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Easy, 4 ingredient low fat meringue cookies! Celebrate St Patrick’s Day with these green meringues cookies with gold sprinkles. An easy, light spring dessert.

Green food…sometimes kids are turned off by it, but these easy, fun cookies might just win them over. After all…they have sprinkles! Finish off your corned beef dinner on St. Patrick’s Day with this easy meringue drop cookie recipe. They are the perfect low fat treat.

Is meringue low fat?

These cookies are low in fat because they only have egg whites. They do have sugar, but are one of the better cookies you can eat if you’re watching calories and fat intake. Similar to angel food cake. Meringue cookies are also gluten free.

Ingredients in Green Meringue Cookies

The homemade meringue has just 5 ingredients:

ingredients for meringue cookies on a table

Egg whites. Use egg whites in a carton, or crack eggs and separate them. Use egg yolks in your omelet then next morning.
Granulated sugar.
Green food coloring. Or any other color you’d like! Gel food color works the best.
Sprinkles. For St Patrick’s Day cookies, I chose gold sprinkles to go with the green meringue.
Lemon juice. Lemon juice is not pictured, but adds flavor. You could also add vanilla extract, mint extract or almond extract. Just be sure the extract does not have oil in it.

How to Make Green Meringue Cookies

Meringue cookies are one of the easiest types of cookies to make.

Before you begin: When making meringue, you have to make sure your bowl, beaters and any spoons that you use are grease free and moisture free. Don’t leave any drops of water in the bowl. This could ruin your meringue.

Prepare: Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Yes, you need to do this so the cookies don’t stick! Preheat the oven to 200º Fahrenheit.
Whip the eggs. Using an electric mixer or stand mixer with the whisk attachment, beat egg whites on medium speed and mix for 2 minutes. Make sure there is not one bit of yolk in your egg whites (again…no grease or fats in your egg whites at all!). If there is any yolk at all, your meringue will not turn out.
Add the flavor. Add lemon juice and gradually increase the speed to high.
Add the sugar. As you beat the egg mixture, slowly add your 1 cup of sugar, about 1 heaping tablespoon at a time.
Add the color. Once mixture forms stiff peaks, add one small drop of green gel food coloring. Fold the coloring in gently and do not overmix.

whipped egg whites and sugar in a bowl with a whisk

Pipe the meringue cookies. We used a Wilton size #12 piping tip and pastry bag. Pipe a dollop of meringue onto your lined baking sheet, about 1.5 inches in diameter. Garnish top portion of each “medallion” with green sprinkles.

piping green meringue on parchment paper

Bake. Bake for two hours. Once they’ve been in the oven for two hours, turn off the heat and let sit in the oven for 35-45 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool to room temperature.

green meringue cookie drops with sprinkles

Why are my meringue cookies chewy?

Too much moisture can make your meringue cookies chewy. This is why it is important to leave them in the oven after baking. Meringue pulls moisture from the air, so anything from a humid day to a pot of boiling water could cause the cookies to be chewy.

Why are my meringue cookies sticky?

The cookies should not be coming out of the oven sticky, so if they feel sticky, leave them in the oven on a low temperature for a bit longer.

How long do meringue cookies last?

Store meringues in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.

Can you refrigerate meringue cookies?

There is much debate on whether you can refrigerate green meringue cookies. I found this article very interesting (I’m a food science nerd, for sure!). Refrigerators are generally a humid area, so we prefer to store meringues at room temperature.

Can you freeze meringue cookies?

Yes! Store the green meringues in an airtight container with parchment paper between any layers. They key to freezing meringues is in how you defrost them. Remove them from the freezer, then place the cookies on a wire rack to defrost uncovered.

Christmas Meringue Cookies

We made these for St. Patrick’s Day but you could easy use red sprinkles for Christmas! Use peppermint extract and make Christmas tree meringue cookies by using a large star tip. Make cookies about 1″ wide and 2″ tall. Add sprinkles and bake. They’ll be the cutest little Christmas trees!

Other St. Patrick’s Day Desserts

You may also love our swiss meringue buttercream, caramel pecan sticky buns and pineapple torte.