Christmas Tree Meringues

Beautifully festive Christmas Tree Meringues made with just two very basic ingredients.

I'll show you exactly how to easily pipe them into a pretty Christmas tree on a stick decorated with sprinkles. Or you might want to try colouring them green and piping out tree-shaped kisses.

Why not do both?!

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I live for this time of year and baking ALLLLLL the festive desserts, it's so exciting coming up with recipes around Christmas time. I know you all love them too! Don't forget to check out some of my other favourites listed below.

• Marshmallow Christmas Puddings
• Lotus Biscoff Puff Pastry Christmas Tree
• No-Bake Reindeer Cheesecake
• No-Bake Santa Cheesecake
• Mince Pie Brownies
• Chocolate Orange Fudge
• Gingerbread Cupcakes

Back to these delightful Christmas tree meringues. I first saw them being shared on Instagram last year and I couldn't wait to try making them.

They are some of the most instagramable cookies I've ever baked and they taste delicious too.

What you need

There are a few different ways to make meringue cookies but I've kept this as simple as possible. The recipe uses only two main ingredients with added food colouring and of course - sprinkles!

• Egg whites: Use large free-range eggs or buy a carton of egg whites. The most important thing is to weigh the whites according to the recipe below. One large egg white weighs approximately 40 grams.
• Caster sugar: You'll use double the amount of caster sugar to egg whites so make sure this is weighed too. Caster sugar is preferable because it dissolves quickly resulting in a glossy meringue that isn't grainy.
• Gel food colouring: Use any colour you want to but make sure it's gel because the meringue might fail if you use liquid colouring. You will only need a tiny amount of gel to colour the meringue.
• Sprinkles: To decorate.
• Icing sugar: You might want to add a sprinkling of icing sugar for 'snow'.

Equipment

• Mixer: To make the meringue use an electric handheld whisk or a stand mixer fitted with the balloon whisk attachment.
• Piping bags: I buy piping bags from Amazon. If you get the thick ones you can wash and reuse them. If you don't have piping bags you can use something like a freezer bag instead.
• Piping nozzle: I used a Wilton 1M nozzle to make the green vertical trees and a Wilton 6B to make the pink flat trees. If you don't have a nozzle, snip the end off your piping bag.
• Baking sheet: I used a flat baking sheet that I got in the supermarket. Try not to use anything too thick or with sides; the tray might interfere with the drying out of your meringues.
• Baking paper: I lined my flat baking sheet with a non-stick baking paper. I have used silicone liners with sucess too. The important thing is to line your tray with something oven safe so that the meringue doesn't stick.
• Straws: You'll need some straws that you'll cut into 3 pieces and use to stick into the flat Christmas trees so they have a little handle!

I'll walk you through the steps of how to make the crisp on the outside chewy in the centre meringue we all love.

Don't forget, I'll also show you exactly how to pipe the Christmas tree meringues in two different ways.

Vertical or flat?

I wanted to see whether vertical Christmas trees were easier to pipe than the flatter Christmas trees (the ones stuck on a straw). It turns out piping the flat trees straight onto baking paper was easiest.

So now you know!

I actually feel like the Christmas tree meringues with straws look better so I'm pleased they turned out so easy to pipe.

You will love making these Christmas Tree Meringues because:

• The meringue is just two ingredients
• They can be made any colour you like
• Crisp shell, chewy centre
• Easy to pipe
• They make amazing gifts!

Christmas Cookie Gift Box

I came up with a variety of meringue cookies and biscuits because I wanted a good selection to include in my Christmas Cookie Gift Box.

As well as all the meringue cookies I also baked vanilla, chocolate and gingerbread biscuits all in one day!

Talk about a bumper baking session. It's all worth it though because what household doesn't love fresh baked goods and any surplus can be given as gifts. It's a win-win.

I always make a cookie box up for my daughter's school and give it to them at the start of December so that the staff room has lots of festive treats.

This is a really inexpensive way of making gifts but the boxes are always so gratefully received.

How to make them

When making meringue, I use The Meringue Girls' Method it's totally fail-safe, really easy to do and beautiful to pipe.

1. Preheat the oven to 200ºC / 180ºC Fan / 390ºF / Gas 6
2. Line a baking tray with parchment paper and pour the caster sugar into the tray in an even layer. Put the tray in the oven for 5 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, whisk the egg whites on a low speed until you see bubbles, then increase the speed to medium until the egg whites form stiff peaks. You can check the egg whites are ready by turning the bowl upside down - if they don't slide out, that's stiff peaks!
4. By now the sugar will be ready. Take the tray out of the oven and reduce the oven temperature to 100ºC / 80ºC Fan / 190ºF / Gas 3.
5. Add the hot sugar to the egg whites mixture a tablespoonful at a time beating on full speed. Take care not to add any burnt or crystallised sugar from the edges of the tray.
6. When all the sugar has been added continue to whisk for a further 5-7 minutes.
7. Test the meringue by rubbing it in-between your fingers, keep whisking until you can't feel any grainy sugar.
8. When the mixture is ready it will be bright white, thick and glossy.
9. Divide the meringue into bowls depending on how many colours you'll be using. Colour each bowl of meringue by adding a small drop of food gel and mixing well until you reach the desired colour.

Scaling the recipe

If you want to make more or less meringue mixture the formula is easy to remember.

The ratio is 1:2 - always use double the amount of sugar to egg whites and follow the method below and you'll have foolproof meringue every single time.

Piping and decorating

Amy's tip: Watch the recipe video to help. I very clearly show you exactly how to pipe both shapes!

Flat shape

1. To pipe flat trees fit a piping bag with a french tip nozzle - I used the Wilton 6B.
2. Start at the top of the tree and pipe a line underneath, swirling as you go so that the lines of meringue get progressively wider and you have a tree shape.
3. Cut a couple of paper straws into 3 sections and push a straw into the bottom of each tree.
4. Add sprinkles and bake for 2 hours or until the meringues are completely dry to the touch and lift away from the baking paper easily.

Vertical shape

1. To pipe vertical trees, fit a piping bag with an open star tip nozzle - I used the Wilton 1M.
2. Hold the piping bag vertically over a tray lined with baking paper and squeeze the piping bag moving it in a small swirling, circular motion just like when you ice a cupcake. It's also the same movement the people use in the ice cream van!

Meringue top tips

• Make sure your mixing bowl and utensils are spotlessly clean. I always wipe over my bowl and whisk with white vinegar. Any trace of grease in the bowl will deflate your meringue.
• A free-standing mixer/electric whisk is not essential but it will save you a LOT of arm ache. I have managed to whisk meringue mixture by hand but it took at least 4 times longer than using a mixer.
• When you separate the egg whites from the yolks make sure there is no trace of yolk or eggshell in the whites.
• Crack the eggs into your clean hand and let the whites slip through your fingers - you will catch the yolk in your palm and it will stay intact.
• If you do find eggshell in the whites the easiest way to remove it is by scooping it out using a larger piece of eggshell.
• Don't add the sugar until the egg whites are at stiff peaks or you'll deflate the mixture. You want to get as much air into the mixture as possible.
• In the final stages of making meringue keep mixing until the meringue is completely smooth when felt between your fingers. The bowl will feel much cooler to the touch on the outside and the meringue will look bright white, thick and glossy.

More Christmassy cookies and biscuits you'll love

• Christmas Cookie Gift Box
• Gingerbread Biscuits (decorated as gingerbread men and houses)
• Simple Vanilla Biscuits (decorated as reindeer and snowflakes)
• Easy Chocolate Biscuits (decorated as stars)

This recipe was updated in October 2021 with new images and a step by step video.