These cute Christmas Tree Meringue Cookies are crisp, light, and melt in your mouth. They’re extra festive in green with cute sprinkles on top.
Light-as-air Christmas Tree Meringues are a sweet way to celebrate the holidays. They’re adorable enough for kids yet beautiful enough to bring to a classy holiday party.
Meringue might seem intimidating to make, but they’re really quite simple. The main ingredients are egg whites and sugar. The two make a strong meringue all by themselves, while ingredients like vanilla and food coloring provide extra flavor and color.
These cookies get piped into shapes before baking. If you’re new to piping, this recipe is a great one to practice with.
Even if they don’t turn out perfectly, don’t worry! They’ll still get covered with sprinkles before baking and will be delicious no matter what. So pick your favorite sprinkles or edible glitter to make these like an edible art project.
The meringues will spend a couple of hours total in the oven. While they’re baking and drying out, whip up a quick batch of classic Christmas Wreath Cookies made with cereal.
Or, if you’d like something even more unique for the holidays, try two fun twists on cookie classics. Red Velvet Crinkle Cookies and Andes Mint Cookies are familiar yet original.
Why You’ll Love these Christmas Tree Meringue Cookies
- Minimal ingredients. They only need 5 ingredients, not counting the decorative sprinkles.
- Easy to make. Just whip up the meringue, pipe, and bake. The piping step is wonderfully uncomplicated.
- Fun to decorate. Choose a color, sprinkles, and stars for the tops to make them your own.
- Adaptable. Change the flavor easily if you want to go beyond vanilla.
- Long shelf life. They can last up to two weeks in an airtight container and also freeze well.
Helpful Tools
- Mixing bowl – For the meringue batter
- Hand-Held or Stand Mixer – To whip the meringue
- Rubber spatula – To transfer the meringue to the piping bag and scrape the bowl
- Piping bag – For piping the meringue into shapes
- Piping tips – To pipe beautiful cookies. I used a Wilton #21 and 1M tips
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Egg whites – 4 egg whites may not seem like a lot, but they fluff up and make a lot of cookies!
- Salt – Balances out the sweet flavor.
- Vanilla extract – Adds a sweet and comforting aroma and flavor.
- Sugar – Sugar dissolves into the egg whites as they’re beaten, making a thick and shiny meringue.
- Green food coloring – Makes your trees forest green, light green, or any shade in between.
- Decorating Icing – This is how you’ll attach the stars to each tree.
- Sprinkles – Feel free to get creative here and pick fun sprinkles that catch your eye.
- Star sprinkles – To decorate the tops of the meringue trees.
Variations
- Change up the meringue flavoring by trying different extracts instead of vanilla. Peppermint extract is a perfect Christmas flavor. Almond extract also has a luxurious taste that’s great for other special occasions.
- Can’t find candy stars for the tops of the meringue trees? No worries. Snowflake-shaped candies can work, or even Red Hots can be used instead.
- For a snowy effect, sift a very light coating of powdered sugar over the cookies just before serving. Just make sure they’re completely cooled first.
How to Make Christmas Tree Meringue Cookies
- To prepare for making the meringue, ensure all your utensils, beaters, and bowls are free of grease. PRO TIP: Wash everything with grease-cutting dish soap, then rinse with white vinegar to remove buttery icing residue from piping bags and tips.
- Beat the egg whites, salt, and vanilla until foamy and white. Continue beating as you add the sugar slowly.
- Add food coloring at this stage. Add a few drops at a time while beating until your desired color is reached. Continue beating until stiff peaks form.
- Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a decorating tip. I used Wilton #21 for the small trees, and 1M for the large ones.
- On parchment-lined baking sheets, pipe zig-zag trees. Start small at the top and get wider at the bottom. Finish with a short tree trunk in the center.
- Sprinkle the meringue lightly with sprinkles (optional). Bake in the center rack of the oven for 1 hour at 200°F.
- Turn the oven off. Let the meringues rest in the oven for another hour.
- Remove from the oven to cool completely.
- Attach a star to the top of each tree using a dab of icing.
Tips
- If you can, leave your egg whites out at room temperature for 30 minutes before whipping. They’ll aerate better at room temperature.
- Be careful when separating your eggs. Egg yolks prevent the whites from whipping up, just like oil and grease on your equipment will.
- Pipe out all of the meringue batter once it’s made. Unfortunately, it doesn’t keep well for later use.
- Humidity is the enemy of meringue, so try to avoid making these on a humid day for the best results.
- Looking for the star for the little tree toppers? We found ours here.
Frequently Asked Questions
Stop the mixer and lift up the beaters to check if your meringue has stiff peaks. It should look glossy and thick. Stiff peaks will stick straight out and hold their shape. They may curl over slightly at the tip.
While using a decorative piping tip makes these much prettier, it’s not essential. In a pinch, you can use a zip-top plastic bag with a corner cut-off to pipe these.
Your best bet is to follow the instructions. When they’re done, they should feel dry, and sound hollow when tapped.
If your meringue cookies are still tacky after baking and drying, all hope is not lost! Turn your oven to 200°F and bake them for 5-10 more minutes. Remove them if they start to brown.
How to Store
- Room Temperature – Once your meringues have cooled completely, store them in an airtight container at room temperature. The most important thing is to keep out moisture and heat. If you need to stack these cookies, lay pieces of parchment between the layers. They’ll last up to 2 weeks.
- Freeze – To freeze these cookies, first, make sure they’ve cooled completely. Then transfer them to an airtight container with a lid (you’ll want to avoid storing these meringues in a bag). Separate any stacked layers with parchment paper. They’ll last up to 3 months.
Christmas Tree Meringue Cookies
Ingredients
- 4 egg whites
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup white granulated sugar
- Green food coloring, (As needed to achieve desired color)
- Sprinkles
- A small amount of decorating icing
- Star sprinkles
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 200ºF.
- Beat egg whites, salt, and vanilla until foamy and white.
- Continue beating while adding sugar, a few tablespoons at a time.
- You can also add a few drops of food coloring at a time while beating until desired color is reached..
- Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form.
- Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a decorating tip. I used Wilton #21 for the small trees, and 1M for the large.
- Pipe onto parchment lined baking sheets in a zigzag pattern, starting small at the top, and larger at the bottom, finishing with a short tree stem in the center.
- Sprinkle lightly with desired sprinkles.
- Bake in center of oven for 1 hour, then turn oven off, and let rest in oven for another hour.
- Remove from oven and let cool completely.
- Attach a star to the top of each tree, using a small amount of decorating icing.
Video
Notes
Tips
- To prepare for making meringue, make sure all of your utensils (bowls, beaters, piping bag and tips, etc.) are free of grease. To do this, you can wash them with a grease cutting dish soap, and rinse with white vinegar. This is an especially good way to degrease piping bags and tips that may have residue from butter based icings.
- If you can, leave your egg whites out at room temperature for 30 minutes before whipping. They’ll aerate better at room temperature.
- Be careful when separating your eggs. Egg yolks prevent the whites from whipping up, just like oil and grease on your equipment will.
- Pipe out all of the meringue batter once it’s made. Unfortunately, it doesn’t keep well for later use.
- Humidity is the enemy of meringue, so try to avoid making these on a humid day for the best results.
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