Vegan Meringue Recipe and Review

Aquafaba is the liquid that comes from a can of chickpeas (also known as garbanzo beans). It is surprisingly versatile—regularly used as an egg replacement and as a component in many vegan recipes. Though you definitely don’t need to be vegan to practice yoga, many yogis are vegetarian or vegan.

I set out to try a vegan-friendly meringue in attempt to use everything from my chickpea can … and, well, eat meringue. I usually try to avoid white sugar, but I followed the recipe and can try substituting it with coconut sugar in the future.

I followed the blog Loving It Vegan’s recipe:

Ingredients
6 Tbsp Aquafaba (liquid from a can of chickpeas)

1/4 tsp Cream of Tartar

1/2 cup (100g) White Sugar

1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract

Instructions
1.      Put chickpea liquid (aquafaba) and cream of tartar into the bowl of an electric mixer.

2.      Start with a slow speed and whip until foamy. Gradually increase the speed.

3.      Add sugar while whipping at a fast speed.

4.      Add vanilla.

5.      Whip until you get glossy, stiff peaks.

6.      Preheat your oven to 250°F (121°C).

7.      Line a baking tray with parchment paper.

8.      Pipe or spoon the meringue mix into cookie shapes onto the parchment-lined tray.

9.      Put into the oven and bake for 45 minutes. After 45 minutes, turn off the oven but leave it closed for approximately one hour. (The timing may vary due to oven size and performance.)

10.   Remove the cookies from the oven when they are airy and crispy. Put them in an airtight container and store in the fridge.

Process

My toddler helped stir the batter and dipped her fingers in several times to make sure the peaks would hold—they did. She liked licking the spoon before we put the cookies in the oven, and because the recipe doesn’t contain any eggs, I wasn’t nervous about her doing so.

I tried the batter as well and found the first taste to be sweet and meringue-like but a little beany. As I scooped it out and tasted it again, I didn’t notice the bean flavor.

Lemon meringue batter

I followed the recipe for half of the batch, but for the other half I added about a tablespoon of fresh lemon juice and a lot of yellow food coloring—my daughter has a heavy coloring hand.

Lemon meringues ready for the oven

This recipe called for leaving the cookies in for an hour after you turn off the oven. I had read in another recipe that these meringues take a long time to cook, so when mine were still soft after 60 minutes I kept them in the warmed oven longer.

After about three hours of sitting in the oven I turned the oven back on to 250°F for ten minutes. In all, mine spent five hours in the oven to become crispy! They may have been ready sooner but with the oven off, I checked them less often.

Result

My yield quantity could have caused variation in the cooking duration. The recipe called for 66 cookies and I had far fewer (in the forties), meaning my meringues were likely bigger than the author suggested and therefore required longer to cook. I spooned out my meringues, instead of piping them, making them less uniform in size. However, my meringues did not feel large. They seemed appropriately sized, and while they did flatten some, they weren’t tall or bulbous.

The texture and crispiness of the meringues are very similar to egg-white meringues, and there is no discernible taste difference. Out of the two flavors—original and lemon—I preferred the lemon. I am happy to have made that change.

I definitely enjoyed this recipe and how easy it was to prepare. On the negative side, the meringues dropped a bit while cooking and did not maintain their characteristic shape. Plus, the cooking time was inaccurate. This could have been the result of my oven or the portion size, but having a better idea of timing would have made my experience better.