These coffee aquafaba meringues are sweet, crunchy and full of coffee flavour. They taste just like regular meringues, you won't believe they are vegan!
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What is aquafaba?
Aquafaba is the liquid that's left over from cooking chickpeas and some other legumes. Its easiest to obtain from saving the liquid after draining a tin of chickpeas. Aquafaba can be used as a direct substitue for egg whites in some recipies, due to its ability to mimic the properties of egg whites.
TIPS AND TRICKS FOR MAKING GOOD VEGAN MERINGUES
As with my egg based basic meringues there are a number of tips and tricks that will help you making these vegan meringues:
- Make sure your bowl and mixing tools are very clean. It has been suggested to rub half a cut lemon over the mixing bowl to ensure all the fats are removed. You probably don't need to go to that length but do make sure your bowl and tools are clean and dry.
- Add the sugar slowly a little bit at a time. Do not be tempted to dump it all in in one go. A few table spoons at a time is enough. Make sure you beat well until soft peaks form again in between each addition of sugar.
- Low and slow is the way to go when it comes to cooking these vegan meringues. Good meringues take time. Use your lowest oven setting, (mine is 212°F (100°C)) but go lower for longer if you can. Once cooked and you have check on them close the oven door and leave them to cool completely in the oven for maximum crispness.
Can I make other flavoured aquafaba meringues?
Absolutely. You could take out the coffee and make a variety of different flavours. Try adding a teaspoon of vanilla, peppermint or almond essence. For chocolate meringues I recommend dipping the meringues in chocolate or you could try adding chocolate chips to see that that works. Do not add coco powder. I tried this and it did not work at all, all the air knocked out and it turned into a soupy mess that refused to whip.
Ingredients
Aquafaba: is the liquid you get from cooking chickpeas and other legumes in. Its easiest to get by draining a tin of chickpeas and keeping the liquid.
Castor sugar: for both taste and crunch. Castor sugar gives a clean taste to the meringues. You can use regular white sugar if you don't have castor sugar. You could also experiment with brown sugar but I recommend measuring by weight as brown the amount of brown sugar can vary wildly if measuring by cup.
Cream of tartar: also known as tartaric acid. Its a common ingredient in baking and helps stabilise the meringues and stop them from deflating.
Instant coffee: use your favourite brand of instant coffee. Make sure you use a brand you would be happy to drink.
How to make the coffee aquafaba meringues
Put your oven on to preheat at 212°F (100°C) or lower if you can. Line at least two baking trays with baking paper. Put the instant coffee into a small bowl and tip in boiling water. Stir well to dissolve and ensure all the lumps are mixed in, or you will get unpleasant lumps of coffee in your meringues.
Make sure your bowl is very clean. You don't want any grease or residue in the bowl or it will stop you getting lovely firm, soft peaks. Drain your chickpeas into a bowl to catch the liquid or aquafab. Set aside the chickpeas for another recipe (I used mine in pumpkin soup, but as this is a dessert blog you won't find a recipe for that here :D).
Add the cream of tartar and beat well using an electric hand beaters or stand beater. Beat until opaque white, soft peaks form. This will take anywhere from five to twenty minutes, depending on the strength and speed of your beaters.
Once you have good soft peaks, slowly start to add the sugar, beating well between each addition. Once all the sugar is beaten in ensure you have stiff, firm peaks again. Add the dissolved coffee mix and beat again. Mix should now be a thick, opaque slightly brown colour.
Transfer to a piping bag with a large star nozzle if using. Otherwise spoon the meringues on the baking paper. They will be more rustic but they will still taste delicous!
Pipe the meringues onto the baking paper. I find the smaller meringue kisses are prettier, but the larger ones's keep better and take longer to go sticky once cooked, but they do spread out more while baking and are less pretty. Up to you how you prefer to do them.
For this amount of meringue mix I found it took about four trays.
Bake the meringues in the oven for one and a half hours, longer if you are able to use a lower temperature. They will have a hollow sound when tapped on the bottom when done. Once the are done turn off the oven and let then cool completely the in the oven with the door shut.
How to serve
These vegan coffee meringues are great on their own, with your favourite cup of coffee or sandwiches together with a little vegan (or regular) whipped cream. Delicious!
