Ditch the red rose bouquet and chocolate box combo and treat your loved ones to these gluten-free Valentine’s meringue heart cookies. Since there’s no flour involved, this recipe is perfect for anyone looking for gluten-free options for their Valentine.
Meringue cookies have the simplest ingredients – all you need is sugar, egg whites, and vanilla bean powder. Plus, they’re ready in a flash since prep time is only 10 minutes.
All in all, you’ll need about 3 hours total between baking, decorating, and cooling time.
How to Make Heart Shaped Meringues:
- Beat the meringue ingredients in a bowl until stiff peaks start to form. Meringue is nothing more than egg whites combined with sugar and beaten until it looks as puffy and fluffy as a cloud. The key is to start slowly, take your time, and add the sugar gradually.
- Fill up a piping bag or pastry bag with the mixture and draw heart shapes on parchment lined baking sheets.
- Bake for 1 hour.
- Once they are done cooking, leave the meringue heart cookies in the oven to dry out. Make sure to leave the oven door open so they can cool down at room temperature, approximately 2 hours.
- Have fun decorating them by dipping half the meringue cookie in some melted chocolate.
For extra texture, fold in pistachios, coconut flakes, or chocolate chips before baking. Looking for a pop of color? Decorate the meringue cookies with sprinkles before baking.
Whether you’re baking these for your Valentine, best friends, mom, or your kids, this fluffy and airy dessert is the way to anyone’s heart.
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SIMPLE Valentine Meringue Heart Cookies
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Total Time: 3 hours 10 minutes
- Yield: 15 Hearts 1x
Ingredients
- 2 large egg whites
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean powder
- Sprinkles or melted chocolate , to decorate (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 225F. Line two sheet pans with parchment paper.
- Add the egg whites to the bowl of a stand mixer. Beat on medium-high speed (speed 8 on a Kitchen aid), adding the sugar gradually over the course of 3-5 minutes. Beat until soft peaks form.
- Once soft peaks have formed, add the vanilla powder and gel food coloring, if using. Continue to beat the egg whites on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form.
- Once the egg whites have become stiff peaks, transfer the mixture to a piping bag. Pipe 1-inch heart shapes about 2 inches apart on the parchment lined baking sheets. Decorate with sprinkles, if desired.
- Bake for one hour, then turn off the oven and leave the oven door open to allow the meringues to cool slowly to room temperature– about 2 hours.
- Once the meringues have cooled fully, transfer them to an airtight container and store at room temperature for up to three days.
Notes
If desired, dip the meringues in chocolate and allow the chocolate to set fully before storing.
Your egg whites can, but do not have to be, at room temperature.
Use vanilla bean powder (instead of vanilla extract) to prevent the egg whites from destabilizing. If you don’t have vanilla bean powder, vanilla extract will work, but your meringues may be slightly more dense.
Make sure to use gel, not liquid, food coloring!
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1
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