Spooktacular Egg-Free Ghost Meringues: A Vegan & Allergy-Friendly Halloween Treat with Aquafaba

Are you searching for a truly inclusive and utterly delightful Halloween treat that everyone can enjoy, regardless of dietary restrictions? If you’re navigating egg allergies, embracing a vegan lifestyle, or simply looking for innovative baking solutions, get ready to discover your new favorite holiday dessert! Thanks to an incredible culinary innovation – aquafaba – you can whip up classic, airy meringues without a single egg white. Just a few simple steps, a touch of spooky decoration, and these delicate treats transform into charmingly frightful ghosts, perfect for any Halloween gathering.

My Sweet Escape: The Allure of Food TV and the Meringue Mystery

Like many, I’m absolutely captivated by the world of food television. Back in the days of cable, Food Network was my constant companion. I recall countless hours spent watching shows like Paula Deen’s, soaking in every tip and trick, even if the cuisine wasn’t my usual fare. There’s something incredibly inspiring about watching culinary masters at work, transforming simple ingredients into extraordinary dishes.

These days, as we strive to reduce screen time and save a little money, my culinary TV addiction has shifted to Netflix. Every new cooking show added to the platform quickly finds its way onto my watchlist. From the competitive energy of “Guy’s Grocery Games” to the humorous learning curve of “Worst Cooks in America,” I love absorbing new techniques and flavor combinations.

My most recent obsession has been “The Great British Baking Show.” It’s a fantastic source of inspiration, and I’ve seen them tackle various types of meringues repeatedly. Before watching the show, meringues always seemed like an incredibly daunting task, something reserved for professional bakers. Coupled with the fact that I didn’t grow up eating them, I approached the idea with a healthy dose of skepticism. However, seeing passionate home bakers create flawless meringues week after week truly demystified the process for me. It sparked a realization: “I can totally do this!” Thank you, television, for empowering my baking adventures!

The only significant hurdle was a familiar one for many allergy parents: my son has an egg allergy. And, as anyone familiar with meringues knows, egg whites are traditionally the absolute cornerstone of the entire recipe. This seemingly insurmountable obstacle usually puts classic meringues off-limits for our family.

Discovering Aquafaba: The Game-Changer for Egg-Free Baking

However, as many of you who follow my recipes (like my waffles) already know, there’s a truly miraculous culinary discovery that has transformed the landscape of allergy-friendly and vegan baking: aquafaba. If you haven’t yet experimented with this ingredient, prepare for your baking world to be completely revolutionized!

What exactly is aquafaba? It’s remarkably simple: it’s the liquid you drain from a can of chickpeas (also known as garbanzo beans). This humble liquid possesses the same incredible emulsifying, binding, and aerating properties as egg whites. It can be whipped into a wonderfully stiff, glossy foam that holds its shape beautifully – just like traditional meringue! This cost-effective and readily available ingredient is a revelation for anyone avoiding eggs.

My first attempt at making classic meringues with this substitute was an absolute triumph. I was genuinely amazed at how perfectly they mimicked the texture and stability of their egg-based counterparts.

Crafting Your Spooktacular Ghost Meringues

Piping these ghostly meringues was such an enjoyable process, and watching my kids delight in eating them – especially once the playful candy eyeballs were added – was the best part. What I particularly loved about this recipe is its simplicity. It requires hardly any ingredients, nothing fancy or expensive, which is a welcome change as allergy-friendly baking can often involve specialty items.

These aquafaba ghost meringues are more than just a sweet treat; they’re a super fun and inclusive Halloween activity. They’re guaranteed to be a hit at any Halloween party, ensuring that everyone, including those with food allergies or other dietary restrictions, can partake in the festive fun. They are naturally gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free, peanut-free, tree nut-free, and vegan, making them a truly top-8-allergy-friendly option.

Egg-free Ghost Meringues (Gluten, dairy, egg, soy, peanut & tree nut free; top-8-free; vegan)

Yield:
25 ghosts

Prep Time:
15 minutes

Cook Time:
1 hour

Total Time:
1 hour 15 minutes

If you have an egg allergy, or are vegan–you can still have a spook-tacular holiday treat. Thanks to a new culinary gem, aquafaba, you can make the classic meringue without egg whites. Simply add eye balls after baking and transform your meringues into frightful ghosts.

