Amateur Macarons

Why macarons?

If growing flowers was my first hobby since becoming a mother, making macarons was the second.

I LOVE macarons, and so does my daughter, and after declaring we couldn’t keep spending money on macarons ($3/cookie is STEEP), I decided we should figure out how to make them.

It turns out that you shouldn’t try to figure it out with a 6 year old, but you SHOULD figure it out by yourself. If you want to.

Now I have two warnings. First, I am a TOTAL amateur. So I will connect you to the blog where I learned a lot to get me started, but I will say that my recipe below can be step one, and then if you want to dive deeper, I encourage you to do that.

Second, proceed if you are truly motivated! But macarons do take time and a lot of trial and error to get the hang of. Be prepared for many hours in the kitchen and a lot of focus on details.

If you prefer to “wing it” with most recipes or don’t want to give hours to learning, then stick with buying them and ENJOY :)

But if you have had the desire to learn, GO FOR IT. Because it truly is a fun hobby and, if I do say so myself, a total flex!

This is all adapted from Sally’s Baking Blog (one of my faves), with all of my notes and adjustments. But Sally does an amazing job of explaining more of the science behind macarons, and I think that understanding is very helpful, so go check it out!

INGREDIENTS
100g egg whites - room temperature and “aged”
1/4 t cream of tartar - optional but I always use it
80g sugar - “Superfine” is hard to find but “Bakers Sugar” will be the be consistency; however, in a pinch I’ve used cane sugar and it has worked just fine
135g superfine almond flower - Costco’s is my favorite, followed by Bob’s Red Mill Superfine Almond Flour
130g powdered sugar
extract of your choice (see flavor combos below)
food coloring (look for gel or powdered - traditional liquid will mess with the consistency of the batteR)

Step 1: PREP

Prep is KEY. Super annoying. But key ;)

-Much of the cookie’s structure comes from the whipped egg whites, and any amount of fat can break that structure, so I always prep by wiping down all of my bowls and utensils with lemon juice. Just a good squeeze and a good wipe and you’ll get rid of the oils (fats) from the bowls and utensils.
-Separate out your egg whites. The night before or the morning of the day I want to bake I will crack my egg whites into my prepped bowl and leave out for a few hours. Again, any fat (YOLK) in there will disturb the structure, so be very careful. Additionally, leaving the egg whites out to rest (and get to room temperature) helps with the structure.
-Another key to the cookie structure is very fine ingredients. So I like to sift my almond flour by itself first and then sift it together with the powdered sugar. Two sifts have been sufficient for me, but if you feel so inclined, you can go for three sifts.
(NOTE: I have found that Costco’s superfine almond flour has been the most fine, but I also love using Bob’s Red Mill Superfine Almond Flour. Aldi’s brand is fine, but I feel like it needs a third sift.)
(NOTE #2: I have added a bit to the amount of almond flour and powdered sugar in the recipe to account for the amount lost in the sifting. So there is no need to add any extra if you are worried about tossing those little chunks that are left in the sifter)

Step 2: MIX

I assume if you’re trying to bake macarons, you already know about whipping egg whites, but if not, maybe go look that up ;)

-Whipping the egg whites is perhaps the most crucial step. Using your stand mixer, add your egg whites to the clean bowl (and clean whisk). Add the cream of tartar and start whipping. After about 20 seconds, when it is starting to get foamy, add the sugar in two pours. Add, mix, add the rest, and mix. You’re going to whip on medium-high for a few minutes. Just let it keep going. It’ll get white and shiny (just like a meringue). When it reaches soft peaks (you lift up the whisk and the peak falls over a bit at the top), add in your flavor and food coloring, then continue whipping until stiff peaks form. When you lift the whisk, the peak should not fall over, and you should be able to turn the bowl upside down without it moving. (Try it, it’s fun ;)) Be careful to not overbeat the egg whites, as this will then mess with the structure. (I wasn’t lying when I said you have to be detail oriented!)
-In two to three batches, add the beaten egg whites and sugar to the almond flour and powdered sugar. You will be folding the egg whites in over and over (and over and over) until you’ve reached the desired consistency. Now, don’t go to Schitt’s Creek for lessons on folding in (IYKYK). Go around the bowl and fold with your spatula over and over. Occasionally I do a mix down the middle ;) At first it will feel like it’s taking forever but eventually it will all mix and you’ll get to a smoother consistency. When you scoop and fold it it, it should “ribbon” off your spatula and you should be able to make a ribbon-y figure 8. This is one part of the technique that you have to just do over and over until you “get it” and then you’ll have it down!

