Long before we knew about gluten intolerance, many people knew that they could eat crisp meringues and chewy macaroons without negative repercussions. What unites the two is that the base for both is egg whites.

For meringues, the whites are stiffly beaten and strengthened with sugar before the additions are folded in. Macaroons are somewhat different. Classic French macarons (with only one letter “o”) are similar to meringues, but also include almond meal. However, our all-American macaroons are a category that includes any myriad cookies bound by egg white—from ground cashews to coconut.

While most American recipes for meringues are rather plain and just involve folding ingredients into the frothy matrix, classic French cooking includes many meringue forms that are fancier and make great additions to Christmas collections. You’ll find recipes for both in this chapter.