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Alright, I’ve realized that this blog has been woefully low on dessert recipes during our healthy eating month. But fear not! I’m about to fix that next week. But in the meantime, I thought I would circle back and share my favorite Chocolate Chip Meringue Cookies with you. I made a batch for my book club this month, and since each of these little guys rings in at just 35 calories, I thought I’d re-shoot and share them with you!
Now before you go telling me that you “don’t make meringue”, let me assure you that this recipe is super easy! It was one of the very first cookie recipes of my mom’s that I learned how to make way back in college, and I’ve made them dozens of time since. So if I could do it even before I knew anything about “stiff peaks”, you can definitely do it too.
All you need is a good mixer, 6 simple ingredients, and you’re good to go. These meringue cookies do take a little while to bake in the oven, but the prep is simple. And once they’re done, these chocolate chip meringue cookies are the epitome of melt-in-your-mouth deliciousness. They’re light and crispy on the outside, and perfectly melty and full of surprise chocolate chips and chewy-ness galore on the inside. And did I mention they’re only 35 calories each?!?
Yep. I think it’s settled. You need to try these.
Alright, before we get rolling, I thought I would include the “before” photo for this recipe for ol’ time’s sake. Chocolate Chip Meringue Cookies circa 2009. I still remember taking this photo…
But a few hundred recipes and years spent with my camera afterwards, here’s the “after” photo. The cookies still taste the same! But there are a few tiny differences:
More Chocolate Chips: Just about any chocolate chip cookies look better with a few extra chocolate chips sprinkled on top before baking, and these meringues are no exception. The chocolate chips usually get hidden inside as “buried treasure” while baking, which is all well and good. But if you want them to be a little cuter on the outside, sprinkle a few extra chips on before baking.
Cracking: If you look closely, you might also notice that I didn’t quite understand how to prevent meringues from cracking last time I photographed them. But now I know. Quite simply, you need to:
cook low and slow
let the cookies cool in the oven
Meringue is kind of like cheesecake. If you flood the hot oven with cool air once the baking time is over, they cookies will crack. If you let the air cool off gradually, they won’t. And the key is always to cook them low and slow. Patience, young grasshopper.
Even if they crack, though, they still taste like heaven. :)
Piping: Also, if you want to get fancy, you can pipe the meringue batter into nice perfectly swirled cookies. But I grew up just plopping a dollop of batter on a cookie sheet, and kind of like how casual they look that way. Go with whatever floats your boat.
The other key to making these is to use mini semisweet chocolate chips. Regular-sized chocolate chips are a little too heavy and large. The baby ones, though, are perfect for topping the meringues and hiding away inside for that heavenly chocolate-y surprise when you bite into a cookie.
To make the cookies, simply whip up the egg whites, salt, cream of tartar and vanilla until soft peaks form. Then gradually add in the sugar and continue beating until stiff peaks form. If you stick a spoon in the batter and lift directly up, the batter should follow and form a “peak” and stay put (not fall over). That’s when you know that it’s ready to go.
It’s amazing how much meringue batter fluffs up! Gotta love those egg whites.
Once the batter is ready, gently fold in your chocolate chips by hand until they are just combined. Resist the temptation to overmix!
Once the batter is ready, drop it by tablespoon-fulls onto a prepared baking sheet, at least 1-inch apart. (This will require at least 2 baking sheets, depending on the size you have.)
Then if you want to get all food style-y, sprinkle just a few extra chocolate chips on top.
Bake them low and slow until they form that crispy light crust we all love. Once that happens, just turn the oven off and let the cookies cool for about a half hour inside of the oven. Then pop it open, and enjoy!
Look how cute they are! And of course, the best part is the “surprise” inside — all of those tasty chocolate chips!
If your friends are like mine, they will adore these cookies once they give them a try. And then they will happily go back for seconds (and maybe thirds) once they learn that they are only 35 calories each. ;)
They will definitely always be a favorite of mine! Hope you enjoy them as well!
Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Line a baking sheet (or two) with parchment paper.
