Double Chocolate Meringue Cookies
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Delicate and crisp on the exterior and super fudgy on the interior, these chocolate meringue cookies melt in your mouth!
No flour, no butter, and yet these are delicious chocolate cookies — delicate and crisp on the exterior and super fudgy on the interior. The recipe is adapted from Alice Medrich’s wonderful cookie book, Chewy Gooey Crispy Crunchy Melt-in-Your-Mouth Cookies (Artisan, 2010). Unlike most chocolate meringue cookie recipes, which call for cocoa powder and melted chocolate, Medrich’s version uses only melted chocolate, which results in intensely chocolate, light-as-a-cloud, melt-in-your-mouth cookies. And if you’re a fan of meringue, chocolate, and/or flourless desserts, I bet you’ll also love my Chocolate Chip Meringue Cookies and Double Chocolate Pavlova.
“Phenomenal flavor–pure deep dark chocolatey fudgy deliciousness…yet so light they melt in your mouth.”
What You’ll Need To Make Double Chocolate Meringue Cookies
- Semisweet Chocolate: Provides a rich, deep chocolate flavor. The chocolate plays a central role in the cookies so be sure to use best quality, such as Ghirardelli.
- Egg Whites: Create the meringue structure and give the cookies their fudgy texture.
- Cream Of Tartar: Stabilizes the egg whites and helps them hold their shape.
- Vanilla Extract: Adds a hint of sweetness and enhances the chocolate flavor.
- Sugar: Sweetens the cookies and helps create a glossy meringue.
- Milk Chocolate Chips: Add bursts of creamy chocolate throughout the cookies. Use best quality, such as Ghirardelli.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
Step-By-Step Instructions
Begin by breaking the chocolate into small pieces into a microwave-safe bowl.
Gently melt it in the microwave by blasting in 20-second intervals, stirring in between. Pull the chocolate out of the microwave when it’s about 75% melted.
Stir, allowing the residual heat in the bowl to melt the chocolate completely. This method keeps the chocolate from scorching.
Set the chocolate aside and separate the egg yolks from the egg whites. My method is to crack the egg in half, and then pour the egg from one broken shell into the other, letting the white fall into the bowl below while keeping the yolk intact in the shells as I pour. Be sure that not even a trace of egg yolk gets into the egg whites; even a tiny bit of fat will prevent them from stiffening. (Additionally, be sure your bowl and beaters are squeaky clean, and avoid plastic bowls which always hold a trace of residue.) Discard the yolks or save for something else.
Combine the egg whites with salt, cream of tartar and vanilla and beat until soft peaks form.
Beat until soft peaks form when you lift the beaters out of the mixture.
Gradually add the sugar and continue beating until stiff peaks form. As you can see, stiff peaks hold their shape when you lift the beaters out of the bowl.
Add the melted chocolate and chocolate chips.
Gently fold together, taking care not to deflate the egg whites.
Fold until the mixture is uniform in color, but no more.
Drop mounds of batter on parchment lined baking sheets.
Bake for 8-10 minutes, until the tops are crisp but the insides are gooey and soft when you press on them.
My only changes to Alice Medrich’s recipe were to add a pinch of salt and swap out the walnuts for milk chocolate chips to make them kid-friendly.
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Double Chocolate Meringue Cookies
Delicate and crisp on the exterior and super fudgy on the interior, these chocolate meringue cookies melt in your mouth!
Ingredients
- 6 ounces semisweet chocolate (best quality, such as Ghirardelli)
- 2 large egg whites, at room temperature
- ⅛ teaspoon cream of tartar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- Pinch salt
- ¼ cup sugar
- ½ cup milk chocolate chips (best quality, such as Ghirardelli)
Instructions
- Set two oven racks in the middle positions and preheat the oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Break the chocolate into small pieces into a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave in 20-second intervals, stirring in between each bout of heat, until about 75% melted. Stir until smooth, allowing the residual heat in the bowl to melt the chocolate completely. (This technique ensures the chocolate mixture will not get too hot and scorch.) Set aside.
- In a large bowl, beat the egg whites with the cream of tartar, vanilla and salt until soft peaks form when you lift the beaters (the peaks should be just starting to hold, and will melt back into themselves after a second). Gradually add the sugar, continuing to beat until stiff peaks form (the peaks will stand straight up when the beaters are lifted from the mixture). Pour the warm chocolate and chocolate chips into the bowl and fold with a spatula until the batter is uniform. Do not overmix.
