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
An easy and reliable step by step recipe for French Macaron and Espresso Chocolate Ganache. Different flavors and color can be added as desired. 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. As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.French Macaron Recipe with Espresso Chocolate Ganache
Ingredients
Macarons
Chocolate Espresso Ganache
Instructions
Macaron
Chocolate Espresso Ganache
Notes
Recommended Products
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
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:
- Have all ingredients at room temperature
- Use a kitchen scale and measure all ingredients precisely
- For meringue, instead of caster or extra-fine sugar, you can process granulated sugar through a food processor.
- 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.
- 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.
- Hold the piping bag perpendicular to the mat
- Let macarons rest for 30-45 minutes before baking
- Use an oven thermometer
- Use a convection oven if possible
- 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.
- Don’t open the oven until you are ready to remove your macarons.
- 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.
- The tops and bottoms can be baked in advance as they freeze beautifully!
- 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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Until next time…
Hugs,

Thank you so much. I have wanted to tackle this for some time, but frankly nervous about producing a successful great macaron. I feel very privileged to have found your blog and I love the way you describe and present your material. It makes the person on the other end “feel” like they can do it.
Oh Laura, you just made my day! More than anything I do hope to encourage my reader family that if I can do it, so can you! And hearing from you that I might have succeded a wee bit filled my heart! I am privileged to have you as a reader my friend.
Please do let me know how your macaron adventure goes!
Hugs, Lynn
Lynn my girl is always on the lookout for the perfect macaron recipe. I have to share this one with her and hopefully get to taste your wonderful recipe.
Oh you lucky girl! Even better than baking macarons is someone to bake them for you.
Just returned from a whirlwind weekend in NYC! Such a fun time. I know you are enjoying being back.
Hugs, Lynn
Thanks for this great post 🙂 I reaaally wanna try making macarons, but I get so disappointed if I fail in the kitchen and I’m really scared. One of these days I will try, though. I bookmarked this post – thanks for all the details. I’ll get back here once I tried them 😀
Oh Vera, really enjoy making these treats…and what’s the worst that can happen…right?
Do try them out and let me know just how great you did!
Hugs, Lynn