Lemon Meringue Cookies
Whenever I see a lemon meringue pie, I picture my mom half a century ago opening the oven door and carefully placing her meringue-topped pie in the oven to brown. Sadly, lemon meringue was never my favorite pie and I stayed far away from that wobbly egg white concoction on top. I don’t remember even trying this pie as lemon and rhubarb were not high on my list as a kid. I’m pretty sure that mom’s lemon pie of yesteryear consisted of cook-and-serve lemon Jell-o pudding. Child me always went for the pies topped with whipped cream over meringue. However, I didn’t realize that not all meringue is created equal! The adult me loves lemon desserts, and with spring in the air, I decided to make lemon meringue cookies. This sounded perfect since I didn’t need an entire pie. However, I neglected to pay attention to the meringue part of the recipe until I was whisk-deep into making it. Consequently, it took me three tries to make my meringue!
Lemon cookies with pillows of toasted Italian meringue.
All the meringues
Soft meringues. Hard meringues. Cooked and uncooked. French, Italian and Swiss meringues. Pavlovas, macarons and marshmallows … and then there’s that “Seven Minute Frosting” my mom used to put on chocolate cake when I was a kid. My sister and I laughed thinking that mom made it up but no, it exists. I just checked my old red & white BH&G Cookbook for proof. You could say that I went down a rabbit hole reading about meringues. Here’s some of what I learned.
What is meringue?
Meringue is basically an egg white foam sweetened and stabilized with sugar. But depending on how you make it and what else you add, you get different results. The ratio of egg white to sugar is responsible for the volume, strength and density of the finished meringue. Soft meringues are lightly sweetened and added to the top of pies and desserts. Hard meringues have more sugar and are baked on low temperature to dry out. Not to be confused with pavlovas, which I’ve yet to attempt. Pavlovas are crispy on the outside but fluffy and marshmallow-y on the inside. Why have I not had a pavlova? (This one is going on the list now.) Macarons, which I adore, are a meringue-based cookie with the addition of almond flour. Another meringue miracle that I’ve yet to attempt.
This is my sister’s lemon meringue pie made with French meringue. Look at that zest!
Meringue notes
First, a few important notes for all meringues, really all egg-whites that you may find yourself whipping:
Make sure your bowl and whisk are super-duper clean and dry – no grease or residue. Wipey wipey.
It’s easiest to separate your whites and yolks when your eggs are cold right out of the fridge. Also, fresh eggs are best.
An acid such as cream of tartar will help stabilize the whites.
Read the recipe carefully in advance so you know which type of meringue you are making and what size of bowl/saucepan is optimal.
Miss Meringue posing for a close-up.
Three types of meringue
French Meringue is an uncooked meringue. It is the easiest meringue to make. No cooking, just a mixer and a bowl and egg whites and sugar. You’ve probably made this and not known it was a meringue. It is the least stable but lightest of the three. This is the one that I remember wobbling on top of my mom’s pie. Just whip your egg whites with a hand mixer or stand mixer until they reach soft peaks and then gradually beat in the sugar until they stiffen up. Toasting optional.
Swiss Meringue is firm and a bit denser than the other two. Swiss meringue requires mixing egg whites and sugar in a bowl over a pot of simmering water. Whisk together until the mixture gets very warm (160°F). Then remove from heat and whisk about 3 minutes until you get stiff peaks. Transferring to your stand mixer is easiest and will cool the meringue down as it whips. This is the variety you can add butter to and whip into a Swiss buttercream, which I’ve totally done before but didn’t realize it ahead of time.
This was my first meringue try for the cookies. My whites and sugar weren’t enough to fill my bowl and I ended up basically cooking the mixture onto the sides of the bowl – with nothing left to work with! This is the pan I should have had to avoid this meringue mishap: All-Clad 1-quart saucepan since the smallest one I own is a 3-quart. Anyhow, I discarded this batch and added the pot to my growing sink of dirty dishes.
