Basic French Macarons

Is there a nicer treat than the French macaron? These delicate little cookies are so colorful and dainty. They put up the slightest resistance when you bite in with a little crunch followed by a soft chewy center and then a sweet layer of filling. This guide to basic macaron shells provides plenty of tips and techniques to achieve a consistently delicious macaron.

I didn’t know a coconut macaroon from a French macaron until a few years ago. I took 4 years of French in high school but French macarons never came up. Or if they did, my mind was somewhere else because, you know, high school. But I lost all excuses for my ignorance when I spent a macaron-free summer studying abroad in France. In my defense, I was broke and living off baguettes, falafel, and cheap red wine.

It wasn’t until I was living in Pittsburgh of all places that I finally met the cookie of my dreams. My coworkers and I went out to lunch one day and the cafe had a beautiful display of tarts, pastries, cakes, and huge macarons. My coworkers were stunned that I had never had one and insisted that I try one for lunch. So I did. My mind was blown. The rest is history.

It took me a few years between trying that first macaron and actually attempting to make my own. I was incredibly intimidated and overwhelmed by the online recipes and warnings that I would fail. But I forged on ahead and came back with results that were mediocre at best. I tweaked the recipe over and over again while going through all of the macaron troubleshooting guides I could find. After what felt like endless trial and error, I finally have a recipe I love and use every time.

Below are several tips and helpful notes to read before attempting the recipe, followed by the recipe itself. This recipe is a bare bones version without additional flavorings or colors. Consider it a blank canvas for whatever colors and flavors you choose; the possibilities are endless! I’ll post additional recipes for flavored macarons in the future.

Big Picture:

• If you don’t already have one, please please please purchase a kitchen scale! Macarons require a certain amount of precision that is hard to achieve when you can’t properly measure your ingredients. This scale is the one I use, it’s $11 and can arrive tomorrow if you have Prime.
• Be patient. Rushing through steps will create problems.
• Go easy on yourself and have fun. Cracked shells still taste great. Frosting covers all manners of sin.
• I like to keep the powdered sugar to almond flour ratio equal. Some recipes add more powdered sugar to help stabilize the batter, but I find that this results in overly sweet cookies.
• The batter should be piped onto a silicone mat or parchment paper.
• With so few ingredients, making beautiful macarons mainly comes down to technique. Through practice and trial and error, you will develop enough muscle memory to produce consistent results.

Whipping Egg Whites:

• Whip the egg whites in a clean bowl. Any water, grease, or egg yolks will prevent the egg whites from reaching stiff peaks.
• When it comes to stiff peaks, moisture is the enemy. This is why it is best to avoid adding any liquid flavors or colors.
• You will know your egg whites have reached stiff peaks when they are holding onto the whisk in the mixer, slightly pulling away from the bowl, and when you can hold the mixing bowl upside down without any movement from the egg whites.

Color:

• I use gel food coloring. I wouldn’t use liquid coloring because that would result in too much moisture and inhibit the egg whites from reaching stiff peaks. I have never used powdered coloring, but I’m sure they would work.

Flavor:

• Relying on fillings for flavor is your best bet because it does not mess with the integrity of the macaron shells.
• If you are going to flavor the shells, using dried spices like cinnamon and nutmeg or cocoa powder work well.
• If you are going to add liquid extracts, try to do so towards the end while stirring the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Adding it too soon could compromise the egg whites. Also, make sure you carefully stir the extracts in well because adding the liquid at the end can cause clumps of dried ingredients.

Technique:

• I know it seems annoying and redundant, but pulsing the dry ingredients in a food processor for 10 to 20 seconds AND then sifting the mixture into a bowl will help get rid of sneaky lumps of dry ingredients.
• Don’t keep the dry ingredients in the food processor too long, you don’t want the almond flour releasing too much oil.
• When mixing the dry ingredients in with the wet ingredients, it’s important to not over-mix and knock all of the air out of the meringue, but don’t be too intimidated, if you don’t sufficiently smooth out the batter, the shells with crack.
• I mix the dry ingredients into the meringue a third at a time, making circular stirs and then cutting down the middle and scooping the bottom up. See the video below.
• The batter is sufficiently mixed once it continuously flows off the stirrer in a “V” shape making ribbons that dissolve into the batter after 10 to 20 seconds. See the video below.
• When piping, try to keep your hand steady and use decisive movements. Pipe the macarons onto the mats by lightly hovering about a centimeter over the mat, keeping your hands still, and piping out enough to create even circles. You’re not making a circle motion, but just hovering close enough to the mat that the batter spreads on its own. See the video below.
• Waiting for a skin to dry over the shells is very important because it keeps the shells from splitting open and instead allows them to grow up instead of out creating those cute little macarons feet that show a job well done. I’ve seen many recipes saying this step only takes 15-20 minutes, but in my experience it takes much longer so be patient!

