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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.
Thank you very much. This was a childhood classic. I was nostalgic making these. I loved the tips you provided about room temp eggs, etc. The cookies turned out beautiful and I loved the consistency. I may reduce the usage of it doesn’t affect the cookie consistency.
I ended up with 4 leftover egg whites after making some hollandaise sauce, and came across this recipe.
Great idea! I only put in 1 cup of sugar, and used both milk chocolate and peanut butter chips in them. Absolutely fantastic!
I’ll definitely make these again.
Thanks!
I’ve made these many times! I often switch out the sugar for Swerve, the granulated sugar replacement. I usually cut the amount of Swerve in half as I think they can get too sweet. They always come out good enough that everyone is asking for the recipe. Time to make them for Thanksgiving!!!!
Hey! I halved the recipe and reduced the sugar by a bit since I also added dried cranberries. I was happy with the results but mine browned a lot more than in your pictures, any ideas on how to prevent that from happening?
I’ve made this recipe so many times and it always comes out perfect. If your eggs haven’t formed peaks… you’re not done beating them. I use a table mixer. These are my kiddos favorite Cookies. We have lots of littles with allergies and these are perfect for allergen free cookies so that everyone can enjoy the same treat together. Thanks y’all! As my youngest says, they’re delightful.
do you put the cookies on the 1st or 2nd rack…that is important to me & I always use parchment paper…making soon so a response would be very important to me…Merry Christmas!
A similar recipe has been in our family for decades. The ingredient proportions are similar but we add in 3 cups of crushed cornflakes and bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes. I think the shorter baking time is because the temp is higher and because the cornflakes might get ‘too done’.
Recently I have made your recipe but to make it Christmasy, I put about three red and green M&Ms. Just some variations of your delicious recipe.
This recipe is amazing ! I did have to add an extra 1/2 tsp of cream of tartar to help the peeks form. They are perfect. I did add a half a tsp of espresso to cut the sugariness a little and enhance the chocolate . Absolutely delicious ! You do have to whip these a long time to get the perfect peeks I whipped almost 10 minutes.
My only (small) issue was that I didn’t expect these to expand in the oven, so I put a few more on the cookie sheet than I should have. They dried out nicely, didn’t crack, and were delicious. I might try to add a little bit of cocoa powder to the batter next time just to see what happens.
This is another excellent recipe!! I was looking for a new dessert for Passover and this perfect!!!
Absolutely no cracking on meringue, and delicious!! So easy
Big hit with the family. Had too many for my storage container, so I froze the extras. When we defrosted and ate them about a week later, they were every bit as good as the originals … so I’m making some now to freeze for our next get together. Thanks!
My mom made these for Christmas every year and her trick to a perfect “angel” cookie as she called them, was to place them in a preheated oven close the door and count to 30, then turn off the oven and go to bed. They cooked and cooled overnight to perfection. I still make these cookies before bed every Christmas. Sometimes substitute Andes chocolate pieces for the chocolate chips. Yum.
Have tried making this several times now and failed for all but the last time. But I’ve had them from a friend and knew they were well worth the effort! I want to share what I’ve learned and aggregate tips from other posts to prevent others from also ending up with many a soupy mess. I live in the South (Atlanta) where it’s humid so that made it trickier but I believe these can help anyone.
1. Make sure the eggs really are room temperature. It’ll still work if not but take many times longer and more power.
2. An electric hand-mixer will work, just takes much longer. My one successful batch took 45 minutes to whip. You cannot, I repeat you CANNOT, do this recipe by hand (or in a blender…I tried for more power and it cooked the eggs :0). A standing mixer is best but we can’t all afford that.
3. Scoop out any little bits of egg yolk that accidentally get in with the whites. Like the room temperature rule, it’ll still work with little bits but take longer.
4. If having no luck after 30 minutes with the whipping, add an extra 1/2 tsp of cream of tartar. If you live in a humid place, just proactively start the recipe with 1 tsp cornstarch also. Don’t bother waiting on this. So my final batch that worked used 1tsp corn starch AND 3/4 tsp total cream of tartar. Still tasted and looked fine after.
