Meringue Mushrooms Recipe
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These meringue mushrooms are highly prized on Christmas cookie platters and are darling for decorating holiday cakes such as yule logs (stay tuned for my next recipe – eek eek so excited)! Meringue mushroom cookies take some time to dry out in the oven but otherwise, they are easy to make. And they can be made a few days in advance!
No need to strive for perfection here. It’s best if they are imperfect because lets face it, mushrooms are all unique and their imperfections will make them look more natural. This recipe yields 30-35 meringue mushrooms.
As with any meringue recipe, it works best on a dry day, stored at room temp, and not in a humid climate. Also, the cream of tartar is important and stabilizes the egg whites so the cookies don’t turn out hollow.
They aren’t the same without cream of tartar. It’s an inexpensive ingredient that makes a big difference in meringue recipes.
Ingredients for Meringue Mushrooms
2 large egg whites, room temp (if you forgot, put them in warm water for 15 min)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp cream of tartar
1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted
Tools You’ll Need for Meringue Mushrooms:
A large cookie sheet
Parchment Paper
Wilton 2A tip with a piping bag (or use a big ziploc bag and a 3/8″ round hole cut in the corner, it just won’t be as easy to pipe).
Bakers tip: organic granulated sugar does not work well in this recipe because it’s too coarse. I’ve tried it and it sucks.
How to Make Meringue Mushrooms:
Prep: Preheat Oven to 200° F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper (not wax paper).
1. Add 2 egg whites, 1/2 cup sugar, 1/8 tsp salt and 1/8 tsp cream of tartar and beat with whisk attachment on high speed 7 min or until you have glossy ribbons and the peaks stay fairly stiff (cold whites take longer).
2. Transfer meringue to pastry bag fitted with a 3/8″ round tip and pipe onto lined cookie sheet (about 1″ apart). Mushroom caps should look like large chocolate kisses (1 1/2″ diameter at the base) with the tip swirled into the side so you get an even top. If you’re a perfectionist; you can smooth the mushroom caps with a wet fingertip. Mushroom stems should look like slimmer/taller kisses (3/4″ diameter at the base) and tips pointed up. It’s ok if stems curve a little – gives more character to the mushrooms but too much curve and mushrooms will fall over.
3. Bake at 200˚F for 1 hour 30 min. They should slide easily off the parchment paper easily when they are done. Remove from oven and pull the parchment paper off the baking sheet . Let cool on the paper completely to room temp. Note: When they come out of the oven, they will be crisp on the outside and a little marshmallowy on the inside, but will harden as they cool.
4. To assemble, dust the tops and stems lightly with cocoa powder. If you like, you can smudge the cocoa powder with your fingers to give them that natural dirty glow :). It’s easiest to add the cocoa powder before assembling. Rotate the tip of a small paring knife in the center of each mushroom cap to cut a small hole just large enough to fit the tip of the base.
5. Now melt chocolate, transfer into a ziploc bag, snip off a tiny hole from the corner of the bag and pipe chocolate into the holes of meringue. Stick the bases into the holes and leave them upside-down until chocolate hardens and sets. Gently transfer set cookies to an airtight container and store for several days at room temp. Do not refrigerate.
Meringue Mushrooms Recipe
Ingredients
For the Meringue Mushrooms:
- 2 large egg whites, room temp (if you forgot, put them in warm water for 15 min)
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1/8 tsp cream of tartar
- 1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted
Tools you'll need:
- A large cookie sheet
- Parchment Paper
- Wilton 2A tip with a piping bag, or use a big ziploc bag and a 3/8″ round hole cut in the corner, it just won't be as easy to pipe.
Instructions
Prep: Preheat Oven to 200° F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper (not wax paper).
- Add 2 egg whites, 1/2 cup sugar, 1/8 tsp salt and 1/8 tsp cream of tartar and beat with whisk attachment on high speed 7 min or until you have glossy ribbons and the peaks stay fairly stiff.