Ingredients

• ¾ cup aquafaba (the liquid drained from a 15 oz can of chickpeas)
• 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1 Tablespoon corn starch
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 and 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• Candy eye balls, black icing, or mini chocolate chips

Instructions

1. Heat oven to 200 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Measure and pour the aquafaba into the bowl of a stand mixer with the whisk attachment on. Start mixing it slowly. Once it starts to become frothy, add the cream of tartar and cornstarch. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as necessary. When the frothiness starts to turn white, add the vanilla. (You can use color-free vanilla if you want a brighter white, but I didn’t want to bother buying it.)
3. With the stand mixer still mixing, add the sugar one Tablespoon at a time, to make sure it incorporates fully and isn’t granular.
4. Once all of the sugar has been added, continue mixing until the mixture has reached the stiff peaks phase (you could hold the bowl upside down over your head and it wouldn’t spill out, as well as when you stop mixing and lift the whisk out, the peaks stand up firm and hold their shape). It will also look nice and glossy and take up most of the bowl in volume. It can take up to ten minutes, so be patient!
5. Gently place the mixture in either a piping bag, or even a ziplock bag. You can use a #12 round tip, but I just cut the corner of my ziplock bag.
6. Holding the bag upright, like you would if you were frosting something, squeeze from the top and make swirls, depending on how big you want your ghosts. Give your ghosts room to grow and don’t put them too close. I find it took several pans to use all of the mixture.
7. Bake for one hour. After the timer has finished, turn the oven off and allow them to cool in the oven. They should be firm to the touch.
8. You can use candy eye balls (unfortunately, I’ve never found any that don’t have soy, so if you need them to be top 8 free, you can either use black piping gel, chocolate chips or black frosting for eyes instead.) I got the eye balls to stay by using a bit of the leftover meringue mixture on the backs of the eyes to help them stay in place.
9. Enjoy!

Notes

Adapted from: Namely Marley

This recipe contains affiliate links.

Tips for Meringue Success with Aquafaba

Making perfect aquafaba meringues is surprisingly easy, but a few key tips can ensure your success and result in perfectly crisp, airy, and stable ghosts:

• **Use a Clean Bowl:** Just like with egg whites, any trace of grease or fat in your mixing bowl or on your whisk can prevent the aquafaba from whipping up properly. Ensure your equipment is impeccably clean.
• **Chill Your Aquafaba:** While not strictly necessary, some bakers find that chilled aquafaba whips up faster and achieves stiffer peaks.
• **Gradual Sugar Addition:** Don’t dump all the sugar in at once. Adding it gradually, a tablespoon at a time, ensures it dissolves completely and incorporates into the aquafaba foam, preventing a gritty texture and helping stabilize the meringue.
• **Patience is Key:** Whipping aquafaba can take a bit longer than egg whites to reach stiff peaks, sometimes up to 10 minutes. Don’t rush the process; keep mixing until your peaks are firm and glossy.
• **Low and Slow Baking:** Meringues don’t bake in the traditional sense; they dry out. A low oven temperature (200°F) and a long baking time followed by cooling in the oven are crucial for preventing cracks and achieving that characteristic crisp, melt-in-your-mouth texture.
• **Humidity Matters:** Meringues are sensitive to humidity. Try to bake them on a dry day, if possible, and store them in an airtight container once completely cooled to maintain their crispness.

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More Allergy-Friendly Halloween Fun and Inspiration

I’m absolutely thrilled to share that this recipe is part of my friend Allie from Cupcake Diaries’ fantastic “30 Days of Halloween” series. Allie has been hosting this incredible series for several years, and I’ve personally gathered countless creative ideas from her curated posts. For the entire month of September, she features a different Halloween recipe every single day, making it a treasure trove of festive inspiration! You can explore all her amazing creations by visiting her site: www.cupcakediariesblog.com or simply by clicking on the image below. Her Halloween recipe collections are incredibly cute and offer a wide range of ideas, many of which can be easily adapted for various food allergies. Today’s feature (September 17) is these very ghost meringues, but be sure to check out her site for bigger pictures and more delightful details on all the other daily posts!

To see more of my allergy-friendly Halloween posts, check out these favorites:

Spider Sugar Cookie Bars (Gluten, dairy, egg, soy, peanut & tree nut free; top-8-free; vegan)

Frankenstein Rice Krispies (Gluten, dairy, egg, soy, peanut & tree nut free; top-8-free; vegan)

Monster Eyeballs (Gluten, dairy, egg, peanut & tree nut free; vegan)

Chocolate Sugar Cookie Bats

Gluten & Dairy Free Halloween Mummy Pretzels

Allergy Friendly Halloween Cake

Venus Fly Trap Cupcakes

Trick or Treating Tips for Food Allergy + Top 8 Free Candy

Join the Allergy-Friendly Revolution!

Making allergy-friendly and vegan treats like these ghost meringues is not just about avoiding certain ingredients; it’s about creating joy, fostering inclusivity, and ensuring everyone can participate in the magic of holidays like Halloween. I hope you’re inspired to try this recipe and bring some spooky, sweet fun to your table. Don’t forget to share your creations and tag me on social media! Happy baking, and happy Halloween!