French Macaron Recipe
Macarons can be intimidating, but with the right technique I truly believe anyone can do it! This is my basic French macaron recipe and I have a video tutorial posted to all of my socials that you might find helpful.
Watch the full tutorial here:
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Have you ever tried to measure an exact weight or volume of fresh egg whites? It’s almost impossible and you end up wasting some egg whites in the process. That’s why my recipe starts with any amount of egg whites (I typically use 2-4 large egg whites) and the rest of the ingredients are calculated based on the weight of the egg whites. Two egg whites will yield at least a dozen sandwiched macarons. I will give an example using a weight of 100 grams of egg whites.
The equipment I use for making macarons can be found in my Amazon Storefront
Separate your eggs and weigh your egg whites in grams (100g egg whites). Let them sit at room temperature. I don’t recommend using carton/pasteurized egg whites because it will be more difficult to get a stiff and stable merengue.
Measure an equal weight of granulated sugar. Egg whites in grams = granulated sugar in grams (100g granulated sugar).
Optional: Mulitply the weight of the egg whites by 0.04 to calculate the amount of dried egg white powder (4g egg white powder). Stir that in with your granulated sugar. You can skip this step if you don’t have dried egg white powder. It helps with the stability of your merengue and fuller macaron shells. Another option for a more stable merengue is to add 1/4 tsp cream of tartar to the egg whites once you start whisking them.
Multiply the weight of the egg whites by 1.2. This is the weight of your sifted almond flour (120g almond flour).
Measure and sift the powdered sugar into the same bowl as the almond flour. Almond flour weight = powdered sugar weight (120g powdered sugar). Whisk them together.
Preheat your oven to 300F (150C). Make sure you preheat early so the oven has time to get to the right temperature. I recommend getting an oven thermometer to confirm the temperature. My oven runs 15 degrees hot so I have to set mine to 285F. I don’t recommend using the fan setting because it can make the macarons come out lopsided.
Wipe down your mixing bowl, whisk, silicone mats, spatula, and piping tip with white vinegar to remove any oily residue. Oil and water will ruin your merengue.
Add the room temperature egg whites to the bowl and mix on a low speed (2 on kitchenaid) until you see small frothy bubbles on the surface (about 5 min). If you are using a stand mixer and a small volume of egg whites you might need to turn the speed up a little to get the whites frothy. Add cream of tartar (optional).
Pour in half of the granulated sugar and continue to mix on low speed for 2 min. Pour in the other half of the sugar and turn up the mixer speed to medium low (4 on kitchenaid). Continue to mix on this speed for 10 min. At the end of this step, you should have soft peaks in your merengue.
Add in gel food coloring. Do not use any oil-based color!
Mix on medium high (6 on kitchenaid) for another 3-5 min until you have stiff peaks. The merengue should be glossy and you should see some sharp edges in the merengue when you lift up your whisk.
Add half of the almond flour and powdered sugar mixture to the merengue and gently fold in the dry ingredients.
Add in the other half of the dry ingredients and repeat the folding process until they are combined. I try not to deflate my merengue too much while mixing in the dry ingredients because at this point we could divide our batter and make different colors (insert tutorial link). Now it’s time to deflate the batter by pressing the batter against the bowl with the spatula, then folding the batter over from the bottom.
Continue this process until the batter flows off the spatula in a continuous ribbon and settles back into itself in the bowl.
Pour the batter into a piping bag fit with a #12 piping tip. If all of the batter does not fit in the bag, keep it covered with plastic wrap in the bowl to avoid letting it dry out,
Place a silicone baking mat on your baking tray. If your tray has sides, flip it upside down. You can also use parchment paper with a circle template underneath it,
Hold your piping bag vertically with the tip over the center of the circle. Squeeze the bag until enough batter flows out to reach the edge of the circle. Release the pressure on the bag and make a swirling motion with the piping tip as you lift up.
Pick up the tray and pat the bottom of it several times, or bang the tray on the counter 1-2 times to break up large air bubbles.
Pop visible air bubbles with a toothpick or scribe tool.
Let the macarons rest on the tray until they have formed a skin. You should be able to gently touch the top without having any batter stick to your finger. This will take anywhere from 15-60 minutes depending on the level of humidity where you live. This step is crucial for getting feet and avoiding cracked/volcano tops on your macarons.
Bake them at 300F (150C) for 18-20 min on a rack in the center of the oven. Bake only 1 tray at a time! Gently wiggle the top of a macaron to determine when they are done. If the top wiggles, bake them for another 1-2 min.
Let them cool fully before trying to remove them from the tray. If they are sticking, put the tray in the freezer for 5 min and then try to remove them (bake them a little longer next time).
Match them up in pairs of equal size and pipe the filling (I use american buttercream or chocolate ganache). I use a 1A piping tip for the filling.
Sandwich them together and place them in the fridge in an airtight container to mature for 24-48 hours. They will be good in the fridge for 5-7 days or in the freezer for 1-2 months.
Enjoy them at room temperature!
French Macarons
Macarons made with French merengue
Ingredients
- 100g room temperature egg whites
- 100g granulated sugar (equal weight to egg whites)
- 120g almond flour (egg white weight × 1.2)
- 120g powdered sugar (egg white weight × 1.2)
- 4 grams of egg white powder (egg white weight * 0.04) OR 1/4 tsp cream of tartar(optional)
- Gel food coloring (color of choice)
- Filling of choice (buttercream, ganache, jam, etc.)
Tools Used
- Kitchen scale
- Stand mixer with whisk attachment
- Mixing bowl
- Silicone mat or parchment paper
- Spatula
- Piping bags
- #12 piping tip (for macarons)
- Wilton 1A piping tip(for filling)
- Baking tray
- Fine mesh sieve
- Toothpick
Instructions
- Wipe down your mixing bowl, whisk, silicone mat, spatula, and piping tip with white vinegar to remove any oils or residue that can ruin your meringue.
- Weigh your ingredients with a kitchen scale. Separate your eggs and let egg whites sit at room temperature for 15 minutes. Weigh the granulated sugar and combine with egg white powder (if using).
- Sift the almond flour and powdered sugar together and combine with a whisk. Set aside.
- Whisk egg whites on low speed until frothy bubbles form. Add in half of the sugar and egg white powder mixture and mix on low speed for a few minutes.
- Add in the rest of the sugar and turn the mixer up to speed 4 for 10 minutes. Increase the speed to 6 for 3 minutes.
- Remove the whisk and swirl it around the bowl to check for stiff peaks. Add gel color and mix to combine (do not over mix).
- Pour in half of the almond flour and powdered sugar mixture. Gently fold until the dry ingredients are incorporated into the meringue. Add the rest of the dry ingredients and continue to incorporate.
- Use your spatula to press the batter against the side of the bowl. Continue this process until the batter flows off the spatula like a ribbon (macaronage).
- Pour the batter into a piping bag fitted with a #12 piping tip. Pipe the batter onto a baking tray lined with a silicone mat or parchment paper. If your tray has sides, flip it upside down to allow for better airflow.
- Tap the bottom of the tray to pop air bubbles. Use a toothpick to pop any bubbles on the surface. Leave the tray to rest at room temperature for 15 minutes.
- Bake at 300°F for 18-20 minutes. Cool completely before removing them from the mat.
- Pipe your filling using a Wilton 1A or 4B tip. Sandwich your macarons and put in the fridge to mature for 24-48 hours.