5. DON”T GIVE UP!! They will come together but as I said, my good batch took 45 minutes of high-speed whipping. It helps to really get the whites alone to very solid soft peaks before adding any sugar. Then slowly add the sugar, like a 1/4 cup every few minutes.
Hope this save others on lost batches and brings extra joy. Again, this recipe is worth every bit of the effort. I bake a lot and it remains one of my top delights. Once you’ve made a classic batch, I highly recommend changing out chocolate chips for other goodies like crushed candy cane or nuts, or even adding a dash of food coloring at the end as you fold in the chips to match the appropriate holiday. Good luck!
I always loved chocolates chip meringues as a kid, but didn’t remember the recipe, so I was excited to find your post! As a kid, we didn’t use an acid of any kind, I remember that – just sugar eggs whites, vanilla, and the chocolate chips. And they always came out great. So, I didn’t bother trying to find cream of tartar since I had everything else on hand. Almost. I only had a cup of sugar. Do you think that’s the reason my cookies came out sticky and marshmellowy with no outside crispy shell? I live in the same city where I grew up and we always made these in December, so I don’t *think* the humidity conditions are different. I guess I had forced air as a kid and now we have radiators, but my skin certainly feels like it’s dry in here …
When I found the marshmallows, I put them back in the oven on the lowest setting (170) for half an hr so they wouldn’t burn and then let them sit in the warm oven to cool/dry. This made some of the sugar sink to the bottom and caramelize on the pan and it made the cookies crisp and powdery the whol way through. Womp womp.
Any recommendations other than more trials and errors?
Can’t stop making these cookies!!
Thank you very much. This was a childhood classic. I was nostalgic making these. I loved the tips you provided about room temp eggs, etc. The cookies turned out beautiful and I loved the consistency. I may reduce the usage of it doesn’t affect the cookie consistency.
I ended up with 4 leftover egg whites after making some hollandaise sauce, and came across this recipe.
Great idea! I only put in 1 cup of sugar, and used both milk chocolate and peanut butter chips in them. Absolutely fantastic!
I’ll definitely make these again.
Thanks!
I’ve made these many times! I often switch out the sugar for Swerve, the granulated sugar replacement. I usually cut the amount of Swerve in half as I think they can get too sweet. They always come out good enough that everyone is asking for the recipe. Time to make them for Thanksgiving!!!!
Hey! I halved the recipe and reduced the sugar by a bit since I also added dried cranberries. I was happy with the results but mine browned a lot more than in your pictures, any ideas on how to prevent that from happening?
Can you use coconut sugar?
Great recipe . I substituted lemon juice for cream of tartar and reduce vanilla. Grandchildren love them.
I’ve made this recipe so many times and it always comes out perfect. If your eggs haven’t formed peaks… you’re not done beating them. I use a table mixer. These are my kiddos favorite Cookies. We have lots of littles with allergies and these are perfect for allergen free cookies so that everyone can enjoy the same treat together. Thanks y’all! As my youngest says, they’re delightful.
do you put the cookies on the 1st or 2nd rack…that is important to me & I always use parchment paper…making soon so a response would be very important to me…Merry Christmas!
A similar recipe has been in our family for decades. The ingredient proportions are similar but we add in 3 cups of crushed cornflakes and bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes. I think the shorter baking time is because the temp is higher and because the cornflakes might get ‘too done’.
Recently I have made your recipe but to make it Christmasy, I put about three red and green M&Ms. Just some variations of your delicious recipe.
This recipe is amazing ! I did have to add an extra 1/2 tsp of cream of tartar to help the peeks form. They are perfect. I did add a half a tsp of espresso to cut the sugariness a little and enhance the chocolate . Absolutely delicious ! You do have to whip these a long time to get the perfect peeks I whipped almost 10 minutes.
