Easter Meringue Nests

Meringue is an absolutely delicious, crisp and sweet treat and it is super versatile.

You can use meringue to make:

Lemon meringue pie
Pavlova
Meringue cookies
Meringue kisses
Meringue art
Easter meringue nests

Easter meringue nests are so fun to make, they are delicious, beautiful and we have some amazing tips for making the best meringue possible for making Easter meringue nests.

Easter Meringue Nests

Now, just because this recipe is for Easter meringue nests, doesn't mean you can't make these all year 'round. These Easter meringue nests are easy to make and they look absolutely adorable! These would be a really cute treat to make with kids, or to serve after Easter dinner. What a sweet treat!

For a healthier option, you can fill your Easter meringue nests with fruit instead of chocolate eggs if you prefer.

Here is how to make Easter meringue nests:

Easter Meringue Nest Ingredients:

4 large egg whites: room temperature preferred

1 cup white sugar (remember: the best meringue ratio is 1/4 cup white sugar per egg white)

1/2 tsp cream of tartar

Melted chocolate (you can substitute with whipped cream if you prefer)

Chocolate Easter eggs

Parchment paper

Easter Meringue Nest Instructions

How to make meringue cookies: Directions

Preheat your oven to 225F.
Start your recipe by separating your egg whites from the egg yolks.

TIP: Do not get ANY egg yolk into your egg whites. Your meringue will not set properly.

TIP: Make sure that there is absolutely nothing, not even a drop of water in the bowl you are going to mix it in. Give it a quick, dry wipe with a clean paper towel before you start adding your egg whites to mix.
Add your egg whites to your clean mixing bowl and start your mixer. You can use a hand mixer or a stand mixer such as a KitchenAid mixer which is much easier when making meringues.
Start mixing BEFORE adding any other ingredients. Why? It all comes down to food science. See the tips below:

EASTER MERINGUE NEST TIP
The science behind whipping egg whites and timing when to add the sugar is soo important, and is often why people have problems with their meringue. Sugar adds sweetness to the meringues, but also just as important, it adds stability. You see, as you mix the egg whites, the mixer is breaking down the proteins, which creates air bubbles.

If you add your sugar too soon when making Easter meringue nests, it interferes with the breakdown of egg white proteins so the air bubbles don't form properly. Then, you only get tiny air bubbles in the meringue, resulting in questions such as "Why are my meringue cookies so crumbly?" and "Why are my meringue cookies dull or not very fluffy?" The answer is, you added your sugar too soon, or, all at once. You need to add the sugar later (read on).

If you add your sugar too late when making Easter meringue nests , for example, after the mixture has been mixing for several minutes and is starting to form peaks, you are adding the sugar too late. The sugar will not be able to dissolve and you will get grainy cookies that come out slightly brown.

When making meringue, add sugar 30 seconds - 1 minute after mixing: when the egg whites are foamy and bubbly, but before you see peaks. This is the optimal time to add your sugar to make the best meringue and meringue cookies.

If you do this, you should get perfect meringue cookies! The air bubbles have had a chance to form from the egg white proteins being broken down, and there is still enough time for your sugar to dissolve.
After about 1 minute of mixing with your mixer at the highest speed, slowly add in your sugar, about 1/4 cup at a time, letting it mix in before adding the next 1/4 cup of sugar until it is all mixed together thoroughly.
Add in your cream of tartar after the sugar is all mixed in to the meringue mix. You can add a drop of any extract you want at this point if you would like.

Extracts you can add to Easter meringue nests:
- peppermint extract
- coconut extract
- caramel extract
- vanilla extract
- chocolate extract
Or just enjoy the Easter meringue cookies the way they are!
Continue to mix until the meringue looks glossy and peaks form: anywhere from 4 to 7 minutes.
Put meringue into your piping bag or cake decorating tool, and pipe out your meringues onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet in the form of small nests. You can do this by building a flat, cookie-like bottom and then pipe a meringue nest wall around the outside of each cookie.
Put parchment-lined baking sheet of meringues into your oven at 225F for 45 minutes, then turn oven off. Do not open the oven door take them out, just let them relax in the warm oven for another hour. This will dry them out for that perfectly crisp, light meringue nest texture that you want.
Once the Easter meringue nests are baked and cooled, you can add some melted chocolate or whipped cream right before serving, and then add your chocolate Easter eggs.

You can embellish you Easter meringue nests with anything you would like at this point, so be as creative as you want!

Well we hope you absolutely loved and had fun making these easy Easter meringue nests. Be sure to save a Pin for your Pinterest board to make these an Easter tradition!
Easter Meringue Nest Recipe