Best Meringue Powder for Baking
If you’re new to the baking game and are thinking of creating artful and saliva-inducing cookies, cakes and even gingerbread houses, then you need to know about meringue powder for baking.
Made mostly of dried egg whites, meringue powder is a baking substitute that you can use instead of raw egg whites. It has many baking applications, from creating the royal frosting you need to decorate cookies and hold together your gingerbread house to stabilizing frostings made with whipped cream to prevent it from drooping, especially at room temperature. Oh, and of course, you can use it to make meringue cookies and pies.
Meringue powder for baking has some advantages over using real egg whites, including a long shelf life, and there are several different brands you can purchase online. To help you weed through them all, we’ve compiled a list of the ones we think are the best. Read on to find the meringue powder that will elevate all your baked delights.
1. Editor’s Pick: Chefmaster Deluxe Meringue Powder
If you’re a newbie to the baking game, you’re going to want a good meringue powder in your cupboard to help you with a number of your baking creations. Whether you’re mixing up buttercream, royal icing or meringue cookies and pies, meringue powder will be a main ingredient to help you get the job done.
Our number one choice of meringue powder from Chefmaster is ideal for beginners as well as busy, seasoned bakers, since it is available in three sizes to meet different needs: choose from a five-ounce, 10-ounce or a 1.5-pound container. The powder is an excellent replacement for raw egg whites, and it won’t leave an aftertaste or compromise the texture of your baked goods.
If you store the meringue powder in a cool, dry back corner shelf in your pantry or cupboard
between uses, it can last up to two years, making it a great cooking staple. Ingredients in this meringue powder are: powdered sugar, sugar, egg whites, Arabic gum, ammonium aluminum sulfate, tragancanth gum, salt, artificial flavor, and calcium lactate.
Pros:
- Long shelf life
- Three different sizes to choose from
Cons:
- A bit pricey
2. Runner Up: Wilton Meringue Powder
This meringue powder is from Wilton, a company well-known among home bakers for its full line of baking cookware and cake decorating educational classes and equipment. Great for making meringues royal icing and pretty much anything that calls for egg whites, this meringue powder comes in a plastic container and is available four sizes to suit different needs: a one pound package, a four-ounce size, an eight-ounce package, and a three-pack of eight ounces each. The resealable lid opens completely, which makes it easy to measure out the exact amount you need for each recipe.
The meringue powder is certified kosher and is made in the U.S.A. in a facility that also processes peanuts, tree nuts, fish, shellfish, milk and wheat products, so it may not be a good choice if you, a family member or a friend have food sensitivities. That being said, the egg white substitute is a smart option for making meringues for a tart lemon pie or cookies that you can be sure won’t fall flat, and smooth royal icing that dries to a hard, glossy finish.
Ingredients are: corn starch, egg whites, sugar, gum Arabic, calcium sulfate, citric acid, cream of tartar, artificial flavors, silicon dioxide.
Pros:
- Certified kosher
- Resealable lid
- Two-year shelf life
Cons:
- Made in a facility that processes peanuts, tree nuts, fish, shellfish, milk and wheat products
3. Best Gluten Free: Judee’s Complete Meringue Powder Mix
If you have nut allergies or suffer from Celiac disease, then you know how important it is to ensure the ingredients in the foods you make and eat are free of any potentially dangerous allergens. This means whatever you ingest must be made in a dedicated gluten- and nut-free facility to avoid any accidental cross-contamination that can make you or your friends and family ill.
This meringue powder by Judee gives you the peace of mind you need to create delicious meringues and frostings, since it is processed in a dedicated gluten-free facility. It also offers up a lot of variety, too, from different sized packages to different flavors. You can choose from regular meringue, strawberry or vanilla flavors, in a 1.5-pound package, 11.4-ounce package, 10-pound package and for the commercial baker, a 40-pound option in four, one-pound packages.
The powder comes in a resealable, stand-up package for easy storage, with U.S.A.-sourced ingredients and no preservatives. The ingredients are: sugar, dried egg white powder (egg whites, sunflower lecithin), cream of tartar, corn starch, vanilla (natural vanilla flavor), maltodextrin, modified corn starch, gum Arabic.