Using a stand mixer, beat egg whites, salt, cream of tartar and vanilla on medium-high speed until soft peaks form.* Slowly add sugar and beat until stiff peaks form, about 5 minutes. Gently fold in chocolate chips by hand until combined.
Drop batter by heaping tablespoon-fulls onto cookie sheet. Bake at 300 degrees for 25-30 minutes until the cookies are cooked and slightly golden. Turn the oven off, and let the cookies cool in the oven for an additional 20-30 minutes until cool. Remove and serve immediately, or store in an airtight container.
*Nutrition facts estimated using My Fitness Pal. Facts may vary based on the exact size of your cookies.
Wow, I love your recipes! I can’t wait to make one. I think I am going to try out your rustic fruit gelate first. I am always looking for good, relatively “healthy” recipes. So glad you started this blog! Keep it up. :) Oh, and your photos are great, good work.
Hi Bonnie! Unfortunately, I don’t think Splenda would work on these ones. To my knowledge, it’s the properties in actual sugar that help to solidify the egg whites into meringue. Just doublechecked online too, and the few people that have tried it said the cookies never set up. Ah…the science of baking. :S
And thanks, Megan! Look forward to hearing how your galette turns out! (And for that one — you probably COULD sub in Spenda or another sugar substitute to make it a touch healthier. :-))
Becca —
After 3 attempts, we discovered the ‘secret’ in making them set-up; DO NOT add sugar until you whip the crap outta the eggwhite/salt/tartar mixture. It has to get to the ‘soft peak’ point before you add sugar or it will NEVER stiffen up after words. Frustrating, yet delightfully rewarding after figuring it out ;-)
You have inspired me to try making meringue *gulp*. I am super intimidated by all the egg-arts (LOL)….custards, meringues, etc. I will pick up the ingredients for this tomorrow and attempt it after work. I’ll keep you posted. BTW, found your blog through TastyKitchen.com! Great stuff!
Yikes! This has never happened before, but the egg whites went from soft peaks to sauce. Suggestions? Causes? I’m using my Cuisanart if that maters.The machine is warm to the touch, but I thought in whipping cream was the only time the temperature mattered.
Cacilia
This sounds ridiculous, but a fantastic substitute for the chocolate chips? Cornflakes. They just end up spectacularly gooey on the inside, with an almost honey taste to them – plus it adds a really good texture. Warning, they pretty much cave in on the first bite, and once you eat one, it is impossible to stop ;)
Hi, I’ve tried making this but at a stage when i pour in the choc chips, the batter seems to change colour to brown instead of white. How is that so? Pls advise.
i made these and they turned out very well. i was just wondering if it was normal for my eggwhites to come to more of a thick , dull foam, rather than glossy soft peaks in the first step
Made them just now. They’re delicious, however I was wondering. Is it normal for the cookies to feel sticky on the outside?? I mean the inside are gorgeous but the outside was…not so good. I reduce the amount of sugar to one cup but it is too sweet for my liking.
I LOVE meringues Ali, but avid baker that I am, I’ve never made them myself (ahem, patience issue). These little cuties have convinced me. I mean, there’s chocolate…
I don’t know why, but I was under the impression that meringue cookies took HOURS to bake! HAHA. Thanks for enlightening me ;) I might have to try my hand at making these gorgeous cloud cookies soon!
You mean I can eat chocolate AND wear skinny jeans? I am so all over these 35 calorie clouds ‘o yum. I haven’t made meringue before….ya, that’s gonna change.
I was wondering if using Silpat would equate to the same thing as the parchment paper… I just tried doing some quick googling but didn’t really find anything. Have you had any experience using something like Silpat instead of the parchment here?
These Meringue cookies look SO good! I have been wanting to try meringue cookies for a while and never gotten around to it… but I will definitely be trying these!
