After 15 minutes, this is what the aquafaba looks like.
If I hadn’t made them myself, I’m not sure I would have believed it.
So…I’ve seen all this chatter about aquafaba, the liquid that comes out of your can of chickpeas when you drain them, and how you shouldn’t be wasting it because it’s surprisingly useful. Now, I’d heard about using a little in your hummus to replace some of the EVOO (which I totally do not do, by the way) ages ago. But this was different. This was for cookies.
I love meringue cookies. Something about the crunchy, crumbly, sweetness of them. I don’t know, they just feel a little like eating a cloud – except that I’m sure that wouldn’t be crunchy at all. Ha! After viewing a ton of recipes online, they all seem totally similar, so this is a mish-mosh. I’d love to give specific credit, but I have no idea where I first saw this pop up. If it was you, feel free to post in the comments. xo
Vegan Cardamom Vanilla Meringue Cookies
- Liquid from one 15 oz can of chickpeas (remove any bits of bean skin)
- 1 cup of sugar
No one will guess these are vegan!
- 1 Tablespoon of vanilla
- 1 teaspoon of cardamom
Heat the oven to 250 degrees. Beat the liquid on high until stiff peaks form. For me, this took about 15 minutes. Then, slowly add the sugar to the whip, followed by the vanilla and cardamom until everything is fully whipped. Drop mixture onto a prepared sheet-pan by heaping tablespoonfuls. Bake for 40 minutes, then turn off the oven and leave for one more hour. Allow to completely cool before storing in an airtight container.
Cardamom meringues are my favorite, but these will also be amazing with cinnamon. I know these will be a regular in our cookie jar; after all, how can I waste all that perfectly good aquafaba?! Oh, and I also used this really interesting and floral vanilla that my hubs got on a trip to the Dominican Republic. It’s very different from most of my vanilla and has a lighter flavor. You may want to reduce the vanilla slightly if you’re using typical pure vanilla or one extracted with bourbon.
If you need more convincing…here’s the super quick Vine video of how I made these.
Let me know what you think!
