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Crispy Walnut Meringue Cookies

walnut meringue cookies on a red and white striped towel

I love the crispiness of meringues, but usually find them too sweet. I significantly reduced the sugar in this version and added walnuts, vanilla and lemon zest for extra flavor. The average meringue cookie has around 3 teaspoons of sugar per cookie! I was able to cut mine down to about 1/2 teaspoon!

Ingredients

Scale
  • 11/3 cup walnuts
  • 2 egg whites
  • 1/4 cup granulated white sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest (zest from 2 lemons)

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. Distribute walnuts evenly across a sheet pan. Toast in oven for 10 minutes. Remove and allow to cool.
  3. Once walnuts are cool, add them to the bowl of a food processor and blend until the mixtures looks like very coarse sand, about 10 seconds.
  4. Lower oven temperature to 250 degrees F.
  5. In a large bowl, add the egg whites and with a stand mixer or handheld mixer, beat whites until soft peaks form. Add the sugar and continue to beat until stiff, shiny peaks form.
  6. With a rubber spatula, fold the vanilla extract, lemon zest and ground walnuts into the beaten egg whites.
  7. Line a sheet pan with a silcone baking mat or parchment paper. Place 20 spoonfuls of the batter, about 1 tablespoon each, onto the pan.
  8. Bake in oven for 1 hour and 10 minutes.
  9. Allow to fully cool. They will get crunchier as they cool.
  10. Store in an airtight container.

Keywords: cookie, walnuts, meringue, dairy free, gluten free, vegetarian, low sodium

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