Have you jumped on the aquafaba bandwagon yet? Why should you?

Here’s why:

• It’s cool.
• You can make meringue without eggs! If you can’t digest egg protein, try this!
• You can give this meringue to your children uncooked!
• You can stir in honey or maple syrup to make a healthy marshmallow cream or fluff!
• You can make new food out of a throw-away ingredient.
• It is a vegan’s prayer answered (the ultimate egg white replacer).
• It is delicious, whether you are vegan or not.
• You can use it 1000 different ways, probably more.
• Fluffy, airy, barely there, sweet heavenly clouds of goodness.
• It’s cool.

That is just off the top of my head… pretty sure we can keep adding to this list.

Bean broth is not new. What innovative people are doing with it IS new. And fascinating! Eager vegans have been purchasing cans of chickpeas just for the brine that is usually discarded. Heads up! Expect to see tons of recipes for chickpeas and beans all over the blogosphere in upcoming weeks. With this simple throw-away ingredient, one can make meringue, pavlova, cookies, cakes, mousse, marshmallow fluff, mayo, pretty much anything for which one would use egg whites.

If you do not have cans of chickpeas, no worries!

For those of us that prefer to have this ingredient WITHOUT THE CAN, and salt and unwanted additives, you can make your own EASILY from dried chickpeas! Why not take more nutrition where you can get it? See how to make can-free aquafaba here.

Three easy steps for egg-free can-free meringue:

1. Make aquafaba
2. Remove your homemade aquafaba (bean water) from the fridge
3. Beat the bean water into fluffy meringue

The history:

First, credit where credit is due… for the back story on Aquafaba, please click here.  There is already an entire community devoted to understanding the properties and uses for aquafaba. Save yourself a lot of time and trouble by reading up on fails and successes in the community.

It looks like this…

Again, the link for making it from dried beans. Otherwise, you can pour off the liquid from a can of chickpeas.

Making meringue…

This feels like the perfect time to pull out my Gramma Arzela’s old Sunbeam mixer. My Gramma and Dad have produced tons of mile-high meringue from this trusty machine.  I think it can handle the updated version.

About 3 T chickpea water is the equivalent of one egg white. Whip up as much as you like! … or as much as your recipe calls for.

For meringue, pour a little into a mixing bowl. Using a whisk attachment, beat the liquid until it becomes frothy…

… and continue beating until you have stiff peaks.

This will take a while, much longer than egg whites, but you need not worry about over-beating. Just be patient. It will happen!

Do not add vanilla, sugar, or any other seasoning until it is sufficiently whipped.

After you have reached stiff peaks, go ahead and add in vanilla and sugar. You can eat this as-is! Or you can bake it, add it to recipes, whatever you like. But, again, save yourself a fail by checking the forums first for successful technique. Vegan Meringue – Hits and Misses

Dear daughter made lemon bars and topped them with this sweetened meringue. Mmmmm

Below are some quick and easy meringue cookies, with just a little vanilla, a pinch of cream of tarter added, and cane sugar… a lot of cane sugar. Other bloggers recommend beating in the sugar until it is no longer grainy. I think I might prefer to use a confectioners sugar next time, or a finely ground date, palm, or coconut sugar, or honey. I have used maple syrup – delicious!

Create little dollops on a parchment-lined cookie sheet and “bake” for about 1.5 hours, very low temp! I kept my oven under 200º.

Chickpea Meringue

You can use other beans as well! Some work better than others.

Ingredients:

• homemade chickpea broth, aka aquafaba (bean water) – easy recipe here
• optional flavorings: sugars, honey, maple syrup, vanilla, almond extract, etc.

Method

When you are ready to use your bean water, just strain out the chickpeas (which you can use countless ways).

For meringue, pour a little into a mixing bowl. Using a whisk attachment, beat the liquid until it becomes frothy and continue beating until you have stiff peaks. This will take a while, much longer than egg whites, but you need not worry about over-beating. Just be patient. It will happen! Do not add vanilla, sugar, or any other seasoning until it is sufficiently whipped.

Try adding in a few drops of vanilla, and any sugar you have on hand. See cookie notes above. Recommended ratios vary. This process is new!

Use in any recipe that calls for meringue! To avoid recipe fails, check out what others in the vegan community have discovered. Here is a helpful blog dedicated to fails and successes. Vegan Meringue – Hits and Misses

Enjoy!

If you like this, please Pin, Share, and Like

[pinterest]

[fblike]

[tweet]