Whether you have an egg allergy or are avoiding eggs for other reasons, there’s no need to miss out on meringues. You’ll love this simple recipe for dairy and egg free vegan chocolate meringues, gently flavoured with cocoa and allergy friendly chocolate chips. These crunchy chocolate meringues are allergy friendly and gluten free too.
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Jump to RecipeWhat are meringues?
Originating in France, meringues or meringue cookies are a sweet made with whipped egg whites and sugar. Other types of meringue, such as Italian or Swiss meringue, are made using slightly different methods and ingredients, making them a more stable option for meringue toppings for cakes and desserts. But they all use eggs as an ingredient.
How to make meringues without eggs
Having an egg white base means that meringue cookies are not suitable for people with an egg allergy or those following an egg free or vegan diet. However it is possible to recreate the delicious taste and texture of merigues using an easy vegan substitute, aquafaba.
Aquafaba is the liquid from canned chickpeas, or other beans. This is an easy and versatile way to substitute eggs in many different recipes. For general egg substitutions, 3 Tablespoons of aquafaba replaces one egg. Here we are using aquafaba to replace the egg whites in our egg free vegan meringues.
There’s no need to worry about any ‘chick pea’ taste in the finished product. All you will taste is the sweetness of the sugar, cocoa and chocolate chips.
Egg free chocolate meringue ingredients
To make these vegan chocolate meringues you’ll need:
- 1/2 cup aquafaba (liquid from canned chick peas)
- 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 3/4 cup of white granulated sugar
- 1 Tablespoon cocoa powder
- 1/2 cup dairy free allergy friendly chocolate chips
Tip: After draining off the aquafaba, use the chickpeas to make our sesame free hummus, oven roast them for a crunchy snack or add them to a curry.
Allergy friendly chocolate chips
When choosing chocolate chips, you’ll need to find a brand that suits your allergies. Watch for milk, soy and nuts in chocolate chips, including ‘may contain’statements for milk in any dark chocolate chips.
We use dedicated allergy friendly chocolate chips in our baking recipes, like Sweet William vegan mylk chocolate chips which are free from milk, egg, peanuts, tree nuts, soy and wheat/gluten. Another option is Enjoy Life semi sweet mini chocolate chips.
Method
Prehreat oven to 210F (100C). Line 2 or 3 baking trays with non stick parchment paper.
Place aquafaba and cream of tartar in a large bowl. Using an electric hand mixer, whip the ingredients together until the mixture forms foamy peaks.
While continuing to whip, gradually add the sugar, a little at a time. (Don’t add all at once or you will lose the fluffy texture). The meringue mixture is ready when the mixture forms soft shiny peaks that keep their shape, even if you turn the bowl upside down.
Add cocoa powder and dairy free chocolate chips to the meringue mixture and gently fold through, taking care not to mix too much. (It doesn’t matter if the cocoa powder leaves chocolate streaks instead of a consistent colour.)
Transfer the meringue mixture to a piping bag. Alternatively, add the mixture to a large plastic zip lock bag and snip the corner off to create a piping bag.
Pipe meringue into circles on the prepared lined trays.
Place trays in the preheated oven and bake for around 75 minutes for small meringues (or up to 90 minutes if you have made larger sized ones). You can test to see if the meringues are cooked by removing one meringue from the oven setting aside for a minute, and then checking to see if it is crisp. If the inside is still gooey and undercooked, return to the oven for a little longer.
Once fully cooked, turn off the oven and leave the trays inside for another 15 minutes. Then remove from the oven and allow to cool completely.
Enjoy meringues on their own, or serve with dairy free whipped cream and berries.
This recipe makes around 48 small meringues.
Storing vegan meringues
Like standard meringues, vegan meringue has a tendency to absorb water and become soggy. Make sure that you store cooled egg free chocolate meringues in an airtight container. Kept in a cool place, vegan meringues will keep for around 5 days.
More allergy-friendly recipes
Prefer plain meringues without chocolate? Try our recipe for simple egg free vegan meringues instead. For more delicious egg free recipes using aquafaba, see our dairy and egg free crunchy cornflake cookies, egg free French toast, and our 5 minutes egg free mayonnaise and garlic aioli.
For more allergy-friendly recipes check out our recipe page – all our recipes are free from eggs and other top allergens.
And don’t forget to subscribe for more practical tips for living wth allergies and easy allergy friendly recipes.
Dairy & Egg Free Vegan Chocolate Meringues (Gluten Free)
Equipment
- 3 Baking trays lined with non-stick parchment paper
- 1 large mixing bowl
- 1 electric hand mixer
- 1 piping bag or large zip lock plastic bag
- measuring cups and spoons
Ingredients
- ½ cup aquafaba (liquid from canned chick peas)
- ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
- ¾ cup granulated white sugar
- 1 Tablespoon cocoa powder
- ½ cup allergy friendly dairy free chocolate chips
Instructions
- Prehreat oven to 210F (100C). Line 2 or 3 baking trays with non stick parchment paper.
- Place aquafaba and cream of tartar in a large bowl. Using an electric hand mixer, whip the ingredients together until the mixture forms foamy peaks.
- While continuing to whip, gradually add the sugar, a little at a time. (Don't add all at once or you will lose the fluffy texture). The meringue mixture is ready when the mixture forms soft shiny peaks that keep their shape, even if you turn the bowl upside down.
- Add cocoa powder and dairy free chocolate chips to the meringue mixture and gently fold through, taking care not to mix too much. (It doesn't matter if the cocoa powder leaves chocolate streaks instead of a consistent colour.)
- Transfer the meringue mixture to a piping bag. Alternatively, add the mixture to a large plastic zip lock bag and snip the corner off to create a piping bag.
- Pipe meringue into circles on the prepared lined trays.
- Place trays in the preheated oven and bake for around 75 minutes for small meringues (or up to 90 minutes if you have made larger sized ones). You can test to see if the meringues are cooked by removing one meringue from the oven setting aside for a minute, and then checking to see if it is crisp. If the inside is still gooey and undercooked, return to the oven for a little longer.
- Once fully cooked, turn off the oven and leave the trays inside for another 15 minutes. Then remove from the oven and allow to cool completely.
