer meringue to piping bags fitted with large star or round piping tips.
Pipe your meringues allowing at least an inch of space between each. I love to create whimsical meringues with different tips!
Bake the meringues on the centre rack of the oven, at 225F for ~1.5 hour. Turn off the oven and leave the meringues inside for an extra 1-2 hour for continued drying.
Dipping
Prepare your melted chocolate (microwave-method): Heat the chocolate in 15-30s increments between stirring. The chocolate will be done when 3/4 of the chocolate is melted. Remove from microwave and stir until all chocolate is melted together.
Add coconut oil and mix until evenly distributed
Dip cooled meringues in melted chocolate and then into your favourite topping (sprinkles, crushed nuts, toasted coconut). Let cool fully in the refrigerator for 15-20 min or until meringue bottoms are no longer melted/tacky. Enjoy!
Also check out:
Toffee Meringue Cookies
Pumpkin Spice Meringue Cookies
Lemon Curd Eton Mess
Easy Colourful Meringues
Ingredients
Meringues
- 4 Egg Whites large
- 1 cup Granulated Sugar
- 1/4 tsp Cream of Tartar
- 1/4 tsp Salt
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- Gel Food Colourings (x3) small amounts of your favourite colours!
Dipping
- 1 cup Chopped Chocolate or chocolate chips melted
- 1 tsp Coconut Oil
- 1/2 cup Sprinkles optional
- 1/2 cup Toasted Coconut optional
- 1/2 Chopped Nuts (pistachio, peanut, almond etc.) optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 225F (200F Convection bake). Line 2x baking pans with parchment paper. Set aside.
Meringues
- In the clean bowl of an electric stand mixer, add the egg whites (note: be sure to carefully separate the whites from the yolks to ensure no oily, yolk residue contamination).
- Add the cream or tartar and salt to the bowl. Begin mixing on low until frothy. Once frothy, begin slowly adding in the sugar (1 tablespoon at a time). Increase speed to high until stiff peaks form.
- Add the vanilla extract and continue mixing until incorporated. Turn off the mixture.
- Separate the meringue mixture into 3 small bowls.
- To each bowl, add 1-3 streaks of gel food colouring (note: a different colour in each bowl) and mix with a spoon until the desired colour is achieved.
- Add small dollops of meringue to the corners of your baking sheet, to prevent the parchment paper from sliding.
- Transfer meringue to a piping bags fitted with large star or round piping tips.
- Pipe your meringues allowing at least an inch of space between each.
- Bake the meringues on the centre rack of the oven, at 225F for ~1.5 hour. Turn off the oven and leave the meringues inside for an extra 1-2 hour for continued drying.
Dipping
- Prepare your melted chocolate (microwave-method): Heat the chocolate in 15-30s increments between stirring. The chocolate will be done when 3/4 of the chocolate is melted. Remove from microwave and stir until all chocolate is melted together.
- Add coconut oil and mix until evenly distributed
- Dip cooled meringues in melted chocolate and then into your favourite topping (sprinkles, crushed nuts, toasted coconut). Let cool fully in the refrigerator for 15-20 min or until meringue bottoms are no longer melted/tacky. Enjoy!
Video
Notes
- Separating your egg whites one at a time, prevents contamination of oily yolks to the entire egg white mixture if anything bad happens.
- Don’t forget to slowly incorporate the sugar! This is best done 1 tablespoon at a time, as the mixer runs.
- These meringues can be made in a large bowl with an electric hand mixer instead of a stand mixer – just allow for more time for the egg whites to whip up to the right volume.
- Melting Chocolate: To melt your roughly chopped chocolate/chocolate chips, I recommend using the microwave. Heat the chocolate in 15-30s increments between stirring. The chocolate will be done when 3/4 of the chocolate is melted. Remove from microwave and stir until all chocolate is melted together.
- What does adding coconut oil do in melted chocolate? It helps it dry quicker and have a smooth, hard crack, coating! (similar to the shell on ice cream bars/sandwiches!)