My only (small) issue was that I didn’t expect these to expand in the oven, so I put a few more on the cookie sheet than I should have. They dried out nicely, didn’t crack, and were delicious. I might try to add a little bit of cocoa powder to the batter next time just to see what happens.
My meringues turned out amazing! Thank you so much for sharing. Will be sure to share with friends and family :)
This is another excellent recipe!! I was looking for a new dessert for Passover and this perfect!!!
Absolutely no cracking on meringue, and delicious!! So easy
Big hit with the family. Had too many for my storage container, so I froze the extras. When we defrosted and ate them about a week later, they were every bit as good as the originals … so I’m making some now to freeze for our next get together. Thanks!
I haven’t made this recipe yet but was wondering if you could use a sugar substitute such as allulose or monk fruit.
I’ve made these a thousand times and they never fail!
My mom made these for Christmas every year and her trick to a perfect “angel” cookie as she called them, was to place them in a preheated oven close the door and count to 30, then turn off the oven and go to bed. They cooked and cooled overnight to perfection. I still make these cookies before bed every Christmas. Sometimes substitute Andes chocolate pieces for the chocolate chips. Yum.
Have tried making this several times now and failed for all but the last time. But I’ve had them from a friend and knew they were well worth the effort! I want to share what I’ve learned and aggregate tips from other posts to prevent others from also ending up with many a soupy mess. I live in the South (Atlanta) where it’s humid so that made it trickier but I believe these can help anyone.
1. Make sure the eggs really are room temperature. It’ll still work if not but take many times longer and more power.
2. An electric hand-mixer will work, just takes much longer. My one successful batch took 45 minutes to whip. You cannot, I repeat you CANNOT, do this recipe by hand (or in a blender…I tried for more power and it cooked the eggs :0). A standing mixer is best but we can’t all afford that.
3. Scoop out any little bits of egg yolk that accidentally get in with the whites. Like the room temperature rule, it’ll still work with little bits but take longer.
4. If having no luck after 30 minutes with the whipping, add an extra 1/2 tsp of cream of tartar. If you live in a humid place, just proactively start the recipe with 1 tsp cornstarch also. Don’t bother waiting on this. So my final batch that worked used 1tsp corn starch AND 3/4 tsp total cream of tartar. Still tasted and looked fine after.
5. DON”T GIVE UP!! They will come together but as I said, my good batch took 45 minutes of high-speed whipping. It helps to really get the whites alone to very solid soft peaks before adding any sugar. Then slowly add the sugar, like a 1/4 cup every few minutes.
Hope this save others on lost batches and brings extra joy. Again, this recipe is worth every bit of the effort. I bake a lot and it remains one of my top delights. Once you’ve made a classic batch, I highly recommend changing out chocolate chips for other goodies like crushed candy cane or nuts, or even adding a dash of food coloring at the end as you fold in the chips to match the appropriate holiday. Good luck!
I always loved chocolates chip meringues as a kid, but didn’t remember the recipe, so I was excited to find your post! As a kid, we didn’t use an acid of any kind, I remember that – just sugar eggs whites, vanilla, and the chocolate chips. And they always came out great. So, I didn’t bother trying to find cream of tartar since I had everything else on hand. Almost. I only had a cup of sugar. Do you think that’s the reason my cookies came out sticky and marshmellowy with no outside crispy shell? I live in the same city where I grew up and we always made these in December, so I don’t *think* the humidity conditions are different. I guess I had forced air as a kid and now we have radiators, but my skin certainly feels like it’s dry in here …
When I found the marshmallows, I put them back in the oven on the lowest setting (170) for half an hr so they wouldn’t burn and then let them sit in the warm oven to cool/dry. This made some of the sugar sink to the bottom and caramelize on the pan and it made the cookies crisp and powdery the whol way through. Womp womp.
Any recommendations other than more trials and errors?
Thanks !
Luv your recipes. I wanted to know if these can be frozen once they are cooled? Thanks