These adorable Santa Claus Meringues made from egg whites, sugar, and food coloring will instantly add festive holiday cheer to your Christmas table. They're easy to assemble with minimal ingredients or equipment and provide an extra touch of sweetness to your dessert line-up!
Love these Santa Claus Meringues? Try our adorable Christmas Present Oreo Truffles and Christmas Wreath Cupcakes for extra holiday treat inspiration!
Meringues can be some of the easiest desserts to make, but that doesn't make them any less special. This Christmas Pavlova recipe is a great example of how you can combine simplicity with sophistication!
On the other hand, if you're feeling a little more playful this holiday, Christmas Meringue Pops along with these cute Santa Claus meringues will make everyone smile from ear to ear!
WHY OUR RECIPE
- A super easy meringue recipe that calls for 2 main ingredients and food coloring!
- Place these adorable Santa Clause meringues on a Christmas dessert platter for a pop of festive decoration that your guests will love!
- Perfect as edible decoration, as cake toppers, or to gift to friends and family over the holidays.
Santa Claus meringues are beginner-friendly and oh-so satisfying to make! Just follow the easy steps for classic meringue, add food coloring, and pipe the colored meringue mixtures as directed in the recipe card below to form adorable mini Santa Claus shapes.
Once baked and fully cooled, these eye-catching Santa Clause meringues are ready to be used as edible decoration on a Christmas dessert board, added to a bowl of ice cream, gifted to friends and family, or simply enjoyed as a fun sweet treat throughout the holidays.
INGREDIENT NOTES
- Egg Whites – Fresh eggs brought to room temperature are best for making meringues. You can either source bottled egg whites for convenience or separate the egg whites from the egg yolks, making sure that no trace of egg yolk gets mixed into the egg whites.
- Sugar – Granulated sugar or castor sugar works great for making meringues. Avoid brown sugar as this will discolor the bright white meringues.
- Food Coloring – You'll need red, black, and pink water-based gel food coloring to decorate these Santa Claus meringues. Any brand will do as long as the quality is good.
SEPARATE EGG WHITES AND EGG YOLKS LIKE A PRO!
It's really important to not get any bits of egg yolk into the separated egg whites when making meringues or pavlova. The egg whites won't whip properly if there are any traces of egg yolks in the mixture which means that you won't have any volume in the meringues.
So, how do we separate egg whites from egg yolks? I've listed three easy methods that you can try:
Method 1: Gently crack an egg open in half over a bowl and carefully transfer the egg yolk between the two eggshell halves while allowing the egg white to drip down into the bowl below. Continue to do this until you are left only with the separate egg yolk in the eggshell, and then store the egg yolk separately. Repeat this with as many eggs as a recipe calls for.
Method 2: Crack an egg open and place the entire egg (both egg white and egg yolk) into a clean bowl. Using clean hands, gently scoop up the egg yolk with one hand and open your fingers wide enough for the egg white to drop into the bowl below without the egg yolk slipping through. Move the egg yolk around your semi-open fingers until all of the egg white has collected in the bowl.
Method 3: You can opt to use a tool, such as an egg separator which attaches to the side of the bowl. The slits in the spoon-shaped tool allow the egg white to drip into the bowl while the egg yolk remains behind.
If all else fails, or if you want added convenience, go ahead and purchase a bottle of egg whites or meringue powder to make your meringues!
IS HEATING THE MERINGUE MIXTURE NECESSARY?
Heating egg whites with sugar helps the sugar to dissolve fully to create that glossy shine and texture. It's also a good way to kill salmonella and the heat also reacts with the protein found in egg whites which results in a more stable meringue.
Having said that, the French meringue method doesn't call for heating the sugar and egg whites at all, but rather whips the ingredients together until the sugar has fully dissolved. The outcome is a lot lighter and more unstable in structure which is why I recommend the heating method instead.
STORAGE INSTRUCTIONS
- Room Temperature: Store these Santa Claus meringues in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1-2 weeks and be careful when handling them so that they don't break.
- Freezer: These Santa Claus meringues could be stored in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 1 month.
MORE MERINGUE RECIPES
Santa Claus Meringues
Ingredients
- 3 egg whites
- 6 oz sugar
- Red food coloring water based gel
- Black food coloring water based gel
- Pink food coloring water based gel
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 100C (215F).
- Fill a medium pot with at least 1 1/2 inches of water, wait until it boils, then reduce the heat letting the water simmering gently.
- Combine egg whites and sugar in a clean and heat proof bowl.
- Set over steaming water, stirring and scraping constantly using a flexible spatula, until egg whites hold steady at 175°F (79°C), between 8 and 10 minutes.
- Take it off the heat, using an electric mixer whisk until it cools down and gets glossy for 8-10 minutes.
- You can also transfer to a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment and whip at high speed until meringue is glossy.
- Prepare red, black, very pale pink (for the body parts) meringue.
- Red and pale pink meringue mixture should have a large piping tip. ( no.10) • Prepare 3 piping bags (pale pink, black and white) without piping tips ( pale pink again for the nose and ears)
- Pipe little santa claus onto the baking sheet following the steps in the pictures. • Start with a white circle, pipe red body part in the circle.
- Continue with pale pink meringue, pipe the santa claus’ head.
- Using white meringue, pipe buttons and mustache.
- In 4th step using pale pink, pipe nose and ears. With black meringue add the eyes. • As the last step make the hat.
- Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes at 215F.
- Turn off oven and let cookies cool inside oven until crisp, 2 hours.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
There are 3 main types of meringues – Italian, Swiss, and French.
Italian meringue is usually the most technical to make, melting sugar and water first to create a syrup which is then added to the egg whites. It yields a soft and creamy texture that is the most stable of the three and doesn't require baking.
Swiss meringue uses the double-boiling method to heat the egg whites with the sugar and creates a marshmallow-like taste and texture. This is the method used in this Santa Claus meringues recipe.
French meringue is the lightest and least stable meringue that doesn't use any heat, simply mixing the ingredients together and baking.
Mini meringues typically last for 1-3 weeks when stored correctly at room temperature in an airtight container. Undecorated mini meringues can also be stored for longer in the freezer, about 1 month.
Not in this recipe. The heating of the sugar and egg whites create enough stability in the meringue mixture for the piped and baked meringues to hold their shape.
Some meringue recipes call for acidic ingredients, such as cream of tartar, lemon juice, or white vinegar, to better stabilize the egg whites when whipped.
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