Step 3: PIPE

Pretty piped macs

-Now you can get a fancy silicone mat, or you can print off a macaron piping page off the internet and put it under some parchment paper, but make sure you have a guide. 1.5 inches is the best size to start with, IMO. (FYI I just use a printed piece of paper under parchment paper!)
-Using a Wilton 12 size piping tip, fill your piping bag with batter (I do this using a cup to support the bag and fill it)
-Hold your piping bag in the middle of the circle on the guide and squeeze until you reach the desired size. (I started off sort of spiraling it into the size of the circle on the guide, but I don’t think that was right! ha!)
-Repeat until your sheet is full. This recipe fills two cookie sheets for me.
-Once filled, you are going to lift up your cookie sheets and drop them on the counter to get any air bubbles to pop. After all of the egg beating and folding, there still will be a bit of air in the batter, and you want that air out. Take a quick look at them after the cookie-sheet-slam and if you see any little air bubbles, pop them gently with a toothpick.

Step 4: DRY

-Here is another crucial step - letting your cookies dry a bit. This can take anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour, but letting them dry gives the cookies time to establish those characteristic “feet” that macarons have (that crusty part on the bottom before the cookie rises up). You’ll know they’re ready when you can lightly brush your finger over the top of them.

Step 5: BAKE

See the feet on the bottom and smooth tops. That is the bake you are aiming for.

-This is another step that requires a lot of trial and error, as every house and oven is different. But I would suggest doing just one tray at a time in the middle of the oven. I bake mine at 315* for 13 minutes. I would suggest trying anywhere from 310* to 320* and playing with the time a bit, but expect anywhere from 9-14 minutes.
-Once baked, let them cool. I’m not quick to get them off the sheet as I don’t want them to break, but after about 10 minutes I usually transfer to a cooling rack to let them finish cooling

Step 6: FILL

-The filling for macarons is basically frosting, and this is where it is fun to get creative. You can find a bunch of different recipes online, but once you start seeing some similarities, get creative and find some fun fillings for yourself! I’ll share some of my favorites below.
-Refill your piping back (you could get fancy with tips if you want, but I keep mine simple). And pipe the desired amount onto your cookie. Here I do spiral it on, but I think you can find your own technique. And then top with the top cookie and sort of twist them together.

Step 7: ENJOY

-Now, they do say that you should let them rest overnight for the flavors to truly marry. I, of course, always like to enjoy one right away, but I will say, they do always taste better the next day!
-These will keep perfectly well in the fridge for up to 7 days. They also are great to pop in the freezer. Just bring back to room temperature before serving. (The only thing I don’t love is that after being in the freezer I feel like cookie loses a bit of it’s chewiness that comes from being so fresh - a total game changer when compared to store bought macs)

FILLINGS AND FLAVORS

This is definitely the most fun part! Try some of these and then get creative! You won’t regret it.

The most basic is a vanilla buttercream and I use this recipe and then venture off from there:
1/2 cup butter (at room temperature)
2ish cups powdered sugar
1-2 T milk or heavy cream
-Cream the butter, slowly add the powdered sugar and then milk until desired sweetness and consistency is reached

The most basic cookie for macarons is with vanilla extract and you can use that for everything and only change fillings, but I think it is fun to play with the cookie flavor too. Here are some of my favorite combos:

Almond cookie with chocolate filling (I replace half the powdered sugar w/ cocoa in the filling)
Vanilla cookie with PB&J filling (I do half butter and half peanut butter in the frosting, and then 1t of jelly/preserves in the middle)
Maple or vanilla cookie with salted caramel filling (vanilla buttercream with 1t of salted caramel in the middle)
Vanilla cookie with cake batter filling (I replace half the powdered sugar w/ boxed vanilla cake mix in the filling)
It’s been a while but the cereal cookies have been fun to try. In the past I’ve done Lucky Charms - if you look up a few different recipes, you can try to make them yourself. You’ll use some cereal-soaked milk and some ground up cereal in the filling. I can’t remember the details but that was a fun effort!

Wow, that took way longer than expected to type out! :)
But I hope it encourages you try, research, try some more, and play around with the process and have fun!!

And, if you do try, PLEASE LET ME KNOW. I’d love to talk macarons with you!!

Happy baking!!