Meringue mushrooms add just the right touch of whimsey to your next dessert—or you can simply enjoy them as they are. Crispy, light, and melt in your mouth, they’re as much of a treat for your taste buds as they are for your eyes.
If you love these meringue mushrooms, you are sure to love thesehazelnut meringue bombs, these beautifulmeringue cookies, and this simplehazelnut meringue cookie recipe.
These whimsical meringue mushrooms are surprisingly simple to make. Also, you can be prepared them days in advance. Sweet, airy treats the meringue cookies are gluten-free confections that look just like real mushrooms. They’re made with only a few ingredients that you most likely already have. Everyone who tries them will be amazed!
Mushroom Cookies
Mushroom cookies are an easy way to add a touch of fun to your dessert table or to take your Christmas yule log orBûche de Noëlto the next level. They also make great gifts being part of cookie boxes.
To get that classic mushroom cookie shape, a teeny bit of extra work is involved. However, I promise you it’s totally worth it! The stems and tops are piped separately. Then, all you do is glue them together using melted chocolate.
Make these mushroom cookies extra festive by decorating them! I like to add red sprinkles to mine, especially if I’m serving these around the holidays. I also will dip the stem in chocolate sprinkles, or even give the entire thing a brush of chocolate powder to make the mushroom cookies look “freshly picked”. These cookies are just so much fun!
Tips for Making Meringue Mushrooms
- Choose the days you make meringue carefully. Moisture is the enemy of proper meringue, so it’s best if you avoid making these during summer months or rainy, humid days. I know it’s odd, but it really can make a big difference.
- Clean utensils: grease of any kind can ruin your meringue. Make sure to use thoroughly cleaned and dried bowls, spoons, or whisks. Also, be very careful when you’re separating egg whites from the egg yolks, to make sure that no part of the egg yolk gets into the egg whites.
- If you run into any issues while making your meringuebe sure to check out my post abouthow to make meringue. It’s very comprehensive and addresses some of the most common ways to troubleshoot a meringue gone bad.
How to Make Meringue Mushrooms
For detailed recipe instructions see the recipe card bottom of the post.
- Prep:Preheat oven to 225F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat. Fit a pastry bag with a 1/4″ round tip.
- Make the meringue: In a bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment combine room temperature large egg whites with sugar and cream of tartar. Whip over medium speed until glossy, stiff peaks form. Read more about how to prepare the meringue HERE.
- Fill the piping bagwith the prepared meringue.
- Pipe stems: Pipe 1-inch stems by pointing the pastry bag directly over the prepared baking sheets and moving the bag up as you squeeze the meringue out. The stems should be about 1/2″ – 1 inch tall. Then, stop squeezing and use scissors to “cut” the meringue and make the top of the stems flat (see visual below).
- Pipe mushroom caps:Then pipe 10 mushrooms caps by piping out 1 – 2-inch discs or kisses, or a mix of both. If you’d like to pipe some meringue “logs” covered in snow just pipe a straight line down, then sprinkle with some desiccated coconut.
- Sprinklethe caps with some red sprinkles if you prefer.
- Bakeuntil the meringue is dry. Remove from the oven and cool.
- Melt chocolatefor gluing the stems and caps.
- Join the stem and the cap:File one end of the “stem” against the fine greater to make a flat surface. Dip it into the melted chocolate and join it with the bottom of the mushroom “cap”.
How to Decorate the meringue mushrooms
- Dust the entire meringue mushroom with unsweetened cocoa powder for a realistic look.
- Or, dip a paintbrush into melted chocolate and paint the cap and the bottom of the “stem” brown.
- Also, you can dip the bottom of the mushroom into some chocolate, then dip it into poppy seeds.
How to Store Meringue Cookies
Store meringue mushrooms in an airtight container away from any moisture, at room temperature. This is because they will absorb moisture from the air around them. Moisture is the enemy of meringue.
Take care to be very selective about how many times you open the container and the humidity in the room when you do so.
MoreCookieRecipes:
- Linzer Cookies
- Plum Butter Cookies
- Meyer Lemon Macarons
- Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
Meringue Mushroom Cookies
5 from 6 votes
These meringue mushroom cookies are simple to make, gluten-free and are always a hit with kids. They make perfect gifts, are popular for cookie boxes or cake decorations.
Author: Marina | Let the Baking Begin
Course: Dessert
Keyword: meringue mushrooms, mushroom cookies
Calories: 31 kcal
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
Servings: 30 meringue mushrooms
Ingredients
- 2large egg whitesroom temperature
- 1/2cupgranulated white sugar
Decoration
- 1/4 cup white chocolatefor joining stems to caps
- 2tablespoonsdark chocolate melts
- 2tablespoonscocoa powder
- 1tablespoonsprinkles of choice
- 2tablespoonspoppy seeds
Instructions
Prep: preheat the oven to 225°F with the oven rack centered. Line a baking sheet pan with parchment paper or a silicone mat. Fit a large pastry bag with a 1/4" plain round piping tip. Set aside.
Make the meringue: to a bowl of a stand mixer, add 2 egg whites, 1/2 cup sugar, and a pinch of salt. Whip on medium speed until glossy, stiff peaks form, about 20 minutes.
When you dip a whisk into the meringue and quickly lift it, the tip of the meringue should form a "beak" that only slightly bends or doesn't bend at all.
Pipe: fill the prepared pastry bag with the meringue.
Pipe the mushroom stems first. Next, point the piping tip directly over the parchment paper. Start squeezing the meringue by touching it to the parchment paper, then slowly raising the bag as you squeeze forming a stem or a cylinder. Use scissors to "cut" the top of the stem flat. Space all cookies about 1 inch apart as you pipe them.
Pipe caps by piping kisses or disks about 1 1/2 - 2 inches round.
Decorate: sprinkle red sprinkles over the caps of the mushrooms.
Bake in the oven until completely dry, about 1 hour. Remove from the oven and cool completely.
Make the stem tops flat: Use the fine side of the grater and gently file the top portion of the stems flat. This will make it easy to join the stems to the cap.
Melt the chocolate: place white chocolate, and dark chocolate melts into two separate small bowls. Heat in the microwave in 5-10 second increments, stirring after each until about 3/4 of the chocolate melts are melted. Then, continue stirring until all chocolate is melted.
Join stems to caps: dip the tops of the stems into a tiny amount of chocolate and quickly put a mushroom cap on top. Press briefly to allow the two to glue. Set them on an even surface until the chocolate solidifies. Repeat with the rest of the meringue mushroom pieces.
Decorate: use a pastry brush to brush on some cocoa powder all over the mushrooms to give the meringue mushrooms a rustic and realistic feel.
Or, use a small brush to paint the bottom of the meringue mushrooms with some melted dark chocolate.
Alternatively, you can dip the bottom of the mushrooms into the chocolate, then dip into the sesame seeds.
Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week. If the meringue was properly prepared, the meringue mushrooms will stay crispy. The improperly prepared meringue will weep or become soggy.
Nutrition Facts
Meringue Mushroom Cookies
Amount Per Serving
Calories 31Calories from Fat 9
% Daily Value*
Fat 1g2%
Saturated Fat 1g6%
Trans Fat 1g
Polyunsaturated Fat 1g
Monounsaturated Fat 1g
Cholesterol 1mg0%
Sodium 5mg0%
Potassium 23mg1%
Carbohydrates 5g2%
Fiber 1g4%
Sugar 5g6%
Protein 1g2%
Vitamin A 1IU0%
Vitamin C 1mg1%
Calcium 12mg1%
Iron 1mg6%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
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