So I was thinking with Easter around the corner a nice little sweet treat was in order. My French Meringue Chocolate Sandwich Cookies are so easy to make and there are only 5 ingredients to make these. Sound good? Do I have your attention?
I’ve been playing around with a meringue dessert idea for a while now and remember back in the days while working at a patisserie in San Francisco that the baker would make huge 9″ meringue rounds, bake them and then layer them into cakes with chocolate mousse. It was so damn good as they still had a little crunch to them, but at the same time “melted” and added a layer of deliciousness to the cake.
I’ve tried various good and bad techniques to make the pastel color swirl in the meringue and like my latest the best. First round I made separate batches of meringue and added food coloring, but what a hassle. Second round had me adding a drop of food coloring to each dollop of meringue as I filled a pastry bag. That was OK, but not all that consistent. Third time I opted away from the food coloring and adopted the entry of food gels. After each dollop of meringue was added to the pastry bag fitted with a star tip, I squeezed about a tablespoon of a color and repeated until the bag was almost full. I piped the meringues out and the swirl was a delicate and pretty result.
Strangely enough I used pink, light blue and yellow alternately, but the rainbow effect didn’t come through and my result are these delicately colored meringues. I think next time more gel will be added for a more impactful, colored gradient.
After baking these cool and then a tablespoon of Nutella is added and another meringue is twisted and pressed on top to make these cookie sandwiches. I kept them refrigerated to firm up and served them as a dessert this past weekend. They are quite delicious!
Let’s start by preheating your oven to 200°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Using a 3-inch round mold, mark the interior ring with a pencil. Continue to make 12 per baking sheet.
Flip the parchment paper over so pencil markings are underneath.
Place egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment or use hand mixer and place in a large bowl. Beat until light and foamy on low speed for a minute or two.
Turn the mixer off and add the orange extract. Carefully, add the powdered sugar and beat on medium speed for 20 minutes. This will take a bit so turn it on and let it do it’s magic (hence why I used a stand mixer instead of hand mixer), the meringue will get thick.
Spoon some of the meringue into a decorating bag fitted with a star tip. Then alternately add a colored food gel and meringue. Repeat until 2/3 of bag is full.
Pipe the meringues starting in center of one circle and swirl outward in a circular motion until lined template mark.
Repeat until all meringue is used. This made 20.
Bake for 2 hours. Turn oven off and allow meringues to sit in oven until completely cooled. Remove from oven when cool.
Spread 1 tablespoon of Nutella on the flat bottom of one meringue cookie and twist and press with the flat bottom of another to make a sandwich.
Refrigerate until ready to serve in an airtight container. These are so good. I love the crunch of the baked, sweet, orange infused meringues. The gooey, delicious Nutella filling starts the meringue melting a little and the combination is perfect. Enjoy!

French Meringue Chocolate Sandwich Cookies
Ingredients
- 4 large egg whites
- 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 tsp orange extract
- Gel Food Coloring I used pink, blue and yellow
- 10 tbsp of Nutella
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 200°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Using a 3-inch round mold, mark the interior ring with a pencil. Continue to make 12 per baking sheet. Flip the parchment paper over so pencil markings are underneath.
- Place egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment or use hand mixer and place in a large bowl. Beat until light and foamy on low speed. Turn off the mixer and add the orange extract. Carefully, add the powdered sugar and beat on medium speed for 20 minutes. The meringue will get thick.
- Spoon some of the meringue into a decorating bag fitted with a star tip. Then alternately add some colored food gel and then meringue on top of that. Repeat until 2/3 of bag is full.
- Pipe the meringues starting in center of one circle and swirl outward in a circular motion until lined template mark. Repeat until all meringue is used. This made 20.
- Bake for 2 hours. Turn oven off and allow meringues to sit in oven until completely cooled. Remove from oven when cool.
- Spread 1 tablespoon of Nutella on the flat bottom of one meringue cookie and twist and with the flat bottom of another press to make a sandwich. Refrigerate until ready to serve in an airtight container.
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist's advice.
La ce temperatura se coc?
Temperatura cuptorului pentru coacere este de 93°C sau 200°F. The oven temperature for baking is 93°C or 200°F
Wow this is beautiful ! Thanks for sharing the recipe. I might try this and give to my mom on Mother’s Day..
Thanks Avy, give it a go and let me know how it turns out. Hope you surprise your mom with these beauties!
These were so delicious. The texture reminds me of Easter when I was a kid. I can’t say exactly why, but it made me think of Grandma’s house. And who doesn’t like Nutella smeared in his mustache? Definitely count me in for that!
Thanks for the kind words and your recent visit was so much fun. 🙂
I am amazed by how perfect these meringues look. You are a master my friend. A French Patissier got nothing on you!
#WolfpackAwesomeness
Thanks Mike and great post yesterday on health. Nice reminder. 🙂
No I like the color. They look like roses. GREG
Thanks Greg! They turned out sweet looking, but I was hoping for a brighter color. It worked!
Love their color gradient – looks great! Well done Kevin!
Thanks Ben!
Holy cr4p! Look at that! It’s amazing, it is GORGEOUS!! I’ve never seen a cookie sandwich like that before. It belongs at a gourmet store! Kevin, it is truly gorgeous. GORGEOUS! Gotta go and pin it many times over so I don’t lose it – everyone MUST SEE THIS!
Hahaha! That made me smile! 🙂 Pin away people, Pin away… thank you Nagi. I brought them to a Birthday party Sunday so we wouldn’t eat them all.
I absolutely love these Kevin! I’m tempted to make these with half sandwiched with this filling and other half filled with lemon curd. Yum!!
Oh, that lemon curd would be fantastic!
Wow, these are one of the most beautiful cookies I’ve ever seen in my life. And of course they sound delicious too! Thank you for explaining the technique for us, I (the inexperienced amateur baker) really appreciate that! 🙂
Wow, such praise makes me very happy. Much appreciated Nicole!
Hey Kevin! These look like delicate flowers – gorgeous!
Thank you Dorothy, they’re sweet as nectar!
Your realm of expertise continues to amaze me, Kevin. I just check out your About page, and I’m totally jealous of some of those foodie experiences. Working in a patisserie would be amazing! But hey, we have pretty good jobs working as food bloggers, too. 🙂 Oh, and next time try the gel colorings that you pick up in craft stores. Wilton makes like an 8-color starter pack that is great. I use a toothpick to dab just a little gel coloring into my recipe whenever I need it…a little bit goes a long way and I’ve found that they… Read more »
Thanks David! I will check out the Wilton starter pack today actually. I had to get these away from the house and brought them for a friends birthday party… too addicting! 😉