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Meringue Shell Cookies have a crisp ribbon of meringue and soft crumbly center. Rakushki is the Russian word for “shells” and they do look like little shells with a treasure inside – the walnuts! These meringue cookies are lightly sweet and made perfect with a dusting of powdered sugar which makes them look and taste irresistible.
Each walnut meringue cookie is hand crafted so no two are exactly the same. These are charming and completely worth making. They take a little time because it turns out a big batch (60 cookies!), but the process is easy and therapeutic. Don’t let the number of cookies scare you off because they disappear quickly and are perfect for holiday gifting and munching (plus you can make them a few days ahead).
Watch How to Make Meringue Shell Cookies:
I’m confident these will become a new favorite cookie for many of you. They are that good! If you make these for Christmas, tag me on Instagram or Facebook to let me know. I would love to see all your pretty cookies.
Ingredients for Shell Cookie Dough:
1 cup (16 Tbsp or 226 grams) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup sour cream
3 egg yolks, room temperature
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (315 grams) *measured correctly
For the Meringue Cookie Filling:
3 egg whites, room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 cups walnut pieces (3 pieces per cookie)
*To measure flour correctly, spoon flour into a dry ingredients measuring cup and level off the top with the blunt edge of knife.
*Watch our easy video tutorial on how to measure correctly
How to Make Cookie Dough:
Prep: Preheat Oven to 350˚F. Line a 3/4 baking sheet with parchment (or use 2 regular baking sheets)
1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, mix together: 16 Tbsp butter, 3 egg yolks, 1/2 cup sour cream and mix medium/low speed just until combined. It won’t be smooth and that’s ok.
2. Add 2 cups flour and add the last 1/2 cup slowly just until the dough is no longer sticking to your fingertips. When dough is ready, turn it out onto floured work surface then wash and dry your mixing bowl and make your meringue.
How to Make Meringue Cookie Filling:
1. In the bowl of your stand mixer, beat 3 room temperature egg whites on high speed 1 minute until thick and foamy. With the mixer on, slowly and gradually add 3/4 cup sugar. Once the sugar is all in, continue beating on high speed for 5 minutes or until the meringue forms stiff peaks when you slowly pull up the whisk.
Tanya’s tip: When you insert and push a spoon through the meringue, it should feel firm.
How to Assemble Meringue Shell Cookies:
1. While meringue is mixing, divide cookie dough into 4 pieces and roll each into a log. Cut each log into 15 equal pieces and roll them into balls between your hands. Roll each ball with a rolling pin into a 2″ diameter circle.
2. Dollop a teaspoon of meringue into the center of each rolled cookie then fold the cookie in half and in half again then lay it on it’s side on the lined baking sheet. Space cookies at least 1/2″ apart.
3. Stuff 3 walnut pieces into the meringue of each cookie then bake at 350˚F for 25 to 30 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack to cool to room temperature before dusting with powdered sugar.
Meringue shell cookies are so magical and pretty this time of year! Looking for more Christmas cookie ideas? Find all of our favorite cookies here.
Meringue Shell Cookies (Rakushki)
Ingredients
For The Shell Cookie Dough:
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened, (16 Tbsp or 226 grams)
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 3 egg yolks, room temperature
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, 315 grams *measured correctly
For the Meringue Cookie Filling:
- 3 egg whites, room temperature
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 cups walnut pieces, 3 pieces per cookie
Instructions
How to Make the Cookie Dough:
- !Prep: Preheat Oven to 350˚F. Line a 3/4 baking sheet with parchment (or 2 regular half sheets)
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, add: 16 Tbsp butter, 3 egg yolks, 1/2 cup sour cream and mix medium/low speed just until combined. It won't be smooth.
- Add 2 cups flour and add the last 1/2 cup slowly just until dough is no longer sticking to clean fingertips. When dough is ready, turn it out onto floured work surface then wash and dry your mixing bowl and make your meringue:
How to Make Meringue Cookie Filling:
- In the bowl of your stand mixer, beat 3 room temperature egg whites on high speed 1 minute until thick and foamy. With the mixer on, slowly and gradually add 3/4 cup sugar. Once sugar is all in, continue beating on high for 5 min or until the meringue forms stiff peaks.