Bake Time:

• I usually bake my macarons at 320 for 14 minutes. However, oven times vary quite a bit and cook time will also depend on how large of a macaron shell you’re making. I usually aim for about a one-inch diameter.
• It’s better to over-bake rather than under-bake the shells.
• If the shells are slightly overdone, assemble and then just wait a day or two, the filling will result in a “maturation” of the shells, softening the shells enough to achieve the desired consistency.

Ingredients:

• Aging the egg whites: Many people swear by the process of aging the egg whites. This simply means separating out the egg whites and allowing some of the moisture from them to evaporate over the course of 1-6 days in the fridge. I confess I do not always do this, because sometimes spontaneity is the spice of life and planning ahead doesn’t always work. So by all means, if you can age your egg whites, do. But if you can’t, it’s not the end of the world.
• Make sure the egg whites are at room temperature before starting.
• Almond flour: make sure you’re using blanched almond flour without the skins as they produce a somewhat lumpy top. My favorite almond flour is the Costco kind because it’s nice and fine, and so much cheaper than most others.
• My secret ingredient for stabilizing the egg whites is a quarter teaspoon of powdered egg whites, like these. This is not to be confused with meringue powder. Egg whites are the only ingredient. If you don’t have or can’t find them, you can swap in cream of tartar .
• Leftover egg yolks can be used to make a key lime pie, pastry cream or custard, lemon curd, as an egg wash, or whatever else comes to mind.

Print Recipe

Basic French Macarons

Course

Dessert

Cuisine

French

Keyword

French Macarons, Macarons

Servings

cookies

Ingredients

• 167 grams powdered sugar
• 167 grams blanched almond flour
• 4 large egg whites at room temperature
• 100 grams sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon dried egg whites or cream of tartar

Course Dessert Cuisine French Keyword French Macarons, Macarons Servings cookies Ingredients 167 grams powdered sugar 167 grams blanched almond flour 4 large egg whites at room temperature 100 grams sugar 1/4 teaspoon dried egg whites or cream of tartar

Instructions

1. In a food processor, combine powdered sugar and almond flour, as well as any dry ingredients used to flavor the shells such as cocoa powder or spices. Pulse for about 10 to 20 seconds.
2. Sift the powdered sugar and almond flour mixture from the food processor into a separate bowl to removing any remaining lumps. Set aside.

   
3. Stir granulated sugar and dried egg whites together in a separate bowl and then set it aside by the electric mixer.
4. Add room temperature egg whites to perfectly clean stand mixer and turn mixer onto medium speed. I usually use speed 4 on my KitchenAid.
5. Once the egg whites are frothy, start adding the sugar/dried egg whites, a third at a time, about a minute apart.
6. Once the egg whites are at soft peaks, it's time to add any food colorings, but use a gel coloring rather than a traditional liquid coloring to control for moisture.

   
7. Continue mixing egg whites until stiff peaks form.

   
8. While the egg whites whip up, insert a wide piping tip into a piping bag. Set out baking sheets with silicone mats or parchment paper.
9. Once the egg whites are at the point of stiff peaks, remove the bowl from the mixture and add a third of the dry ingredients. By hand, make about 10-15 stirs around the outside of the bowl, and then cut down the middle, making sure to incorporate the bottom of the bowl.
10. Add another third of the dry ingredients and repeat the 10-15 stirs again.
11. Add the remaining dry ingredients and continue stirring until the dry ingredients are fully incorporated and the mixture runs off in ribbons that hold their shape against the batter for a few seconds before reincorporating into the rest of the mixture. The batter should slowly fall of the stirrer in a continuous "V" shape.
12. Gently move the batter into the piping bag and snip off the tip of the bag. Setting the bag in a pint glass is helpful.

    
13. Pipe the macarons onto the mats by lightly hovering about a centimeter over the mat, keeping your hands still, and piping out enough to create even circles. You're not making a circle motion, but just hovering close enough to the mat that the batter spreads on its own.
14. Pipe out the entire tray, then tap the bottom of the tray about 5 times on each side, then another 5 in the middle to pop air bubbles.
15. Use a sharp knife or toothpick to pop any visible bubbles.

    
16. Continue the process with the remaining batter and trays.
17. Leave the macarons to dry enough for a slight skin to form on the top. Depending on the humidity in your home, this could take 25 minutes to and hour or more. Be patient. Once you can gently pet the top of the shells without any batter sticking to your finger, they should be ready to bake.
18. Preheat over to 330.
19. If there is a tray that isn't full, bake this one first. For whatever reason, if I ever have a tray that doesn't come out like the others, it's the first one into the oven.
20. Bake each tray on its own for about 14 minutes. It's better to over-bake a bit than under-bake.
21. Allow the shells to fully cool.
22. Find a mate for each shell that is as close to the same size as possible. If you end up having to combine slightly mismatched shells, apply the filling to the smaller of the two shells to avoid a mess.
23. Once the shells each have a mate, gently pipe the filling onto one side and then gently press the two shells together with a little twist.