It’s easy to create perfectly light and crisp meringues without egg whites. So if you have an egg allergy or can’t eat eggs for any reason, you’ll love this recipe for egg free rose meringues using aquafaba. These light, crisp meringue cookies are a beautiful pink colour and delicately flavoured with rose. Vegan rose meringues are perfectly for an allergy friendly high tea or as a Valentine’s Day treat.
*Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. We may be paid a commission if you use these links to make a purchase. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
Jump to RecipeWhat are meringues?
Meringues, which have their roots in France, are delicate sweet treats created by whipping egg whites with sugar. Variations like Italian and Swiss meringue use different techniques to create a sturdier consistency for topping cakes and desserts. But all traditional meringue recipes rely on eggs as their key ingredient.
How to make meringues without eggs
The egg white base means that traditional meringue cookies are not suitable for people with an egg allergy or those following an egg free or vegan diet. Luckily it is really easy to recreate the delicious taste and texture of merigues using aquafaba for an egg free, vegan alternative.
Aquafaba is the liquid from canned chickpeas, or other beans. It’s an easy and versatile way to substitute eggs in lots of different recipes, from cakes to sauces. For general egg substitutions, 3 Tablespoons of aquafaba replaces one egg. For this recipes we’ll use aquafaba to replace the egg whites in our egg free rose meringues. It will work best if used cold rather than room termperature.
The sugar and delicate rose flavouring used in this recipe means there won’t be any ‘chick pea’ taste in the finished product.
Egg free rose meringues ingredients
To make these vegan rose meringues you’ll need:
- 1/2 cup aquafaba (liquid from canned chick peas), cold
- 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 3/4 cup of white granulated sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon natural rose extract (or substitute 1 teaspoon of rose water)
- 2-3 drops of red or pink food colouring
Tip: After draining off the aquafaba, use the chickpeas to make our sesame free hummus, make salt and vinegar roasted chickpeas for a crunchy snack or add them to a curry.
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.
Next add the rose extract and food colouring and fold through gently to combine.
TIP: I like to remove a scoop of meringue mixture into a separate small bowl, then add the food colouring and flavouring to the smaller portion and mix together to combine. Then fold this mixture back through the remainder of the meringue. This helps to combine the colour and flavour evenly without over mixing.
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 small circles on the prepared lined trays, about an inch across.
Place trays in the preheated oven and bake for around 60 minutes for small meringues (or up to 75 minutes if you have made slightly 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.
Make sure to check the meringues while they are cooking. If overcooked, they will tend to brown slightly and lose the beautiful pink colouring.
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 60 small meringues.
Storing vegan meringues
Any meringues, vegan or traditional, can tend to absorb water and become soggy. Make sure that you store cooled egg free rose meringues in an airtight container. Kept in a cool place, vegan meringues will keep for around 5 days.
More allergy-friendly recipes
Looking for more meringue recipes without eggs? Try our recipe for simple egg free vegan meringues for a plain version or our egg free chocolate meringues. Explore more tasty egg free recipes using aquafaba with our egg free French toast, crunchy cornflake cookies and our 5 minutes egg free mayonnaise and garlic aioli.
You’ll find more allergy friendly recipes free from eggs and other top allergens on our recipe page.
And don’t forget to subscribe for more practical tips for living wth allergies and easy allergy friendly recipes.
Egg Free Rose Meringues (Vegan, Gluten Free)
Equipment
- 3 baking trays lined with non-stick parchment paper
- 1 large mixing bwl
- 1 electric hand mixer
- 1 piping bag or large zip lock plastic bag
- measuriung cups and spoons
Ingredients
- ½ cup aquafaba (liquid from canned chick peas), cold
- ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
- ¾ cup white granulated sugar
- ¼ teaspoon natural rose extract (or substitute 1 teaspoon rose water)
- 2-3 drops red or pink food colouring
Instructions
- Prehreat oven to 210F (100C). Line 2 or 3 baking trays with non stick parchment paper.
- Place cold 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.
- Next add the rose extract and food colouring and fold through gently to combine. TIP: I like to remove a scoop of meringue mixture into a separate small bowl, then add the food colouring and flavouring to the smaller portion and mix together to combine. Then fold this mixture back through the remainder of the meringue. This helps to combine the colour and flavour evenly without over mixing.
- 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 small circles on the prepared lined trays, about an inch across.
- Place trays in the preheated oven and bake for around 60 minutes for small meringues (or up to 75 minutes if you have made slightly 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.Make sure to check the meringues while they are cooking. If overcooked, they will tend to brown slightly and lose the beautiful pink colouring.
- 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.