How to store
These aquafaba meringues are best eaten on the day they are made for maximum crunchiness. If you have any left over you can store them in an airtight container lined with baking paper. They will start to sticky and chewy the longer you leave them, even in the container. Smaller meringue cookies will go sticky and chewy more quickly than larger meringue cookies.
Have you made this recipe? Tell me how it when in the comment below and tag me on instagram so I can see your delicious creations! @keep_calm_and_eat_icecream
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📋 Recipe
Coffee aquafaba meringues
Equipment
- Electric hand beaters or stand mixer
- Piping bag with large star shaped nozzle (optional)
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon (10gms) good quality instant coffee
- 2 tablespoon s (30mls) boiling water
- ½ cup plus 2 table spoons (150mls) aquafaba - the liquid from one tin (15oz/420gms) chickpeas
- 1 cup (220gms) castor sugar
- ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
Instructions
- Put oven on 212°F (100°C) or lower if you can to preheat.
- Line at least two large trays with baking paper.
- If using, prepare you piping bag with a large star shape nozzle
- Put the coffee in a small bowl and add boiling water, mix well to dissolve
- Drain chickpea liquid into a bowl. Set aside chickpeas for another recipe. You should have approximately ½ cup plus two tablespoons (150mls) of aquafaba liquid.
- Add cream of tartar. Beat well with electric hand beaters or in a stand mixer until firm soft peaks form.
- Gradually add sugar, a few table spoons at a time, beating well between additions.
- *It is important to beat the sugar in well to form soft peaks again in between adding more sugar. Don't be tempted to dump it all in an once or you will deflate your meringues.
- Once all the sugar is well mixed in and you have soft peaks again, add about half the coffee mix. Beat well, then add the rest of the coffee mix. You should have firm, glossy mix that forms distinctive 'peaks' when you run the beaters through it. If not, keep beating.
- If using, transfer the mix to a piping bag and pipe onto prepared baking trays. You may need to do this in two batches. If you are not using a piping bag spoon the mix onto prepared trays instead.
- Pipe onto trays, you can make small stars or larger cookies as you prefer.
- Bake for 1 and a half hours. Turn off oven and leave to cool completely with the door closed for maximum crunch (this can be overnight).
- Remove from trays and enjoy! Lovely with a cup of coffee or some vegan or regular whipped cream. Delicious!
Notes
Bjha
Great recipe! A must try! Will get all the ingredients!
Gary and Michelle
I’ve made meringue cookies. But these sound amazing.
JE
Everything was fine until adding coffee mixture. Deflated completely. Fourth attempt. So sad.
Sarah Brooks
I'm sorry to hear that. I'd love to try and trouble shoot for you. A few things that may help:
- the main reason aquafaba meringues deflate when whipping in my experience is because they have had even a tiny bit of fat or oil added to them (regular egg meringues have the same issue). This could have been introduced from the container you mixed your coffee in or the coffee may have to much natural oil in it, particularly if its a more premium coffee brand. You could try with a scrupulously clean mixing bowl and equipment and a different coffee brand.
- try a different brand of chickpeas, sometimes the aquafaba is just to thin. I've seen people reduce the aquafaba down by simmering on the stove to thicken it up, but haven't tried this myself.
- a set of cheap digital kitchen scales can be useful for checking the measurements are the same as the recipe for each ingredient.
I hope this helps and they work out better next time!
Max
Sounds delicious, definitely have to try this!
Paolo Paolo
I have a can of chickpeas here, will try to make some meringues! Thanks for this recipe!
Soheila Hakimi
These look so good. Does it hold up structurally and texturally like a regular egg base meringues
Sarah Brooks
The small ones defiantly do, they kept they shape perfectly and still look very pretty. The larger ones did flatten out a little and didn't look quite as pretty once baked. Texturally they are fantastic and I honestly couldn't tell the difference from regular meringues much to my surprise 🙂
Rachi
I have never tried this before!!! This looks amazing
Peter
All the photos made it really easy to follow along! But also, the fact you use aquafaba in this vegan recipe just makes me feel less guilty about eating multiple in one sitting hahah.
Sarah Brooks
I recon it totally counts as a vegetable Peter 😀
YtheWait
Lovely.....
Karan
Sarah! Could this be the perfect combination of dessert ingredients?! I love aquafaba meringues but haven't made for a little while. This recipe has me racing to the cupboard, draining chickpeas. It's saved to my Pinterest too. I'm planning on putting these on top of some mousse I'm making later in the week.