Simple Santa Hat Meringue Cookies for Christmas

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When it comes to easy gluten free Christmas cookies to make for the holidays, meringue cookies are the best! They’re naturally gluten free and pretty simple to make. While they do take a while to bake, the prep time for these cookies is so fast and easy! And you can turn them into anything you want with a little bit of piping. These adorable Santa hat meringue cookies are a fun way to create a sweet treat for anyone with a gluten allergy!

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Meringue cookies are a classic holiday treat that everyone at your party will love. The crisp exterior holds a sweet and chewy cookie inside that tastes just like a marshmallow! And with a little bit of extract, you can easily change the flavor to suit your tastes.

This easy recipe for Santa meringue cookies combines a classic meringue recipe with some red food coloring to create adorable mini Santa hats! They’re a simple and delicious gluten free dessert for the holidays.

Santa Hat Meringue Cookies

To make this easy Christmas meringue cookie recipe, you’ll need just a few simple ingredients — the most important being cream of tartar. This simple ingredient will help stabilize the egg whites in your meringue batter, ensuring your mini Santa hats hold their shape as they bake.

What I love about this easy recipe is that it’s naturally gluten free. There’s no flour in meringue cookies, which means they’re perfect for a gluten free holiday! And you only need a handful of ingredients to prepare them.

To make these DIY meringue cookies, you’ll need:

• Egg whites
• Vanilla extract
• Cream of tartar
• Sugar
• Red gel food coloring

Are meringue cookies gluten free?

After taking a quick look at the ingredient list above, you can see that meringue cookies are naturally gluten free. Meringue does not require flour to stabilize, instead using cream of tartar to help hold the egg whites together. That means that most meringue cookies are gluten free. But it’s always a good idea to ask your host what they used to bake thier cookies, just in case they used a different recipe!

How to Make Santa Hat Meringue Cookies

Meringue can be intimidating if you’ve never made it before, but don’t worry! It’s way easier than you think! Just follow these simple instructions for preparing the fluffy batter for these cookies.

The first step to making your meringue Santa cookies is to beat the egg whites. But before you start beating, it’s important to make sure that you’re using room temperature egg whites. Cold egg whites won’t whip as well as room temperature whites, so make sure you give your whites time to warm up. After separating your egg whites from the yolks, allow them to rest at room temperature for around 30 minutes before you start beating.

When your whites are room temperature, pour them in the bowl of a stand mixer, then add the extract and cream of tartar. Place the whisk attachment on the mixer and beat at medium speed until the whites become frothy and start to hold their shape.

Continue beating the whites at medium speed, then start adding your sugar. Add the sugar one tablespoon at a time, waiting a few seconds after each addition to make sure the sugar gets well mixed into the egg whites. Keep adding tablespoons until all the sugar has been added.

Note: This recipe uses 3/4 cup of sugar. Since there are 4 tablespoons in 1/4 cup, you’ll need to add a total of 12 tablespoons to the batter.

After you have added all your sugar, you’ll need to beat your meringue cookies for another five minutes to help the mixture set-up. So, just turn up the mixer and beat the batter until stiff peaks begin to form in the bowl.

When your meringue is ready, it will be light fluffy and shiny. Grab a piping bag and scoop out around 1/3 of the meringue into your bag. You don’t need a top on your white piping bag, but you can use a round tip if you want to!

After that, add the red food coloring the remaining meringue in the bow. It’s important that you use gel food coloring NOT liquid food coloring in this recipe. Adding too much liquid to your meringue will make it runny, so make sure you’re using gel to tint the batter red. I used Wilton gel food coloring for these cookies.

After adding the food coloring to the bowl, beat the batter on low until the food coloring is fully mixed into the batter and no white streaks remain. Then, transfer the red batter to a different piping bag fitted with a large star tip.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, then pipe a small circle using the white meringue to form the bottom of your Santa hats. Don’t use up all the white meringue because you’ll need extra to decorate the top of each cookie.

Then, use a large star piping tip (1M) to create the top of your Santa hats. Simply pipe a small star on top of each round white part. Be careful not to press the star tip into the white meringue as you’re piping!

After that, use the rest of your white meringue to top each Santa hat with a small dot!

Then, place the cookies in the oven to bake for 1 hour. After the cook time is up, turn the oven off and allow the the cookies to rest in the oven for another 30 minutes. Then you can take the cookie out of the oven and allow them to cool completely on the pan before eating or storing in an airtight container.

How to Store Meringue Cookies

Your meringue cookies need to be stored in a cool, dry place. Any moisture in the air will cause the cookies to become sticky, so it’s important that you make sure your storage container is completely dry.

• Start by allowing the cookies to cool completely before storing them. If they’re still warm when you place them in your storage container, moisture will begin to build up inside.
• Then, place a layer of parchment or wax paper between the layers of your cookies to keep them from sticking together.
• After that, place an airtight lid on top of the container to keep moisture out.

When stored properly, your meringue cookies will stay good for up to one week.

Why Are My Meringue Cookies Sticky?

Moisture is the enemy of meringue, so it’s important to keep the moisture in your kitchen at a minimum. I wouldn’t suggest baking these cookies on a rainy day!

The good news is that these cookies are pretty forgiving. If you take your cookies out of the oven and they’re still stick, just place them back in the oven and continue baking them until they dry out. Check the cookies every 15 minutes until they’re no longer sticy.

Santa Hat Meringue Cookie Recipe Ideas

These cookies are so easy to make, which means there are so many other fun ways to use this recipe during the holiday season! Try these meringue cookie recipe ideas to change up the decorations and flavors of your gluten free cookies.

These easy flourless cookies are a classic Christmas treat that everyone in your family will love! As you prepare these delicious cookies, try these recipe ideas and tips.

• Use different extract flavors. This recipe uses vanilla extract to give them a classic flavor. But you can use any flavor extract in your cookies. Peppermint extract will give the cookies more of a Christmas flavor. But you could also try almond, rum, or mint extract for different cookies.
• There’s no need for a piping tip. While you can add some texture to your Santa hats with the use of a star piping tip, it’s not absolutely necessary. Simply transfer the batter to a piping bag or gallon sized zip top bag and cut the tip off the end of the bag. Pipe dollops of batter onto your parchment paper lined baking sheet and bake according to the recipe instructions.
• Store at room temperature. While your cookies do contain egg whites, there’s no reason they need to be refrigerated. That’s because the dough was baked, removing any possibility of contamination from bacteria. You can store your cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to one week.

More Delicious Gluten Free Recipes:

Gluten Free Meringue Cookies for Christmas

Santa’s Trash Cookies

Adorable Gluten Free Reindeer Cookies

Christmas Sprinkle Cookies