The Easiest French Macarons
This French Macaron recipe is not intimidating. I promise. There is something so scary about making homemade Macarons for the first time. I made my first Macarons YEARS ago and I remember rereading the recipe and directions a hundred times over to make sure I knew what to expect. I promise you that they are not as hard as you might be making them up to be in your head. Like any recipe, take your time, read what’s expected ahead of time, gather all of your ingredients ahead of time, and be patient 🙂 Oh and, I believe in you 🙂
Making Macaron Batter
There are a few important key steps to this recipe that will help ensure that you have the perfect end result you want. The first key to the integrity of the batter is to grind the almond flour and confectioner’s sugar together. Not only does this combine the two ingredients perfectly but it also makes them into a smoother mixture. This makes the sifting step much easier and allows for an overall light and airy texture.
The next most important step to the batter is the second half; the egg white, sugar, vanilla, food dye etc. mixture. It’s important to know what stiff peaked egg whites mean. Whipping egg whites to stiff peaks will make the batter thick, airy, and puffy enough to be able to not only pipe the macarons evenly, but allow then to set and bake correctly.
Piping French Macarons
I used my favorite Piping Bags and Round Metal Piping Tip to help bring these French Macarons to life. While you don’t NEED a metal piping tip, I do recommend one. They help stabilize the circular shape for each macaron.
If you are a total newbie to macarons, piping, piping bags, etc. I totally recommend tracing circles onto your parchment paper. You can click this link here to take you to a helpful resource for tracing your macaron outlines onto parchment paper. You should use an edible marker if tracing BUT if in the event that you do not have an edible marker – don’t fret 🙂 You can use a regular marker or pencil but be sure to flip the parchment face down so that the ink or pencil does not come in contact with the batter.
Assembling French Macarons
While nonpareils are totally optional, they do make for a great pop of color for these delicious Macarons. You can always get creative with the color macaron you decide to go with as well as the color of the buttercream filling. To keep things super basic, don’t add any food dyes at all and have a basic off white, vanilla macaron 🙂 In baking, you should ALWAYS experiment and go with flavors, techniques, and decorations that make you happy, we are all unique so embrace it in the form of French Macarons 🙂
Filling French Macarons
This is debatably the best part. You get to see everything you worked so hard on come to life and the greatest part of testing the final result is right around the corner. You can get creative with this recipe and try filling these vanilla French Macarons with different flavors of buttercream. OR another fun option is for you to pipe a circle of buttercream along with perimeter or the bottom side of a macaron then fill with a dollop of jam in the center. You can also use nutella, peanut butter, cookie butter, etc. Always be creative and have fun with flavor combinations. As long as you’re hanging with The Squeaky Mixer there are never any wrong combinations 🙂
The Easiest French Macarons
15-18
servings15
minutesKeep the screen of your device on.
Ingredients
1 1/4 cup 1 1/4 Almond flour
1 3/4 cups 1 3/4 Confectioner’s sugar
1/4 tsp. 1/4 Salt
3 3 Egg whites, room temperature
1/3 cup 1/3 Granulated sugar
1 tsp. 1 Vanilla extract
1-2 drops 1-2 Gel food coloring
1/4 cup 1/4 Nonpareils (optional)
- Vanilla Buttercream
1 1/2 cups 1 1/2 Unsalted butter, room temperature
2 1/2 cups 2 1/2 Confectioner’s sugar
2-3 Tbsp. 2-3 Heavy whipping cream
2 tsp. 2 Vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. 1/4 Salt
Directions
- In a food processor, grind together the almond flour and confectioner’s sugar. Pulse 5-10 times or until fine and evenly incorporated.
- Sift the almond flour and confectioner’s sugar mixture through a sieve into a medium sized bowl. Set aside.
- In a separate large bowl, whip the three egg whites on high speed using an electric mixer. As soon as the mixture starts to look foamy, gradually add the salt then the granulated sugar.
- As the egg white mixture goes from foamy, to white and fluffy, add in the vanilla and gel food coloring. Mix just until stiff peaks form.
- In three additions, add the dry ingredients (the almond four and confectioner’s sugar mixture) to the egg white mixture. Use a silicone spatula for this step. Gently fold everything together – we want the egg whites to stay stiff to keep the batter thick enough for piping. Gently fold after each addition. Adding in three additions will ensure that everything is being incorporated evenly.
- Mix just until the batter is evenly combined and the mixture forms thick ribbons when the spatula is lifted.
- Transfer the batter to a piping bag fit with a large round tip (you don’t NEED a metal tip, it just helps).
- Pipe a small dot of macaron batter in the corner of a standard 13″ x 9″ cookie sheet then place a sheet of parchment paper on top. These small dots of batter will help keep the parchment paper in place when piping the actual macarons.
- Hold the piping bag about 1/2″ above the cookie sheet and gently squeeze to make about 1 1/2″ sized circles roughly 3-4″ in diameter. Pipe the macarons at least 2″ apart form each other.
- Once you’ve finished piping each macaron, bang the cookie sheet 5-10 times to release any air bubbles in the macarons.
- This step is optional but you can add nonpareil sprinkles to the top of each macaron if you want!
- Allow the piped macarons to sit out for at least 45 minutes or up to one hour. The top of the macarons should be dry when gently tapping on the top before baking.
- Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. and bake one sheet at a time. Bake for 15-17 minutes or until the macarons have developed nice feet. Use the images as a reference for what good feet should look like on macarons.
- The macarons should easily pop right off the parchment paper. Allow them to finish cooling on a wire rack before filling.
- Making Vanilla Buttercream
- Using an electric mixer, beat the butter on low speed until light and creamy.
- Add the confectioner’s sugar to the butter and continue to combine.
- Gradually add in the heavy cream until the buttercream reaches a smooth consistency.
- Add in the vanilla and salt. Mix buttercream until there are no lump and the mixture is nice and smooth.
- Transfer the buttercream to a piping bag.
- Starting on the outside of a fully cooled macaron, gently pipe buttercream working your way into the center of the bottom side of a macaron. Top each macarons off with another macaron facing down.
- Store in the fridge and enjoy!
Did you make this recipe?
Tag @thesqueakymixer on Instagram! I love to see what you all create.
Do you have any suggestions for making these at high altitude?
Hi there! I have never baked these at high altitude so I am not 100% confident that changes need to be made to the recipe but I would suggest keeping a close eye on these when they’re in the oven as high altitudes can effect baking times. If you have lower humidity at your altitude, this can make macarons more prone to drying out and cracking. To avoid this, you can use a small bowl of water in the oven to create a bit of steam, which can help maintain humidity while they bake. I hope this helps!!
I’m not sure what I’m doing wrong but I can’t get my batter to turn out ðŸ˜
Love this recipe!! They came out perfect!!!!!
Do you have a chocolate version of this..? Any other flavors??
Hi there – thank you so much!! 🙂 I don’t have any other versions yet but I will absolutely add that to my list! 🙂 Thanks again!
How long can these stay in the refrigerator! I want to make them for a shower ? Can they be made advance? If how early ? Can they freeze as well
Hi there! You can bake the macaron shells in advance and store them in an airtight container for 3-5 days. Just note that the texture of the macarons can change if you fill them with buttercream. The shells will become softer as they absorb the filling. You can alwasy store the shells then fill them the day of or before the shower 🙂
If you need to make them more in advance them i recommend freezing the macarons shells without the filling in an airtight container layered with parchment between stacking them to prevent sticking. These can last up to one month. Then of course just fill the shells the day of or before your event.
I hope this helps!!