How to Assemble Meringue Shell Cookies:
- While meringue is mixing, divide cookie dough into 4 pieces and roll each into a log. Cut each log into 15 equal pieces and roll them into balls between your hands. Roll each ball with a rolling pin into a 2" diameter circle.
- Dollop a teaspoon of meringue into the center of each round then fold the cookie n half and in half again and lay it on it's side on the lined baking sheet. Space cookies at least 1/2" apart.
- Stuff 3 walnut pieces into the meringue of each cookie then bake at 350˚F for 25 to 30 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Transfer to wire rack to cool to room temp before dusting with powdered sugar.
Notes
**Nutrition label shows values per cookie (1 batch makes 60 cookies)
Nutrition Per Serving
If you make this recipe, I’d love to see pics of your creations on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter! Hashtag them #natashaskitchen
We had our Christmas music going making these with the “help” of my 2 1/2 year old. She was so eager to roll some of that dough. Her cookies didn’t resemble shells, but everyone starts somewhere lol.
Do you have any Christmas traditions that happen every year? I’d love to hear all about it in a comment below!
P.S. If you’re up for trying something new, these meringue cookies won’t disappoint. Have a beautiful Christmas season, my friends.
Loads of Love,
Natasha
Delicious cookies!! Made them for the first time – very light and not too sweet! The whole family loved them.
That’s wonderful, Yelena! Thank you for sharing.
Hi!
I have found I get better results when I use egg whites that are cold as opposed to room temp ones. I don’t know if I’m the only one that but it never seems to hold a peak when I use room temp ones.
Hi Julia! That’s great that the cold egg whites are working for you.
Egg white proteins behave better at room temperature because they are more stretchy and flexible than when they are cold. But I’ve noticed eggs will separate better when cold (meaning separating the egg yolk from the whites). I wonder if it’s possible that some traces of egg yolks got into your eggs whites when you tried separating them at room temperature and that may be why you are getting better results with cold eggs.
Turned out lovely and everyone liked them! Wish I could post a pic!
I’m glad it was a success! Feel free to share some photos on our Facebook page or group, we’d love to see them.
These are wonderful. I’ve made this recipe a few times. I’m planning on making 3 batches this year. Could I use a cookie cutter to speed things up?
Hi Luisa, I think that would work great! 🙂 Just make sure it is about the same sized ring – these tend to unfold and inflate too large in the oven when they are over-sized (I’ve tried!) ;).
Hi,
I dint have stand up mixer, can I use hand mixer instead?
by the way your recipes are AWSOME!!!!
Hi Tatyana, yes it would work with a hand mixer, but you will probably need to mix with a stiff mixing spoon towards the end of the cookie dough since it will be too thick for the egg beater attachment on a hand mixer. Also, for the meringue, follow the same process (beat egg whites first 1 minute then gradually and slowly add sugar) and you may need to beat the whites a little longer since an electric hand mixer is not as efficient in whipping meringue as a stand mixer.
I had a question. Do you think that I will be able to use dulce de leche with walnuts as the filling? And if so will the cookies come out soft as described?
HI Emily, I haven’t tested that so I’m not sure how that would bake up with the cookies.
Love these Meringue Shell Cookies, but I would like to know why there is no salt in the dough?
Hi Patricia, we believe we found the perfect balance without it! If you decided to experiment with it, I’d love to know how you like that!
The cookies turned out reasonably well, buttery, soft and airy, with a crunch of nuts. However, after a first batch came out of the oven, I realized it was a bit on the dry side and the flavor was just ok, somewhat one dimensional and bland, for my taste. So for second batch I put in more filling than a teaspoon and stuck one dried sour cherry in a meringue of each cookie along with nuts, and I baked them 5 minutes less. In my opinion, it greatly improved the flavor and texture.
I will definitely make this recipe again , but with addition of dried cherries and I will also add some vanilla next time, and maybe some sugar in a dough with bit of salt.
