Don’t cotton candy cookies sound amazing!? Well I have a simple meringue cookies recipe for you all today. These are perfect for any party with a colorful theme. I am imagining a carnival themed party in my head right now.
But let’s hop right into it because these cotton candy sugar cookies are simple, quick and TO DIE for.
Equipment & Ingredients
To make these cotton candy cookies you will need 5 ingredients:
- Egg Whites
- Strawberry Extract
- White Granulated Sugar
- Cream of Tartar
- Salt
- Red and Blue Food Dye
- Sprinkles (Optional)
This is the needed equipment to make these cute cotton candy cookies:
Make the Meringue
To start, preheat the oven to 225 degrees fahrenheit and prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Then grab a mixing bowl and separate the egg whites from yolks. Use the yolks in another recipe if you don’t want to waste them! Add in the cream of tartar and salt. You want to blend this mixture a bit before you add in the sugar, about a minute or so. Make sure it is nice and foamy before adding in the sugar.
Now go ahead and pour the sugar into the egg whites one tablespoon a time while blending with your electric mixer. This ensures we get a nice an airy meringue cookie later on. Add in the next tablespoon about 15 seconds after the last.
Mix this until you have created a stiff, shiny and white meringue batter. The sugar needs to be completely dissolved, which you can test by rubbing a small bit of the mixture between your fingers and feel for sugar granules. There should be none! Overall you should be mixing on high speed for about 7 minutes for these cotton candy cookies, but the important part is getting the consistency as described above and looking like the process pictures shown in the right 2 shots above.
Fold in the strawberry extract after the mixture is done with a rubber spatula.
Create the "cotton candy" Look!
While the strawberry extract helps to give this meringue cookie recipe their cotton candy cookie taste, we use red and blue food dye to achieve the look.
Take 2 mixing bowls and split the meringue batter in half. Add only a drop or two of each food dye into each bowl. This is cotton candy, so we are trying to achieve a pale pink and blue. Stir together until the colors are combined.
Fit the piping bag with a metal star piping tip. Now to get a beautiful swirl when piping these cotton candy cookies on the baking sheet, alternate adding each color meringue into the piping bag.
Pipe and Bake Cotton Candy Cookies
This part is always the most fun for me! Pipe a thick swirl onto the prepared parchment baking sheet similar to an ice cream cone.
Repeat until you have used up all your meringue filling. This isn’t necessary, but I like to add some sprinkles to my cotton candy cookies before throwing them in the oven to add some more texture.
Bake for 1 hour. Then turn the oven off and let continue baking and cooling in the oven for another hour and a half. This will ensure your cotton candy sugar cookies are nice and crisp when you take them out the oven.
Tips for Perfect Meringue Cookies
Add the Sugar At the Right Time: Make sure to whisk the egg whites with cream of tartar before adding the sugar. This allow the eggs to get a bit foamy and create a light and airy texture, which is what we want for the perfect cotton candy cookie!
Whisk Long Enough: The speed and power of a hand mixer varies from model to model so even when a specific time is given to whisk the egg white mixture, sometimes the batter still won’t be done. Do not fear overmixing meringue cookies. Make sure the meringue is stiff so that the cookies are pipeable and you get a beautiful design and shape when baking.
Don’t Cut Baking Short: Sometimes you think the cookies are done and they aren’t. Meringue cookies should not brown because they are cooked at a low oven temperature. Because of this they require a longer baking time and other testing methods to ensure they are baked fully. You will notice when you bite into them that they are still a bit gooey in the center, if they are undercooked. Be sure to let the cookies bake for the full hour and STAY in the oven for another hour and a half after turning off the oven.
Enjoy!
And it’s as simple as that! Go ahead and remove your crispy meringue cookies from the oven. Enjoy your cotton candy sugar cookies or store in a tight sealed container. They are sweet, fluffy and fruity with the addition of the strawberry extract. They would even be perfect to package up as party favors or to serve at any event!
If you are a cookie lover then you also might want to check out some of our other cookie recipes:
White Chocolate Matcha Latte Cookies
Please share this meringue cookie recipe with your family and friends! Let us know how you enjoyed these cotton candy cookies in the comments below or any other flavor and color variations you made on your own.
Cotton Candy Cookies (Meringue)
Course: DessertDifficulty: Medium40
cookies20
minutes1.5
hours60
minutesA sweet, fluffy and airy cotton candy cookies recipe for any party, event or even for the kids.
Ingredients
4 egg whites
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup granulated white sugar
1 teaspoon strawberry extract
Red Food Dye
Blue Food Dye
Sprinkles (Optional)
Directions
Preheat the oven to 225 degrees Fahrenheit and prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Separate the egg whites from yolks and add the whites to a mixing bowl. Add the cream of tartar and salt to the bowl.
Use a hand mixer to combine the ingredients on low speed for about one minute until foamy.
Increase the speed to high and gradually add in the sugar one tablespoon at a time. Mixing for about 15 seconds between each addition.
Continue beating the mixture until the meringue becomes smooth, shiny and has stiff peaks, which should be about 7 minutes in total.
Fit your piping bag with a star tip and set aside. Separate the meringue into 2 bowls. Add a couple drops of red food dye in one bowl and blue food dye in the other.
Mix together to create the cotton candy pink and blue color. Alternating large scoops of pink and blue meringue into the piping bag. This will create the a swirled mixture of both colors when piping.
On the parchment paper pipe out large swirls of the meringue onto the sheet. Minimal space is needed between each cotton candy cookie, as this batter won't spread.
Top with sprinkles if desired and bake in the oven for 1 hour. After the hour is up, turn off the oven, but leave the cookies inside. Let them continue baking and cooling for another hour and a half in the oven.
Remove from the oven and they will be nice and crisp. Enjoy or store in an airtight container!