Pros:
- Different flavors and sizes
- No preservatives
- Made in a dedicated gluten- and nut-free facility
Cons:
- Some users said it was not great for making royal icing
- Contains a lot of sugar
- Need to use more per recipe than other brands
4. Best Vegan: Vör Vegan Meringue Powder
With an increasing number of people adopting a plant-based diet, it’s becoming easier to find baked goods that do not contain eggs, even if it has meringue as an ingredient. If you are vegan, or sensitive or allergic to eggs and egg products, then you may want to try this meringue powder from Vör when you mix up your next lemon meringue pie.
The key ingredient here is aquafaba powder, a dried version of the liquid leftover from cooking chickpeas. The liquid absorbs proteins and starches from the chickpeas, which give it properties very similar to egg whites. Hence the ability to simply add water to the powder and whip up vegan royal icing, meringue cookies, gingerbread frosting, buttercream icing, meringues, pavlovas and more, completely egg-free.
The meringue powder is available in a six-ounce pack, two six-ounce packs and a two-pound option. Regardless of the size you choose, the contents come in a BPA-free package and are certified kosher, egg free, soy free, dairy free and gluten free. Ingredients are: sugar, aquafaba powder, corn starch and cream of tartar, with no artificial colors, flavors or preservatives.
Pros:
- Egg-free, gluten free
- Vegan
- No artificial flavors, colors or preservatives
Cons:
- Pricey
- Some users found the mixture to be grainy
5. Best Value: MERINGUE POWDER ENCO 4.4 LBS
For anyone who doesn’t do a lot of baking with meringue, it doesn’t pay to get a large quantity, especially since most powdered meringue brands have a pretty long shelf life. Purchasing a small package, however, can get rather expensive if you happen to make a lot of baked goods that require royal icing.
This option from Enco comes in a 4.41-pound resealable package at a price point that may seem expensive at first, but per ounce, is less costly than many other brands that come in smaller sizes, making it a good value and smart purchase for the busy baker. It also takes only 65 grams to whip up 3.5 liters of frosting that can be flamed with a blowtorch.
The powder is made from 100 percent natural egg whites, has a smooth and creamy consistency and is vanilla flavored, so you can prepare a meringue and buttercream frosting to decorate all of your cakes, cookies, macarons and pies. Ingredients are: sugar, egg albumin, cream of tartar, aluminum sodium sulfate, salt, sodium caseinate, artificial flavors, gum Arabic.
Pros:
- Good value
- Bulk pack
- Resealable package
Cons:
- Not everyone wants vanilla flavor
- No variety in sizes
6. Best Texture: AmeriColor Premium Meringue Powder
For seamless decorating, be it creating delicate flower petals on Christmas cookies or a satiny trim on a multi-layered cake, what a baker needs to get the job done properly and precisely is a smooth frosting that glides through a decorating piping nozzle, regardless of how thick or narrow the nib opening is. For preparing any kind of frosting or baked good that contains egg whites, you may 2ant to check out this option from AmeriColor for its smooth consistency that is ideal for decorating.
This meringue powder can be used to create meringue topping, royal icing or buttercream, with instructions included for making all of these options. For royal icing, the product runs easily and creates a very white icing. Adjust the mixture, and you have a fluffy or smooth textured buttercream.
And if you have food sensitivities, no worries The meringue powder is peanut, tree nut and gluten-free, with a 24-month shelf life. Ingredients are: sugar, egg white, gum Arabic, ammonium aum. Contains 2% or less of the following: sodium alginate, food starch, salt, calcium lactate, and artificial vanilla flavor.
Pros:
- Smooth consistency
- Good taste
- resealable container
Cons:
- A bit pricey
7. Best for a Keto or Paleo Diet: It’s Just – Egg White Protein Powder Meringue
Most meringue powders contain a list of ingredients over and above egg whites that includes sugar and flavors. This wouldn’t be helpful for anyone cutting back on their sugar intake or who is following a Keto or Paleo diet.