- Transfer meringue to your pastry bag fitted with a 3/8" round tip and pipe onto lined cookie sheet (about 1″ apart). Mushroom caps should look like large chocolate kisses (1 1/2" diameter at the base) with the tip swirled into the side so you get an even top. If you're a perfectionist; you can smooth the mushroom caps with a wet fingertip. Mushroom stems should look like slimmer/taller kisses (3/4" diameter at the base) and tips pointed up.
- Bake at 200˚F for 1 hour 30 min. They should slide easily off the parchment paper easily when they are done. Remove from oven and pull parchment paper off the baking sheet. Let cool on paper completely to room temp. Note: When they come out of the oven, they will be crisp on the outside and a little marshmallowy on the inside, but will harden as they cool.
- To assemble, dust the tops and stems lightly with cocoa powder. If you like, you can smudge the cocoa powder with your fingers to give them that natural dirty glow :). Rotate the tip of a small paring knife in the center of each mushroom cap to cut a small hole just large enough to fit the tip of the base.
- Now melt chocolate, transfer into a ziploc bag, snip off a tiny hole from the corner of the bag and pipe chocolate into the holes of meringue. Stick the bases into the holes and leave them upside-down until chocolate hardens and sets. Gently transfer set cookies to an airtight container and store for several days at room temp. Do not refrigerate.
Notes
Cream of tartar is important and stabilizes egg whites so the cookies don't turn out hollow.
Organic granulated sugar does not work well in this recipe because it's too coarse.
If you make this recipe, I’d love to see pics of your creations on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter! Hashtag them #natashaskitchen
Hello darlings! ? The cake that I made with these though – can’t wait to share it with y’all!! If you are subscribed to my weekly newsletter you got a sneak peak allready, if you’re not subscribed, you can become a Natasha’s Kitchen insider here.
Merry Merry Christmas my friends!
Natasha Kravchuk
Hi! I'm Natasha Kravchuk. Here you'll find delicious, trusted recipes with easy step-by-step photos and videos. 
There were so many pop up, moving ads on this page, I had to screenshot the steps and leave to actually read it. That being said, it’s a great recipe. Huge hit!
Hi Colleen, we don’t have any popup ads on the page – are you referring to my email signup possibly? that should only show up once and shouldn’t pop back up after it’s closed. If it’s something else, could you send me the screenshot so I can make sure to address it – you can email my assistant at: hello @ natashaskitchen.com (no spaces). Thank you so much and I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe!
Hi
I have made these tonight , not sure what I have done wrong but they came out yellow. Plus I feel like they are really salty? I have tried to convert as best I could in UK measurements.
Any advice is welcome.
Thank you
Magda
Hi Magda! Be sure to read through my notes above for helpful tips to see if you possibly missed something or did something differently. I also highly encourage the use of an internal oven thermometer. Every oven bakes differently so you may need to adjust your oven. It sounds like the oven could have been too hot. 1/8 teaspoon of salt is not very much, so they should not have been too salty.
This is my second making them, and this time I accidentally did 3 egg whites instead of 2 and realized after they were in the oven. I cooked them 15 minutes longer and had to let them cool for a minute or two after taking them out before they would lift off the parchment paper. I thought they were ruined, but it gave them a really interesting texture, more like lucky charms marshmallows that anything. Everyone said they were much better this way than how it was before, but it was amazing both ways in my opinion.
So glad they were enjoyed, Abi! Thank you for the review.
I made these today for my daughter’s birthday party. Not only do they look fantastic, but they taste sooo good and were very easy to make! Thank you for another amazing recipe!
That’s wonderful. So glad they were enjoyed.
I’ve made loads of meringues, but this recipe makes the perfect amount for a Yule log. We made about 10 mushrooms and 10 trees. We were glad to not have a box full of meringues left over. Perfect!
I’m so glad this was a perfect amount, Karen! Merry Christmas!
Just made these to go without Yule log tomorrow and the recipe was very simple and I felt so professional making them! Thank you!
Aren’t they the best! Merry Christmas!
Hi Natasha,
Is there any reason you beat the egg whites with the sugar right from the start as opposed to first beating the whites and then slowly adding the sugar?