Hi Lana, the dusting of powdered sugar at the end is important as well since the dough isn’t overly sweet. I like the idea of adding the cherry. Thanks for sharing your feedback!
I didn’t skip the powdered sugar. But these cookies turned out better, in my opinion, with addition of vanilla, sugar, salt and dried cherries.
Hi Natasha,
I’m planning to make the meringue cookies. Can they be made a ahead of time and stored and last a while? If so what’s the best way.
Hi Donna, once they are all finished and powdered with sugar, keep them at room temperature for 2-3 days. They still taste good up to 5 days later but the meringue doesn’t stay crispy that long. Keep them away from humidity and do not refrigerate or freeze since the humidity in the freezer will soften the meringue.
What can I substitute for the walnuts (and not another nut), does chocolate or a fruit jam work? I love walnuts but not everyone in my family does!
Hi Susan, I haven’t tried those substitutes yet to advise. But I think it’s worth experimenting with!
Hi Natasha, I have made quite a few of your recipes, the cheesecake and the tiramisu are just to die for! I was looking forward to the meringue shell cookies and unfortunately the result was not as good. Firstly, I don’t have a food mixer so did everything by hand. As a result my dough was not pliable, I couldn’t fold it to shape. I then decided to put it into the refrigerator as I normally do with the shortcrust pastry and it helped. However, I still found that folding the pastry into shape was not easy and just fiddly. I need a lot of practice making it look nice. It was time consuming because of that, although it tasted good. I will still keep trying your other recipes. Best regards, Natasha
Hi Natasha, I’m sorry to hear these didn’t work out for you. One thing is to make sure to measure the flour correctly since too much flour would make the dough dry and difficult to roll. Since you are not using a mixer, it could also be due to undermining the dough. Did the dough look the same as what was shown in the photos and video?
Recipe said to add 1 teaspoon of meringue to the cookie. That meant a lot of left over meringue. It also meant the cookies were tasteless with just 1 teaspoon.
So much time spent on these.
Probably won’t make again.
Hi Sarah, these normally have plenty of flavor – did you possibly cut the sugar in them? If you overfill them, it leaks out and gets lost on the baking sheet. Also, this recipe should make 60 cookies – if you make them larger and get less cookies, you would want to use more meringue.
Hi,
I just baked these at 250 degrees for 25 minutes. Unfortunately they came out dry. I have a gas oven and wonder if that is why.
Hi Tati, it sounds like they were over-baked which would cause them to seem dry. Also, be sure to beat the meringue adequately so it forms properly in the oven.
Can I refrigerate the dough overnight?
Hi V, since meringue is pretty finicky and doesn’t do well with humidity, I can’t say the recipe will turn out when refrigerated overnight.
Hi Natasha
Can we freeze the meringue cookies
Thank you
Sandra
Hi Sandra, I don’t recommend freezing these cookies. We keep them away from humidity, don’t refrigerate or freeze since the freezer’s humidity will soften the meringue. I hope this helps.
Natasha, I just made those cookies. They are so good and looke beautiful. Thank you very much for the recipe. I already try some of your recipes, all of them were great 👍
You’re welcome! I’m happy you enjoyed them!
Made a half batch as 40 seemed a lot. Hand formed the circles as my counter was full. They took some time to make as the meringue was oozing out. Baking took 32 minutes to turn golden brown. Don’t know if they cooked too long, but they seem dry. Flavor is unique – not really sweet as some other cookies, but not bad. Thanks for the recipe!
Hi Robin, it sounds like they were over-baked which would cause them to seem dry. Also, be sure to beat the meringue adequately so it forms properly in the oven.
Oh, MERRY CHRISTMAS
Merry Christmas!
Hi Natasha,
Could I replace the meringue with Dulce De Leche. If not it’s fine but just want to check?
Hello there, I honestly haven’t tried that yet to advise. If you do an experiment, please share with us how it goes.
Natasha,
I love all your cookies as they are unique recipes. Are you to put a cookbook together??All your food recipes are very special!!! Merry Christmas
Hi Barbara, we are working on a cook book! Stay tuned!