French Macarons Recipe & 14 Tips on How to Make French Macarons

Sharing with you a French Macarons Recipe that has been very successful for me. I am including a list of the tips for successful French Macarons that I adhere to and a video showing you my French Macaron recipe and step by step procedure for making these delightful treats.

Oh my heavens, I have been planning to share this recipe and video with you for months now…but as my good buddy Robert Burns said (oh, a mere 233 years ago), “The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry.”

But, I will not allow myself to leave this chair until this post is written today so that I can get it into your hands and show you how to make French Macarons step by step yourself. (yeah, so that didn’t happen…I did leave the chair and it’s been 2 days since I started writing this post…welcome to my world of late)

Macaron vs Macaroon: What’s the Difference?

Oh, and let’s get this little bit of housekeeping out of the way, we are talking Macarons here, not Macaroons. French Macarons (with ending syllable sounding like on)are the little French treat comprised of air-filled, crunchy and slightly chewy tops and bottoms filled with some sort of yumminess while Macaroons (rhyming with moons) are heavier and often made with coconut.

A French Macaron Recipe is one of those that intimidate even the veteran home chef. And granted, they have earned their reputation as being a little finicky…egg whites need to just be at the perfect temperature, pastry bag needs to be held perfectly vertical to your cookie sheet, they need to ‘rest’ for a bit before they go in the oven, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.

I have included 14 Tips I follow to increase the likelihood of successful macarons towards the bottom of the post, as well as the video showing the step by step process I use to make macarons.  Make sure to check them out.

How to make the best French Macaron Recipe: Equipment Needed

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No beating around the bush here, any French Macaron recipe is a little equipment intensive. I would consider all of these, with the exception of the mats, necessary for successful macarons.

• Kitchenaid Stand Mixer.  This is the one I have and at this writing it is actually a really good price on Amazon…cheaper than I bought it on sale at Costco!
• Kitchen Scale  …I recently purchased this one after my previous one died.  It had served us well…weighing out compost for science experiments in addition to it’s more typical kitchen tasks.
• Sifter or Fine Mesh Colander
• Piping Bags
• Piping Tips (1A for macaron shells. The tip size is not as important for the ganache, but you don’t want a wee one)
• Macaron Baking Mats

French Macaron Recipe with Espresso Chocolate Ganache

Yield: 30 macarons

Prep Time: 1 hour 48 minutes

Cook Time: 12 minutes

Additional Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 2 hours 30 minutes

An easy and reliable step by step recipe for French Macaron and Espresso Chocolate Ganache. Different flavors and color can be added as desired.

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Ingredients

Macarons

• 300 grams finely ground almond flour, about 3 1/2 cups
• 300 grams powdered sugar, about 2 2/3 cups
• 110 grams egg whites, at room temperature, about 4 eggs
• 110 grams egg whites, at room temperature, about 4 eggs
• 200 grams white caster sugar or granulated sugar run through a food processor, about 1 cup
• 1/4 tsp color (optional)
• 2 TBSP espresso powder (optional)

Chocolate Espresso Ganache

• 10 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chips or broken up bar
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 tsp instant espresso powder (optional)
• 1 TB Kahlua (optional)

Instructions

Macaron

1. Weigh out almond flour
2. Sift and weigh out powdered sugar
3. Add almond flour and powdered sugar to the bowl of a food processor and pulse several times to combine. Do not mix too much or almond flour will get sticky. If using espresso powder, add now.
4. Weight out first 110 grams of egg whites and whisk slightly
5. Fold egg whites into almond/powdered sugar blend and fold together with the spatula until paste forms. Do not overmix. Set aside.
6. Beat egg whites on high in an electric mixer until 'bubbly', then add sugar.
7. Continue to beat until hard peaks form when you hold the whisk up...approximately 15 minutes. Check after 10 minutes and then every minute until a hard peak.
8. If adding food coloring add now and beat just until incorporated.
9. Gently fold half of the meringue mixture into the batter and then the second half. Continue to fold until mixture resembles a molten lava consistency or if it ribbons when held above the bowl with a spatula. Alternately, add a dollop to a plate, if the peak falls and the macaron is a slight convex, you are ready to go.
10. Fill a piping bag, fitted with a 1A tip, with macaron batter.
11. Carefully pipe similarly sized circles onto a silicone mat or parchment paper. If using a silicone mat, ensure that mats are clean and dry.
12. Hold piping bag perfectly perpendicular to the mat, gently pushing up and down (see video)
13. When finished, slam the baking sheets onto the counter a few times to get all of the air bubbles out.
14. If using sprinkles, add now while macarons are still damp.
15. Let macarons rest for at least 30-45 minutes before baking. Touch tops of macarons to ensure that they are dry before putting in the oven.
16. Preheat oven to 325'. Convection ovens are great for macarons.
17. Bake for 10-14 minutes...1 tray at a time.
18. Let cool for 10-15 minutes and peel off the mat by bending mat away from the macaron.
19. Store in freezer or refrigerator.