Ali, at our house these are called Forgotten Cookies. Same recipe except halved and minus cream of tarter. Why Forgotten? Because to “cook”: Preheat oven at 350 degrees, place cookies in and immediately turn oven off. Let cookies stay in oven overnight. Voila! Cookies in morning! We usually make a batch at end of other baking during holidays since the oven is already hot. And go on to bed! Usually have a sample for breakfast…
YUM! I adore meringue. I make a version of these with cocoa nibs and use a recipe passed down from my grandma called “forgotten cookies”. I definitely need to try this recipe, too!
Just made these for the second time in less than a week. The first time I didn’t do a good job following the recipe (or reading the comments). I mixed the sugar in too soon, and the meringue never reached stiff peaks. I baked them anyways, and the taste was so wonderful that I knew I had to make them again the right way. Second time I did a better job of following instructions (though I still messed up and forgot to add the vanilla until the end) and they came out perfect – just like the pictures.
Another note for others trying out this recipe, don’t try to save the environment by using your silpat instead of the parchment paper. Go with the parchment for perfect cookies!
They look so delicious! But just because I wanted to know all the Nutrition Facts, I ran the recipe through calorie count and it showed 54 calories. In case you’re curious, here’s the info: https://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/587x294q90/547/3wkd.png
These are great! Thanks for the recipe. My kids love them and have nicknamed them “snowballs”.
They are wonderful for a day like today when we are stuck inside with 9 inches of snow outside.
Just made these and oh my GOD were they AMAZINGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG. I would even venture to say some of the best cookies I have ever made. Mine ended up a bit larger just because I couldn’t get them off the spoon in small quantities, but nobody in my household is complaining about that :) So, so good. Definitely use the mini chocolate chips.
Brittany —
Another thing– I didn’t have parchment paper, so I just sprayed the pan really well with nonstick spray and didn’t have any problems.
Hi Ali! Do you think a substitution of raspberry extract would work to make these raspberry meringues? I have lemon, peppermint and almond, too. Just trying to dream a little. ;)
These are a Christmas tradition in my family but we use mint extract instead of vanilla extract.
Skip the silpat. I now use parchment paper but grew up cutting brown paper bags to fit the cookie sheet.
And don’t use plastic/ rubber bowls, scrapers, etc. we use glass or metal bowls and metal spoons. Plastic/ rubber just seems harder to get everything to. “Stiffen” as regularly.
I have not tried that with this recipe, and am not confident it would turn out well. But if you try it, I would love to hear how they turn out! :)
~Ali
Kim —
I used BochaSweet instead of sugar (measure for measure) and Lily’s sugar-free dark chocolate baking chips (and added walnuts to half the batter)—they turned out great. No bitter aftertaste.
I made these the other night and it was so much fun and easy!! I just had one little problem I think 300 degrees was to hot and they ended up getting very brown on the bottom also I coined them for the directed time but they were still very wet on the inside and the top of them just split off. Any suggestions?
Oh bummer! 300 has always worked for me. You might try baking them on the middle shelf if you didn’t before, for optimal baking on top/bottom, and lowering the baking temperature to 250 degrees.
pardon my ignorance, but is meringue at all possible using Splenda?
Wow, I love your recipes! I can’t wait to make one. I think I am going to try out your rustic fruit gelate first. I am always looking for good, relatively “healthy” recipes. So glad you started this blog! Keep it up. :) Oh, and your photos are great, good work.
Hi Bonnie! Unfortunately, I don’t think Splenda would work on these ones. To my knowledge, it’s the properties in actual sugar that help to solidify the egg whites into meringue. Just doublechecked online too, and the few people that have tried it said the cookies never set up. Ah…the science of baking. :S
And thanks, Megan! Look forward to hearing how your galette turns out! (And for that one — you probably COULD sub in Spenda or another sugar substitute to make it a touch healthier. :-))
After 3 attempts, we discovered the ‘secret’ in making them set-up; DO NOT add sugar until you whip the crap outta the eggwhite/salt/tartar mixture. It has to get to the ‘soft peak’ point before you add sugar or it will NEVER stiffen up after words. Frustrating, yet delightfully rewarding after figuring it out ;-)
You have inspired me to try making meringue *gulp*. I am super intimidated by all the egg-arts (LOL)….custards, meringues, etc. I will pick up the ingredients for this tomorrow and attempt it after work. I’ll keep you posted. BTW, found your blog through TastyKitchen.com! Great stuff!