Italian Meringue is the most stable meringue and what I ended up using on my cookies. Funny because when I read about meringue, I learned that Italian is the most difficult. It requires making sugar syrup on the stovetop by heating sugar and water. Start over low heat stirring continuously until the sugar has dissolved and the syrup is clear. While the sugar gets going, separately, in a stand mixer whip egg whites and cream of tartar until soft peaks form about two minutes. Keep your eye on the stove, and once sugar dissolves, turn the heat to medium-high (and wear an oven mitt!) whisking until it boils. Stop stirring and let it reach a soft-ball stage (240°F on a candy thermometer) at which point you’ll remove the pan from the heat and immediately and gradually beat the hot sugar syrup into the egg whites. Do this while the mixer is running, but very carefully so it doesn’t splatter out. Continue to whip until you have firm glossy peaks and the meringue has cooled to room temperature. It will be gorgeous and glossy.
My second attempt at meringue was the Swiss version but somehow, I took the syrup too far and burned it. Whoops. Set that aside.
I wish I could say the third time was a charm, but it was more of an acrobatic act. At one point, practically in split formation, I was using my left hand to whisk the syrup on the stovetop and my right hand to manage the stand mixer with the egg whites. Yes, I should have whipped the whites before the sugar got to the stage where it needed my attention. And my arm, even with an oven mitt, was getting hotter and hotter. Meringue splattered across my backsplash and sticky syrup hardened on my granite counters. A lovely mess. But hey, the meringue tasted and looked wonderful! Meringue mission accomplished.
Fun factoid: Marshmallows are made the same way as an Italian meringue – adding hot sugar syrup to stiff egg whites – but with the addition of gelatin to make them set. Hmm, note to self. Add homemade marshmallows to “the list.”
Also, my mom’s (BH&G’s) seven minute frosting deserves an honorable mention. I loved how my mom would frost the cake and then take a butter knife and make little peaks all over the top of the cake. I do remember though that it started weeping in a day or two. All the more reason to eat the cake right away. Also going on my list for nostalgia’s sake.
Make the Lemon Meringue Cookies
Back to this delightful recipe for Lemon Meringue Cookies from Erin McDowell, which caught my eye when I was scanning my PureWow newsletter. Lemon cookies with a swipe of meringue. So cute! The cookie part was easy, but as you’ve read, the meringue was not so easy (for this novice meringue-maker).
Cookie ingredients
1 cup granulated sugar
Zest of 1 lemon
½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 large egg, at room temperature
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
½ teaspoon lemon oil (optional)
2 cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
This recipe called for making a Swiss meringue, however it may have been serendipitous that I ended up with an Italian meringue, because it lasted longer. Store the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature.
Some cookie notes:
Don’t skip rubbing the sugar and lemon zest together.
Use a stand mixer as you’ll be mixing for 5 minutes.
The recipe says to add lemon oil as an option. I did not and they were deliciously lemony without.
Use cookie scoop and place about 2 inches apart. They do not spread much. I sprinkled with sugar, because why not.
Recipe says to bake 16-18 minutes at 350 degrees. Watch them closely. I baked both pans for 16 minutes. Yet one pan ended up with slightly darker bottoms, which made them harder to bite into as time went on. Err on the underbaked side.
Puttin’ on the Meringue
You can wait to top with meringue until you’re serving, but I couldn’t wait. I was using this dang meringue now! And I couldn’t wait to taste it.
Take a knife or small offset spatula and swipe meringue across the cookie tops. The recipe says not to use too much because “you want to keep that tart-sweet combination.” But heck, feel free to pile your meringue up high!
Of course, my ulterior motive for making these cookies was the chance to bring my little kitchen torch out of hibernation and brown the meringue. And so, immediately upon browning the meringue, I ate one, maybe two.
If you must, store them at room temperature for several days in an airtight container. However, in the words of my sister’s mother-in-law — it’s never going to be any better than it is right now! No matter what kind of meringue.
