Crunchy, airy Robin’s Egg Meringue Cookies are a beautiful blue color with speckles. Dip them in chocolate and coconut for a special treat.
One of the signs of spring in Minnesota is the return of the robins that migrated south for the winter. These pretty robin’s egg meringue cookies are a fun way to celebrate spring, and they are perfect for Easter as well!
What You’ll Find In This Recipe
Robin’s Egg Meringue Cookies Ingredients
The ingredients needed to make robin’s egg meringue cookies are surprisingly simple! You can swap out the flavoring and colors as you see fit. Scroll down for the complete recipe with ingredient measurements.
- Egg Whites: The egg whites are the base of the meringue. You’ll want to use room-temperature egg whites for the best volume.
- Cream of Tartar: A little cream of tartar is added to stabilize the egg whites giving you the best glossy, smooth meringue.
- Salt: A tiny pinch of salt enhances the flavor.
- Sugar: You’ll want to use superfine sugar, which is also known as baker’s sugar or castor sugar. If you are unable to find it at your local grocery store, you can make your own by processing granulated sugar in a food processor or super clean coffee grinder.
- Vanilla Extract: We flavored our robin’s egg meringue cookies with vanilla extract. You could also try using almond extract, coconut extract, or peppermint extract instead.
- Food Coloring: We used teal gel paste to color the cookies and black gel paste to make the speckles. The meringue could be divided into bowls and tinted in various pastel colors as well!
- Mini Chocolate Chips: We love the addition of mini chocolate chips in meringue cookies. They add a yummy surprise in the center and make them inside speckled as well.
How To Make Robin’s Egg Meringue Cookies
Making robin’s egg meringue cookies is really easy, but keep in mind that you’ll need to allow extra time for the slow baking and cooling of the cookies. Scroll down for the printable recipe card and complete instructions.
- Meringue: Make the meringue by slowly adding the superfine sugar to the egg whites mixture. Beat the until the sugar is dissolved and stiff peaks form. Add the food coloring, flavoring, and finally, the mini chocolate chips.
- Cookies: Form the robin’s egg cookies by scooping mounds of meringue onto parchment-lined baking sheets. You can use a cookie dough scoop, a pastry bag, or even a couple of spoons to form the mounds. Then, use a toothpick to shape the mounds into ovals. If you want to flatten any peaks, you can use a wet fingertip to gently flatten them.
- Speckles: Use a small, clean brush to spray speckles over the meringue cookies giving them that robin’s egg look.
- Bake: The cookies need to bake for about 1 1/2 hours and then they are left in the oven to cool completely.
Chocolate Coconut Meringue Cookies
A little chocolate and a sprinkle of toasted coconut brings the cookies to the next level! This step is optional, and you can even do a mix of plain and dipped cookies.
- Chocolate Chips: We used semi-sweet chocolate chips but dark chocolate, milk chocolate, chocolate mint, or even white chocolate chips would work as well.
- Coconut: Toast sweetened shredded coconut in a skillet over medium heat until golden. Allow it to cool completely.
Chocolate Coconut Dip
Once the robin’s egg meringue cookies have completely cooled, you can dip them in melted chocolate and sprinkle them with toasted coconut.
- Chocolate: Melt the chocolate chips in the microwave according to the instructions on the bag. You can add a teaspoon of shortening to thin the chocolate if needed.
- Dip: Hold onto one side of the cookies and dip the other half into the melted chocolate.
- Coconut: Press the chocolate-coated side into a bowl of toasted shredded coconut or sprinkle the coconut over the chocolate.
- Cool: Place the chocolate coconut meringue cookies on parchment paper to allow the chocolate to cool and harden.
Frequently Asked Questions
Store meringue cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to two weeks.
Meringue can crack from not being beaten long enough for the sugar to dissolve, from being beaten at too high of a speed, or from sudden temperature changes. But cracked meringue cookies are still delicious, and the cracks add character.
We sometimes call meringue cookies “forgotten cookies” or “forgotten kisses” because they are left in the oven for several hours (or even overnight) to cool.
Want more treats for spring? Try these recipes next:
These Flower Pot Cookies are perfect for spring! With sugar cookie cups, chocolate ganache, and Oreo dirt, they are as good to eat as they are cute to look at.
Fill these Chocolate Nests with edible grass and candy eggs for a fun Easter dessert or spring treat! Use candy melts to make colorful nests.
This M&M Ice Cream Cake has layers of pretty pastel ice cream and chocolate cake! Bring it to your next spring celebration.
Speckled Chocolate Egg Pretzels are sweet, salty, crunchy, and adorable! Put them in treat bags, Easter baskets, or edible nests for spring.
Robin’s Egg Meringue Cookies
Ingredients
- 3 egg whites room temperature
- ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup superfine sugar aka castor sugar*
- ¾ teaspoon vanilla extract
- gel paste food coloring teal, yellow, and black
- ¼ cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
Chocolate Coconut Dip (optional)
- 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips melted
- 1 cup sweetened coconut toasted
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200˚F. Use a super clean, oil-free, stainless steel bowl with the wire whisk attachment to break up the room temperature egg whites by mixing them on medium-low for about 1 minute.
- Add the cream of tartar and salt. Mix on medium for about 2 minutes, until soft peaks form.
- Turn the mixer to medium-high and add the superfine sugar*, one heaping teaspoon at a time. Scrape the side down so that all of the sugar is included in the meringue.
- Beat meringue until stiff peaks form, the meringue is glossy and the sugar is dissolved. To test if the sugar is dissolved, rub a little of the meringue between your finger and thumb to see if it is gritty.
- Add the vanilla extract and teal gel paste food coloring. Beat until combined.
- Stir in the mini chocolate chips.
- Scoop mounds of meringue onto parchment-lined baking sheets using a medium-sized cookie dough scoop, a piping bag, or a couple of spoons.
- Shape the mounds with a toothpick. Use a wet fingertip to flatten peaks if desired.
- Thin a small dab of black gel paste with a little vanilla extract or water. Dip a small, clean brush in the mixture and use your gloved fingertip to spray the mixture over the meringue eggs.
- Bake at 200˚F for 1 1/2 hours. Cookies should be dry to the touch and easy to remove from the parchment.
- Turn off the oven and leave the meringue cookies in the oven with the door shut for several hours until completely cool.
Chocolate Coconut Dip (optional)
- Dip half of each cookie into melted semi-sweet chocolate chips and coat them with toasted coconut. Place them on parchment paper to allow the chocolate to cool and harden.
Video
Heather S says
Made these with my kids last night and they turned out great! I didn’t have superfine sugar or gel coloring but it still turned out great