Yikes! This has never happened before, but the egg whites went from soft peaks to sauce. Suggestions? Causes? I’m using my Cuisanart if that maters.The machine is warm to the touch, but I thought in whipping cream was the only time the temperature mattered.
Cacilia
Thanks for this recipe. Had some egg whites I didn’t know what I would do with…they are in the oven…hope they turn out as good as yours!!
This sounds ridiculous, but a fantastic substitute for the chocolate chips? Cornflakes. They just end up spectacularly gooey on the inside, with an almost honey taste to them – plus it adds a really good texture. Warning, they pretty much cave in on the first bite, and once you eat one, it is impossible to stop ;)
Hi, I’ve tried making this but at a stage when i pour in the choc chips, the batter seems to change colour to brown instead of white. How is that so? Pls advise.
i made these and they turned out very well. i was just wondering if it was normal for my eggwhites to come to more of a thick , dull foam, rather than glossy soft peaks in the first step
Made them just now. They’re delicious, however I was wondering. Is it normal for the cookies to feel sticky on the outside?? I mean the inside are gorgeous but the outside was…not so good. I reduce the amount of sugar to one cup but it is too sweet for my liking.
My mom always put Christmas m&m ‘s in these cookies. Red and green. So good and so festive.
I’ve only made meringues once…. and they cracked. lol I guess I didn’t have that patience like a grasshopper. hah These look so yummy though!
Oh boy. I gotta bite the bullet and buy some cream of tartar. Those look too good not to try :)
I LOVE meringues Ali, but avid baker that I am, I’ve never made them myself (ahem, patience issue). These little cuties have convinced me. I mean, there’s chocolate…
I’ve never had these before! They look lovely!
6 simple ingredients and only 35 calories … yes oh yes! I need a few of these sweet cookies right now!
These look so good! I guess I need to finally give meringue cookies a try!
I make these every Christmas but with mint chocolate chips! Delicious and, as you said, so simple!
I don’t know why, but I was under the impression that meringue cookies took HOURS to bake! HAHA. Thanks for enlightening me ;) I might have to try my hand at making these gorgeous cloud cookies soon!
You mean I can eat chocolate AND wear skinny jeans? I am so all over these 35 calorie clouds ‘o yum. I haven’t made meringue before….ya, that’s gonna change.
Making meringue has always intimidated me!
These are so pretty! I love that they’re only 35 calories and still have chocolate – yum! Lovin the before and after shots too :)
Can you use sucralose or splenda instead of granulated sugar and reduced the calories.
I love anything that involves meringue and especially the addition of chocolate chips!
I love meringues, these are so pretty!
These are so cute, I love meringues and they’re even better when you throw some chocolate chips in there too!
I just wanted to bite right into the screen with that last photo Ali! Love these cookies.
Okay, I need this in my life. Like pronto. So deliciously looking. I love the contrast.
I was wondering if using Silpat would equate to the same thing as the parchment paper… I just tried doing some quick googling but didn’t really find anything. Have you had any experience using something like Silpat instead of the parchment here?
Yes, they work very similarly! Go for it. :)
Yum… these look very good. I’m always on the lookout for treats that are low calorie – thanks for sharing!
I can’t WAIT to make these! Girl, your site has become my most favorite…you’re knocking it out of the park!
These Meringue cookies look SO good! I have been wanting to try meringue cookies for a while and never gotten around to it… but I will definitely be trying these!
Ooooh…these are adorable! I love meringues and loves the little chips you’ve added! I’m pinning now! Can’t wait to make them!