Thank you!
Hi Evelyn, they need to incorporate well together. Both methods work well, but we found them best for this recipe!
Do they honestly take 2 h 15 mins!?
Hi Tally, the baking takes time because you want them to dry out fully. It’s not a ton of active time.
I made these for my Yule Log cake this Christmas. I followed the recipe exactly and they turned out amazingly! They taste like a marshmallow cookie! Definitely a new family favourite
Hi Sara. I’m glad to hear that you loved it! Thank you for sharing that with us.
Hi Natasha, can i know why the surface of my mushroom turn sticky after it cool down
Hi Janice, do you live in a humid place? If there is too much humidity in the air or if they are refrigerated, they will become sticky. I hope that helps!
Perfect. No fuss. Thank you! Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas!
can I use pack of egg white from Costco, to make meringue?
Hi Oksana. I haven’t tried this with pre-packaged egg whites. Our readers have tried that in another recipe and stated they didn’t work out that great.
I’m going to make these to put on my son’s rustic wedding cake next month (Nov.) How long can I keep these if I make them ahead of time? Can’t wait to do this birch bark cake for him.
Hi Vicki! I haven’t kept them more than three days so I can’t say. They were need to be stored in a dry airtight container so that they don’t get sticky from moisture
Can you paint with food color?
Hi Kim, I honestly have not tried, You might experiment with one but go light on the color since too much moisture (even from color), can soften meringue.
I made these last Sunday to do a dry run for my daughters wonderland party. I live on the Florida coast and wasn’t sure if they would keep with humidity, however I put little silica gel packs in the plastic container on the counters and they have stayed perfectly crisp for three days!
So pleased with how they turned out.
Oh that’s wonderful! Thanks for sharing that with me 🙂
It’s https://twitter.com/saltandlavender Hope your Christmas was fab!
Those are awesome! Thanks for sharing 🙂
I’ve been making these for over 40 years, and you’re right… they’re the perfect decoration for a yule log, and everyone loves them. I often put out a basket of them, next to the yule log, just as a little ‘cookie’ to go with each slice. But note that, if you’re making these in advance, it’s even better to use more meringue and do a second ‘bake’ when you glue the two parts together (instead of the melted chocolate). It will make the meringues stay crisp much longer (even though you lose the taste of the chocolate.)
That is a great idea about “gluing” them together with meringue. I hadn’t thought of that! 🙂 Thanks for sharing that with me 🙂
Hi ladies, I’m planning to make these today, for a party next week. Can you please clarify what ‘second bake’ means? How do I keep them crunchy longer?
Just made them and when they cool down started be sticky
Do you know why?
Hi Mariana, do you live in a humid place? If there is too much humidity in the air or if they are refrigerated, they will become sticky. I hope that helps!
Wow! These are the cutest little cookies ever! 😋
Thank you so much Tania 🙂
Natasha! These are adorable. Reminds me of the marzipan mushrooms my mom makes. I don’t think I’ve ever seen another recipe online for Xmas cookie type mushrooms. Well done!
Marzipan mushrooms sound really interesting too and super creative! I’d love to see them if you have a picture posted somewhere! 🙂
I don’t think any photos exist. I will see if I remember to snap one when my mom makes them 🙂 I am thinking next year for the blog I need to get more organized and make my mom’s snowball cookies and marzipan mushrooms. I’m not much of a baker, thus the hesitation this year. I will figure it out eventually…
I will look forward to them when you do post them 🙂
Natasha – I took a photo of my mom’s cookies (including the mushrooms) and put it on my Twitter if you’re interested in seeing them. Hopefully next Christmas I will put the recipe up on my blog. Hope you had a lovely Christmas!!
Natasha, what is your Twitter handle? I’ll love to check it out.
What do they taste like? Are they really sweet?
There is half a cup of sugar for about 30+ cookies, so no they really aren’t too sweet.
Adorable!
So clever!
I have to try making these.
Aren’t they sweet? Thanks so much Coco! 🙂