- Immediately drop heaping tablespoons of the batter about 1 inch apart on the prepared baking sheets. Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until the cookies look dry on the surface but are still very gooey inside when you press on them. Let the cookies cool for a few minutes on the baking sheets, and then transfer to a rack to cool completely. Enjoy on the same day or carefully wrap in an airtight container (don't stack them as they crumble easily).
Nutrition Information
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- Per serving (18 - 20 servings)
- Serving size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 67
- Fat: 3 g
- Saturated fat: 2 g
- Carbohydrates: 10 g
- Sugar: 9 g
- Fiber: 1 g
- Protein: 1 g
- Sodium: 21 mg
- Cholesterol: 1 mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
Gluten-Free Adaptable Note
To the best of my knowledge, all of the ingredients used in this recipe are gluten-free or widely available in gluten-free versions. There is hidden gluten in many foods; if you're following a gluten-free diet or cooking for someone with gluten allergies, always read the labels of your ingredients to verify that they are gluten-free.
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Do you know the nutritional information for these? Thanks!
I just added it, Emily. Enjoy!
I made these for Passover and they were super easy. Everyone raved about them. They were so decadent I could see myself making them all year round. This will definitely make a repeat appearance at next year’s seder. I only wish they held up better after a day, but it’s the nature of the recipe and not any fault of yours. Every recipe I have made of yours has been spectacular. I love knowing that any recipe of yours is a guaranteed hit. So rare to find a blogger that has so many perfect recipes. Thank you.
🙂 You’re so welcome!
could i spread the meringue out flat on parchment so that it bakes in a flat sheet (like a bark) and then i could cut into rectangular/triangular pieces of meringue?
thank you.
julia
Sure, Julie – that’ll work. Enjoy!
Hello Jenn,
I have made these cookies twice so far. Each time they tasted really great but on both occasions they fell flat on their face. I make meringue on regular bases and each time it turns out perfectly but I think I’m doing something wrong at the stage of adding the chocolate, except I’m not sure what it is. Any thoughts ?
Thanks 🙂
Hi Malak, The batter for these is definitely thicker than typical meringue batter. And, because of the added chocolate, they are fudgier and more soft than crisp. But that doesn’t account for why yours were so flat. Are you sure you measured the chocolate correctly?
Hi Jenn,
Thank you so much for your response !
Im pretty sure I measured the chocolate correctly which leads me to suspect that either or both the melted chocolate temperature when I folded it in and how I folded it in (overmixing..although I stopped mixing as soon as the batter looked evenly brown).
Hi Malak, I actually don’t think you did anything wrong. Due to the fat (in the chocolate), the texture and height of these are definitely different than your typical meringue. Hope that clarifies!
Amazing cookies! Mine deflated a bit during baking and even more when they came out of the oven (ended up being ~5 mm thick) but I don’t mind one bit. They were delicately crispy on the outside, fudgy in the middle and chewy around the edges. I used leftover Christmas chocolate (maybe higher fat content in the milk chocolate deflated them?) and I can only recommend Terry’s chocolate orange in them! 😉
Would this work if I substituted Swerve for sugar?
Hi Mary, I really don’t have experience with sugar substitutes so I can’t say for sure. I’d suggest checking the Swerve package to see what the manufacturer recommends. Sorry I can’t be more helpful!
Well that came out bad!
It tastes like melted sugar with chocolate flavor and the texture is weird.
I made half a batch of this and while the batter turned out yummy and marshmallowy (made my daughter so happy cleaning off the meringue on the beaters by licking), the baked cookies did not get that crisp shell I was expecting. And they stuck to the silicon mat and baking paper. 🙁 To think I only made small mounds of them. The shell browned a bit but remained soft, even after I added a coupla minutes more baking time. Can you please help me troubleshoot? I totally want to make this again, hopefully perfect the next time.
Hi Nathalie, Sorry to hear the meringues didn’t turn out as expected! Regarding the sticking, I’d suggest using parchment paper next time. In terms of the texture, it could definitely be the heat & humidity we’re all experiencing. Meringues are best made on cool day.
These have been my go to cookies for a couple years now, especially for my husbands family who celebrates Passover! This year I’m adding the Forgotten Kisses. Made them last night. Perfection!!! And so easy! I love love love your site. Thank you so much
How far in advance can you make these?
Hi M, These meringues are best made the day of or just a day ahead.
Can I substitute Truvia for sugar in this recipe?
Hi Manelle, I don’t have any experience baking with Truvia but I don’t recommend it — meringue is finicky so I’d stick with regular sugar.