Halloween baking leans on egg whites more than any other holiday. Meringue ghosts, bones, spiderwebs, mousse cups, cut-out cookies: most of it starts with whipping or binding. Aquafaba covers both, so you can make the whole spread egg-free.
Here are seven ideas, plus the base meringue that four of them use.
Piped meringue, made with whipped aquafaba. The base for ghosts, bones, and webs.
In This Guide
3 tablespoons aquafaba
2 tablespoons aquafaba
3 to 5 minutes with Plant Whip
Meringues keep for days, airtight
The Base Meringue
Four of the ideas below start here, so get this right and the rest is decoration.
- 1/2 cup Plant Whip liquid aquafaba
- 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1 cup superfine sugar
Pour the aquafaba into a clean, dry bowl. Start the mixer on low. Once it turns foamy, add the cream of tartar, then increase to high and whip to stiff peaks. With Plant Whip that takes 3 to 5 minutes. Add the sugar a spoonful at a time while the mixer runs, and keep whipping until the mixture is thick and glossy.
Pipe your shapes onto a lined tray and bake at 200 to 225°F until crisp and dry, usually 1.5 to 2 hours depending on size. Let them cool in the oven with the door cracked.
1. Meringue Ghosts
Fit a piping bag with a large round tip. Pipe a fat base, then pull straight up as you release the pressure to make the pointed head. Once cooled, add eyes and a mouth with melted dark chocolate or a food-safe marker.
These are the easiest win of the bunch. They look like a project and take ten minutes of piping.
2. Meringue Bones
Same base, same round tip. Pipe a short line, then two blobs at each end for the knuckles. Leave them plain white. Pile them on a platter and they read instantly as a bone pile.
3. Spiderweb Pavlova
Spread the meringue into a round on a lined tray, hollow out the middle with the back of a spoon, and bake as above. Once cool, fill with coconut whipped cream or a dark berry compote, then pipe melted chocolate in circles and drag a toothpick from the center outward to make the web.
This is the centerpiece dessert. One pavlova serves a party.
4. Graveyard Mousse Cups
Whipped aquafaba folded into melted chocolate makes a light mousse.
Whip the aquafaba to stiff peaks, then fold it gently into cooled melted dark chocolate. Spoon into small glasses and chill.
Top with crushed cookie crumbs for dirt and stand a rectangular cookie upright as a headstone. No baking at all.
Baking for Halloween?
Plant Whip is ready-to-pour liquid aquafaba. No draining cans mid-recipe. One carton covers about 20 eggs.
Use code TRYWHIP10 for 10% off your first order.
Shop Plant Whip →5. Cut-Out Sugar Cookies
Aquafaba binds cookie dough the same way an egg does.
Use your usual cut-out sugar cookie recipe and swap 3 tablespoons of aquafaba for each egg. Add it unwhipped with the wet ingredients. Chill the dough, then cut bats, cats, and pumpkins.
The dough handles like any other cut-out dough, and the edges hold their shape in the oven.
6. Monster Macarons
Macarons are whipped egg white and almond flour, so aquafaba slots straight in. Color the shells orange, purple, or green, then pipe on eyes with melted chocolate once they're filled.
Macarons take practice, vegan or not. If it's your first batch, do the ghosts instead and save these for next year.
7. Foam-Topped Halloween Cocktails
For the grown-up table, aquafaba gives sours their foam without raw egg. Add 1 to 2 tablespoons to the shaker, dry shake without ice for 15 to 20 seconds, then add ice and shake again.
A blackberry or blood-orange sour gives you the color, and a few drops of bitters on the foam make a spiderweb if you drag a toothpick through them.
Planning Ahead
Meringues keep several days in an airtight container at room temperature, so ghosts and bones can be made the weekend before. Don't refrigerate them.
Once your carton is open, refrigerate it and use it within 3 to 5 days, or freeze leftovers for up to 3 months. More on that in how long does aquafaba last.
New to whipping aquafaba? Start with how to make vegan egg whites, or check the ratios in our conversion guide.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you make vegan meringue for Halloween?
Yes. Whipped aquafaba makes meringue that pipes and bakes like egg-white meringue, so ghosts, bones, and spiderwebs all work. Whip it to stiff peaks, add sugar gradually, pipe, then bake low and slow until crisp.
How much aquafaba replaces an egg in Halloween baking?
3 tablespoons replaces 1 whole egg and 2 tablespoons replaces 1 egg white. That covers cut-out cookies, cupcakes, brownies, and anything else you'd normally use eggs in.
Do vegan meringue ghosts hold their shape?
They do if you whip to stiff peaks and bake them low and slow. Soft peaks spread on the tray. Humidity is the other enemy, so bake on a dry day if you can and store them airtight.
What can I make for a Halloween party that isn't cookies?
Chocolate mousse cups, a spiderweb pavlova, meringue bones, and cocktail foam for drinks all use the same whipped aquafaba base.
How far ahead can I make vegan meringues?
Meringues keep for several days in an airtight container at room temperature. Don't refrigerate them, since the moisture softens them.
One carton of Plant Whip replaces about 20 eggs.
Two ingredients: chickpea extract and water. Ready to pour, no draining. Free shipping to the 48 continental states.
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