Chocolate Espresso Ganache

1. Put the chocolate in a heatproof bowl
2. In a small saucepan, heat the cream until bubbles appear around the edge
3. Remove from the heat and add espresso powder, stir to dissolve
4. Pour hot cream over the chocolate and let stand for one minute
5. Stir the chocolate until melted and smooth
6. Add the Kahlua and stir to incorporate
7. Let stand at room temperature

Notes

Both macarons and ganache can be made ahead of time and stored separately. Freeze the macarons for up to 6 months and refrigerate the ganache for up to one month.

Recommended Products

As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.

• 
  Nature's Eats Blanched Almond Flour, 64 Ounce
• 
  MEDAGLIA D'ORO Medaglia D'Oro Instant Espresso Coffee, 2 Ounces (Pack of 12) (452410-00091)
• 
  Callebaut 7030 70.4% Dark Bittersweet Chocolate Callets 5 lbs
• 
  Macaron Silicone Baking Mats - Two Half Non Stick Sheet Mats - Large BPA Free Professional Grade Liner Sheets - Perfect Mat for making Cookies Macaroons, Bread and Pastry
• 
  Cake Decorating Icing Tip, Cupcake Piping Tip - #1A Round - Stainless Steel - 1ct - Restaurantware
• 
  PREMIUM QUALITY-Heavy Duty Disposable piping bags-100 Icing Bags Extra Thick[16-Inch] royal icing.Cake Decorating Kit/Cake Decorating Supplies with 6 Piping Tips BONUS Bag Ties & Icing Tips coupler.
• 
  Cuisinart FP-11SV Elemental Food Processor, Silver
• 
  KitchenAid KP26M1XNP 6 Qt. Professional 600 Series Bowl-Lift Stand Mixer - Nickel Pearl
• 
  Kitchen Scale with Waterproof Glass Surface, 33lb Digital Food Scale Weight Grams and oz for Baking Cooking, Touch Button, 0.1oz Precise Graduation, Tare Function, 6 Unit, Batteries and Towel Included

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 24 Serving Size: 2
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 322Total Fat: 20gSaturated Fat: 7gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 12gCholesterol: 73mgSodium: 51mgCarbohydrates: 29gFiber: 4gSugar: 22gProtein: 9g

Did you make this recipe?

It would be great if you could take a minute and leave a comment below, as well as how many stars you think it deserves. Help other readers by asking any questions you have or sharing any modifications to the recipe. I'd love to hear how you served it! If you are on Instagram, then tag @nourishandnestle on Instagram and hashtag it #nourishandnestle! Many Thanks

Well, number one…pride.  And the challenge of it.  Honestly, I have made 4-5 batches using this French Macaron recipe and only had one sheet come out bad because I realized I didn’t ‘drop’ the cookie sheet to release the air…they ended up being a little puffy.  But that being said, they were still pretty good to munch on!

And two, three, four, five, etc…  Because they are just so…cool and a little impressive! Imagine serving them at your next party, or gifting them to friends, or as a party favor!  These little boxes held 2 macarons perfectly.

14 tips on How To Make the Best French Macarons Recipe:

1. Have all ingredients at room temperature
2. Use a kitchen scale and measure all ingredients precisely
3. For meringue, instead of caster or extra-fine sugar, you can process granulated sugar through a food processor.
4. You can check to see if the batter is appropriately mixed by seeing if it ‘ribbons’ when held up by the spoonful and it is allowed to run off of the spoon. Alternately, you could put a small dollop on a tray and if the peak ‘dissolves’ so that the top is slightly convex without any peaks.
5. While I haven’t done it with this recipe and have always had success, for my next batch I will be adding a pinch or two to the sugar when I add it to the egg whites for the meringue. The cream of tartar really helps stabilize the egg whites.
6. Hold the piping bag perpendicular to the mat
7. Let macarons rest for 30-45 minutes before baking
8. Use an oven thermometer
9. Use a convection oven if possible
10. Put one tray in at a time…if you are not sure of your oven temperature reliability, you might consider only piping a couple for the first baking to make sure that they don’t turn brown while baking. This will slow down the process but will increase the likelihood of success.
11. Don’t open the oven until you are ready to remove your macarons.
12. If they stick to your mat, they are probably a wee bit undercooked…make a note to add a few more minutes the next time.
13. The tops and bottoms can be baked in advance as they freeze beautifully!
14. Jot down notes on your recipe when you nail down your perfect oven temperature and baking time.

So if you want to try your hand at macaron baking, then give this French Macaron Recipe a try! Bookmark this page or pin the following image for your future reference.

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