This Allergy Free Meringue Cookie is free of gluten, dairy, soy, eggs and nuts. It is also vegan and grain free.
Hi friends!
This is another fun recipe using aquafaba! If you missed the vegan and gluten free buttermilk pancake recipe that used aquafaba get it here. Oh, you said you don’t know what aquafaba is? Well it’s perfect for creating recipes if you have an egg allergy or are following the vegan diet. Yes there are a lot of replacements for eggs in baking. There’s egg replacer products you can buy at the store, there’s flax seeds, applesauce and even pumpkin puree. Those are all nice and dandy but not when it comes to recipes that need egg whites. That’s where aquafaba comes in!
Ok so it’s awesome, but what it is? Well it is the liquid from a can of beans! Yes I know it sounds crazy, but I’m not the one who invented it. However I would love to meet the brilliant weirdo who did 🙂 . So whenever you’re draining a can of beans, put a bowl under it and save that liquid for a recipe. One thing to keep in mind is the milder the bean, the less you’ll taste a “beany” flavor in your baking. I’ve found chickpeas are the best and don’t really add any strange flavor. I did use pinto beans for this and I noticed a slight “beany” flavor. Honestly I wasn’t mad about it though, it was less “beany” and more nutty.
These cookies have a really interesting texture and I mean that in the best possible way. To be honest, they came out of a bit of mistake. I ended up adding a bit too much sugar and it left my fluffy bean whites (that’s what I’ll call my whipped aquafaba 🙂 ) a bit runny. When these baked they flattened out a bit too much. I was starting to think they were a fail until I tasted them. They tasted like a dessert cracker! They were so crunchy, but also melted in your mouth after a few seconds. So call it a happy accident, but I loved these flat little meringue disks!
Egg Free Meringue Cookies
Print This
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup powdered sugar
- Liquid from 2 – 16 oz can of beans (the lighter the color bean the better – see note above)
- 1 teaspoon lemon juce
- Zest of 1 lemon
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 250°F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Whisk together your sugars and set aside.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer, beat the liquid from your bean cans until white and foamy. Add your lemon juice, zest and salt. Continue to beat on high until thick and stiff. Be patient! Walk away if you have to and come back every 5 minutes to check. It can take around 10 minutes to thicken.
- Once the bean whites have thickened, slowly add in your sugar mixture. Add about 1 tablespoon of the sugars at a time with the mixer set on medium high. Allow each tablespoon to mix in for a minute before adding the next one. This can take about 10 minutes. After adding the last of your sugar beat just until combined. The texture should be thick and fluffy but not completely stiff. If you see my picture above, you’ll see it is a bit runny.
- You can spoon your bean whites onto your baking sheet – being sure to separate them about an inch apart. If you want your circles to be perfect you can put the bean whites into a pastry bag or just a gallon sized zip-lock bag with a small whole cut and squeeze them onto your baking sheet.
- Bake about 1.5 to 2 hours or until cream colored. Be sure not to burn them or else they will have a strong bean flavor. Leave the baked meringues in your turned off oven for several hours or overnight without opening the oven door.
- Once set, peel of parchment paper and enjoy!