These Chocolate and Caramel Swirled Meringues are a deliciously light and airy treat. Clouds of meringue are swirled with melted chocolate and caramel sauce to make a gluten-free cookie that’s crunchy on the outside with a chewy marshmallow-like center.
If you have had meringues before, you know how delicious this sweet treat is. They’re wonderfully crispy on the outside with a delicious chewy center. I just love the contrasting textures.
While a simple vanilla meringue is always a crowd-pleaser, the endless possibilities for flavoring makes them so much fun to play around with. Today I am sharing one of my favorite versions- meringues with a chocolate and caramel swirl!
Meringues are a fun dessert to make and play around with! The end product looks lovely after simply spooning it on to a cookie sheet, globbing on a dollop of caramel and chocolate and swirling it about haphazardly. That’s a dessert I can get behind!
Another reason I adore meringue desserts? They are the best way to use up leftover egg whites! The other day we made a hollandaise sauce for our eggs benny breakfast and ended up with unused egg whites. What to do with those egg whites then? The first things that came to mind was to save them for meringue. I don’t know about you but meringues beat an egg white omelet by a mile!
If you are feeling a little fancier, you can pipe your meringue into little dollops (like a Hershey’s kiss). For Halloween, I made adorable little Meringue Ghosts using a simple vanilla meringue recipe. So cute!
Ingredients in Chocolate and Caramel Swirled Meringues
- Egg whites: room temperature. I use the egg whites from 2 large eggs to make about 6 large meringue cookies.
- Cream of tartar
- Sugar: regular granulated sugar.
- Vanilla extract
- Chocolate chips: melted.
- Caramel sauce: store-bought or homemade.
**Note: Ingredient quantities and full instructions are in the recipe card at the end of this post.**
How to make Chocolate and Caramel Swirled Meringues
1. Whip up the meringue. In the bowl of stand mixer with the whisk attachment (or in a large bowl using a hand mixer), whip the egg whites on medium setting until frothy. Add the cream of tartar and beat on medium-high. With the mixer still running, slowly add the sugar (about a tablespoon at a time) and beat until stiff peaks form, about 5-8 minutes. Add the vanilla and beat to incorporate.
2. Spoon the meringue cookies. Spoon the mixture onto the prepared baking sheet, creating about 6 mounds. Do not flatten or shape.
3. Melt the chocolate. Place chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl and microwave until melted. Start by heating them for 30 seconds and then stir. If additional time is needed, microwave them again for 15 seconds and stir, repeating until they are melted.
4. Swirl with chocolate and caramel. Add a small dollop (about a teaspoon) of melted chocolate and caramel sauce onto each mound and use a toothpick to swirl them around.
5. Bake. Bake in the oven for 45-50 minutes or until the meringues are dry on the outside. Let the meringues completely cool on the baking sheet before peeling them off of the parchment paper.
Tips for a successful meringue every single time!
Meringues used to be intimidating for me. I can’t tell you how many meringue fails I have had in the past and remember feeling so dejected when a recipe didn’t work out for me. If you are in this same boat, I am here to tell you, don’t give up! I have come to learn a few things and have had perfect results every time since. So what’s helped me overcome this hump? Here are my tips for getting those glossy, stiff peaks every time:
- Let your egg whites come to room temperature. This probably contributed to my early failures. I knew deep down that this was important to do, yet I never quite had the patience to wait. This is important so don’t rush the process! 10-15 minutes should do it. Grab a coffee, sit and relax for bit or use this time to prep and measure out all your ingredients.
- Make sure your bowl is clean and dry. Simple and easy enough to do, but important. If you have recently washed your bowl, just be sure to dry it off completely.
- Cream of tartar is your friend. This has been a game changer for me. Some recipes use lemon juice or vinegar to help you form those stiff peaks! I personally prefer cream of tartar and have consistent results using it. Adding cream of tartar (or lemon juice/vinegar) adds acidity to the eggs and helps to stabilize the eggs.
- Take your time adding the sugar. As tempting as it might be to add in your sugar all at once, doing so will deflate your eggs. The best method, I have found, is to start the eggs off on their own and allow them to begin frothing up before I slowly begin to add the sugar, one tablespoon at a time.
- Humidity is the enemy of meringue. If your kitchen is particularly humid on the day you bake, beware. Humidity and meringue are not BFFs. Keep this in mind when storing leftover meringue. Keep it in an airtight container in a dry place.
How to enjoy Chocolate and Caramel Swirled Meringues
I personally enjoyed these meringues as they are today. The chocolate and caramel add lovely flavour and they truly are wonderful to enjoy as they are- like a cookie. If you want to take them up another notch, though, you can!
- As a cookie. As mentioned above, this is how I served up these meringues today. Pour yourself a coffee or tea and enjoy a meringue “cookie”.
- Sandwich cookies. Another option is to turn these meringues into sandwich cookies. Chocolate ganache would make a wonderful filling for these but feel free to play around with other fillings too! This recipe is written to make 6 palm-size(ish) meringues though, so if you plan to make these into sandwiches, I would make the meringues smaller (be sure to reduce the cook time accordingly). [Tip: These meringues are pretty sweet so be sure to go smaller or reduce the sugar in the meringues to account for the added sweet filling.]
- As the base of a mini pavlova! Top with whipped cream and top with berries! Drizzle on some extra chocolate or caramel sauce for added flair too, because, YUM!
However you decide to enjoy these meringues, I hope they become your new favourite way to use up egg whites! Bon appetit!
-Cathy
You may also like:
Gingerbread Cookies
Chocolate Souffle
Healthy Chocolate Mousse
Chocolate and Caramel Swirled Meringues
Ingredients
- 2 egg whites room temperature
- 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 tablespoons chocolate chips melted
- 3 tablespoons caramel sauce store-bought or homemade
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 250F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In the bowl of stand mixer with the whisk attachment (or in a large bowl using a hand mixer), whip the egg whites on medium setting until frothy. Add the cream of tartar and beat on medium-high. With the mixer still running, slowly add the sugar (about a tablespoon at a time) and beat until stiff peaks form, about 5-8 minutes. Add the vanilla and beat to incorporate.
- Spoon the mixture onto the prepared baking sheet, creating about 6 mounds. Do not flatten or shape.
- Place chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl and microwave until melted. Start by heating them for 30 seconds and then stir. If additional time is needed, microwave them again for 15 seconds and stir, repeating until they are melted.
- Add a small dollop (about a teaspoon) of melted chocolate and caramel sauce onto each mound and use a toothpick to swirl them around.
- Bake in the oven for 45-50 minutes or until the meringues are dry on the outside. Let the meringues completely cool on the baking sheet before peeling them off of the parchment paper.
Note: Metric ingredient measurements are provided as a courtesy using a third-party calculator and are rounded to the nearest unit. The recipes provided on this site have not been tested with metric measurements and their accuracy cannot be verified.
Nutrition
The nutritional information provided is based on third-party calculations and is an estimate only. Accurate nutritional facts will vary based on the particular brands used, portion sizes, measurement accuracy and more.