This egg white protein powder can be used to make all of your favorite macarons, meringues, butter cream and royal icing while still following the keto diet rules. The ultra-fine, unflavored powder comes in a stand-up pouch with a resealable zipper for maximum shelf life, and contains no additives, no soy, no msg, no added sugar, no preservatives, no lecithin and no fillers.
The egg whites used to make the powder are flash pasteurized for a pure plain taste with a bit of a salty essence. And when you’re done making all your meringue pies, you can also add the high-protein powder to a shake for a quick, on-the-go protein meal.
Pros:
- Only one ingredient
- Contains no additives or fillers, non-GMO
- Unflavored
Cons:
- Pricey
- Processed in a facility that contains wheat, nuts and soy
8. Also Consider: Bakerpan Meringue Powder for Baking and Decorating
Meringue powder can be used for a lot of things, from royal frosting and buttercream frosting to macarons and meringue cookies. But one of the most loved uses is for lemon meringue pie, that tart/sweet heavenly light concoction that just melts in your mouth. If lemon meringue pie is your go-to baking treat to make, then why not consider using a lemon-flavored meringue powder to enhance its lemony goodness?
The meringue powder for baking from Bakerpan can be used for lemon meringue pie toppings and meringue cookies or shells, but it is also an ideal choice for all types of icings like royal and buttercream. The meringue powder is certified kosher and comes in a resealable pouch. And, if you are new to the cake and cookie and pie decorating meringue game, on the back of the package are recipes for royal icing, buttercream icing, boiled icing and meringue topping.
Ingredients are: Starch PFP, egg white, Velvet Baker special sugar, Velvet powder sugar, gum Arabic, sodium aluminum sulfate, citric acid anhydrous, cream of tartar, vanillin, egg.
Pros:
- Ideal for all types of icing
- Recipes on the back of the package
- Certified kosher
Cons
- Very sweet
- Lemon flavored
What to look for when choosing a meringue powder for baking:
There’s something really creative about baking, especially when it comes to decorating the mouth-watering cookies, pies and cakes you’ve spend hours mixing, blending and shaping. But like everything we create from scratch, the secret to success is to use the right ingredients and the best ingredients.
When icing or decorating cakes and cookies, certain types of frosting, like buttercream and royal icing, need the addition of meringue to create a solid or glossy surface that won’t melt or lose its shape. Also, and perhaps more obviously, meringue is needed as a topping for lemon and key lime pie and macarons and meringue cookies. Of course, you can use raw egg whites to whip up a good meringue but you will need to have other ingredients on hand like cream of tartar.
If you are like many people, you may find it difficult to separate the egg whites from the yolks properly, ending up with bits of yolk in the white. Some people don’t eat egg yolks and end up throwing them out, which they find wasteful. That’s where a meringue powder for baking comes in handy. The powders are made from dehydrated egg whites and may contain other ingredients such as cream of tartar, sugar, gum Arabic, calcium sulfate and citric acid, to name a few. Most meringue powders have a long shelf life, some up to two years, which is really convenient. If you keep a package of meringue powder in a cool spot in your cupboard, you’ll never have to worry about fresh eggs going bad or even having fresh eggs in the house to begin with.
Special diets and ingredients: These days, many of us have sensitivities or allergies to foods such as gluten, nuts, soy, dairy and eggs. If you are baking and decorating for yourself, or friends or family members who have a food sensitivity or allergy, make sure to read the label on the meringue powder package to see the full list of ingredients and if there are any warnings or alerts that the powder was made in a facility that also processes nuts, wheat and soy. You don’t want anyone getting a reaction from cross-contamination.
The good news is, there are some brands of meringue powder for baking that are gluten, nut and soy free and state on the packaging that the powder is made in a dedicated gluten-free facility. And, if you are sensitive to eggs or are vegan and eat a plant-based diet, there are even meringue powders for baking that contain no egg. These are derived from chickpeas. Finally, for anyone following a keto or paleo diet, look for a product that contains only egg white powder and nothing else, and read the packaging to make sure it can be used to make meringue for baking.
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