Ali, at our house these are called Forgotten Cookies. Same recipe except halved and minus cream of tarter. Why Forgotten? Because to “cook”: Preheat oven at 350 degrees, place cookies in and immediately turn oven off. Let cookies stay in oven overnight. Voila! Cookies in morning! We usually make a batch at end of other baking during holidays since the oven is already hot. And go on to bed! Usually have a sample for breakfast…
Love meringue and can’t wait to try these! Such beautiful photos; great job! Pinning them now…
Try adding two teaspoons of instant expresso powder to these for a bit of a caffeine kick, D Licious!!
YUM! I adore meringue. I make a version of these with cocoa nibs and use a recipe passed down from my grandma called “forgotten cookies”. I definitely need to try this recipe, too!
These are so cute! I love that they are only 35 calories too, such a perfect sweet treat without any guilt!
Just made these for the second time in less than a week. The first time I didn’t do a good job following the recipe (or reading the comments). I mixed the sugar in too soon, and the meringue never reached stiff peaks. I baked them anyways, and the taste was so wonderful that I knew I had to make them again the right way. Second time I did a better job of following instructions (though I still messed up and forgot to add the vanilla until the end) and they came out perfect – just like the pictures.
Another note for others trying out this recipe, don’t try to save the environment by using your silpat instead of the parchment paper. Go with the parchment for perfect cookies!
They look so delicious! But just because I wanted to know all the Nutrition Facts, I ran the recipe through calorie count and it showed 54 calories. In case you’re curious, here’s the info: https://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/587x294q90/547/3wkd.png
These are great! Thanks for the recipe. My kids love them and have nicknamed them “snowballs”.
They are wonderful for a day like today when we are stuck inside with 9 inches of snow outside.
Do you know if the Chocolate Chip Meringue Cookies recipe will work with Splenda instead of sugar?
Hi Rubyanna,
I have not tried Splenda, but if you do, let me know how it turns out!
~Ali
Just made these and oh my GOD were they AMAZINGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG. I would even venture to say some of the best cookies I have ever made. Mine ended up a bit larger just because I couldn’t get them off the spoon in small quantities, but nobody in my household is complaining about that :) So, so good. Definitely use the mini chocolate chips.
Another thing– I didn’t have parchment paper, so I just sprayed the pan really well with nonstick spray and didn’t have any problems.
Hi Ali! Do you think a substitution of raspberry extract would work to make these raspberry meringues? I have lemon, peppermint and almond, too. Just trying to dream a little. ;)
Thanks!
Emily
Oooh, I like that idea. If you try it, let me know how it goes!
Such a great find on a snowy day…the recipe was perfect, the directions were perfect, and the cookies are beyond perfect! Thank you Ali!
These are a Christmas tradition in my family but we use mint extract instead of vanilla extract.
Skip the silpat. I now use parchment paper but grew up cutting brown paper bags to fit the cookie sheet.
And don’t use plastic/ rubber bowls, scrapers, etc. we use glass or metal bowls and metal spoons. Plastic/ rubber just seems harder to get everything to. “Stiffen” as regularly.
I loved this recipe! Reminded me of my grandmothers cookies. Heavenly and simple. So easy to make that I have my kids doing it! Thank you.
Can I substitute no calorie sweetener for the sugar?
Hi Jane,
I have not tried that with this recipe, and am not confident it would turn out well. But if you try it, I would love to hear how they turn out! :)
~Ali
I used BochaSweet instead of sugar (measure for measure) and Lily’s sugar-free dark chocolate baking chips (and added walnuts to half the batter)—they turned out great. No bitter aftertaste.
Thanks so much for the awesome simple recipe. My grade 10 science class made the cookies this morning as part of a unit on density.
All the other classes were jealous. You could smell them throughout the school.
Joanne
Saskatchewan Indian Institute of Technologies
Regina, SK Canada
I made these the other night and it was so much fun and easy!! I just had one little problem I think 300 degrees was to hot and they ended up getting very brown on the bottom also I coined them for the directed time but they were still very wet on the inside and the top of them just split off. Any suggestions?
Oh bummer! 300 has always worked for me. You might try baking them on the middle shelf if you didn’t before, for optimal baking on top/bottom, and lowering the baking temperature to 250 degrees.