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4.34
/5
1 hour hr 25 minutes mins
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By: Rachel GurkPosted: 12/03/2012
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Light, airy, sweet, and delicious, these cinnamon vanilla bean meringues are a perfect confection. You’ll love how they look on your cookie platter!
Meringues are pretty much a health food. Completely non-fat and only 27 calories each!
Can we please agree on meringues having a health food status? No? Too much sugar to make them a health food, I guess.
Well…they are better for you than a triple-chocolate-caramel-oreo-cookie-dough-brownie-milkshake, right?
I think they are the perfect treat. Not one bit heavy, just a touch of sweetness to satisfy that craving. And they are perfect for the holidays for that very reason! The perfect bite after a heavy meal.
These meringues combine one of my favorite ingredients, vanilla beans, with spicy cinnamon. Again–in my own humble opinion, perfect for the holidays!
About these vanilla bean meringues
With only 10 minutes hands on prep time, you can quickly “whip” these meringue cookies up and pop them in the oven. No peeking until the time’s up! Seriously! You don’t want the meringues to fall. They need that nice low steady heat.
Make them your own:
- Beat in 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder instead of the cinnamon.
- Fold in finely chopped nuts, like pecans, walnuts, or pistachios after the meringue has been whipped.
- Fold in mini chocolate chips, or chopped chocolate into the meringue before baking.
Vanilla beans are so good!
So flavorful and pretty, too, with the little brown flecks, I can’t resist creating recipes that include vanilla beans. Here’s a sampling:
- Homemade Vanilla Bean Ice Cream (only 3 ingredients and you won’t need an ice cream maker)
- Easy Crème Brûlée (in the slow cooker, made for two)
- Clementine Vanilla Bean Yogurt Cake
- Vanilla Bean Cookie Bars
- Vanilla Bean Candied Walnuts
- Almond Vanilla Bean Granola
- Vanilla Bean Buttercream Frosting
Did you make this? Be sure to leave a review below and tag me @rachelcooksblog on Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest!
Recipe
Get the Recipe: Cinnamon Vanilla Bean Meringues
4.34 from 12 votesPrep Time: 10 minutes mins
Cook Time: 1 hour hr 15 minutes mins
Total Time: 1 hour hr 25 minutes mins
24 meringues
Print Rate Recipe
Light, airy, sweet, and delicious, these cinnamon vanilla bean meringue cookies are a perfect confection. You'll love how they look on your cookie platter!
Ingredients
- 3 large egg whites, room temperature
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped (I used a [Mexican vanilla bean])
- large pinch of salt
- large pinch of cream of tartar
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Instructions
Preheat oven to 200°F. Prepare 2 baking sheets by lining with parchment paper.
Combine egg whites, sugar and vanilla bean seeds in a heat-proof bowl (I used the metal bowl of my stand mixer). Set bowl over a pot of simmering water and stir until sugar dissolves and mixture is warm (not hot), about three minutes. Add salt, cream of tartar, and cinnamon.
Beat with a mixer on medium-high speed until stiff, glossy peaks form and meringue is mostly cool. This will take 5-7 minutes depending on your mixer.
Fill a pastry bag (fitted with your tip of choice–or you can just cut the end off after filling) with the meringue. Pipe meringues into circular shapes about 1 3/4- to 2-inches in diameter on 2 parchment paper-lined baking sheets.
Bake the meringues until crisp on the outside and still slightly soft on the inside, about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Cool completely on a wire rack.
Notes
- When separating eggs, make sure to not get any yolk in the whites. If there is any yolk whatsoever, or grease of any kind in the mixture, you won't be able to whip the whites into a meringue.
- If you don't have a pastry bag and tip, use a sandwich bag with one corner snipped off. Or, just use a spoon to make small dollops. Not as pretty, but still just as good. I've made them that way plenty of times!
Nutrition Information
Serving: 1meringue, Calories: 27kcal, Carbohydrates: 6g, Sodium: 12mg, Sugar: 6g
This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.
© Author: Rachel Gurk
Verdict: These are so delicious. The vanilla and cinnamon are subtle yet very much there. I think this is such a classy holiday dessert. Pretty and light!
Husband’s take: Loved these! He’s really not all that picky.
Changes I would make: None.
Difficulty: Easy.
Now…I’m off to go create that triple-chocolate-caramel-oreo-cookie-dough-brownie-milkshake.
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Reader Interactions
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Rena says
Can I make these two days ahead of time??
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Rachel Gurk says
That should be fine :) Make sure they’re in a cool dry place. :)
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Sarah says
Your meringues are so swirly and smooth. And yes, totally healthy;) Eggs whites are good for you!
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Lavinia says
Dear Rachel ,
Thank you so very much!! You are a GEM… I cooked these tonight and OMG my better half thinks i am a queen. He always wanted me to cook these but i have been to scared … These were so yum and wonderful.
xxx
Reply
Rachel Gurk says
Glad you both liked them! Way easier to make than you’d think…aren’t they? Thanks for the comment!
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Brianna says
I’ve only ever had meringues from the grocery store and never tried making them as I didn’t really like what I tried. Well this was my first meringue recipe I’ve made and I’m hooked! I love the cinnamon flavour. They turned out so well! I did end up leaving out the cream of tartar though (I’m in Eastern Europe and its not easy to come by) but it still ended up being nice and fluffy and flavourful. Thanks for sharing! I will be making this again.
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Rachel says
So glad you liked them! Thank you for taking the time to let me know.
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K&B says
These are so pretty !
ratedkb.wordpress.com
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Rachel says
Thank you!
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These look perfect! I tried to make meringues once and they did not turn out! I love the vanilla and cinnamon in these!
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ok umm… meringues are a health food in my world. AND they are actually one of my favorite cookies. I love who they melt in your mouth! And a vanilla bean variety… sign me up. Rachel, these look SO SO SO good. love the little black vanilla speckles :)
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Beautiful! Absolutely stunning! I love anything involving vanilla bean, and I’m there with ‘ya — egg whites = health food; meringue = egg whites; so obviously meringues = health food. Duh! :)
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Can we talk about how pretty these are?! Omg, SO pretty! Love these!!!
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Two of my fave flavors in life are – cinnamon & vanilla! These are right up my alley!
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I’m loving this combination! I’ve made lemon meringues before that were pretty tasty, but the vanilla bean and cinnamon definitely make these 11/10!
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Tracey says
Yep, meringues are totally health food! I love the pretty specks from the vanilla beans :) These sound great!
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claire @ the realistic nutritionist says
Oh these look so pretty!!
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amy @ fearless homemaker says
Ooh, I loooove meringues but haven’t made them in probably a year. Why not? I have no idea, but I must change that ASAP. I will now be googling/pinning meringue recipes for the next hour, thanks to you! =P
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