Easy Step by Step Macaron Recipe for Beginners

If you think macarons are too hard to make at home, try this recipe! This is the perfect, easy recipe for beginners to begin to understand how these delicious treats come together.

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These are not perfect yet (yes, I made those in the pic above)...BUT....they are delicious and not too bad for the third time I've made them (ok, four, but the first attempt was such a disaster I don't count it. I'll share that story at the end). I hope to get better at this process and, in the meantime, I will continue to "try to improve" and torture myself with eating the attempts. 😉

Macarons are a tricky little treat and there are SO MANY different recipes and tips out there. I've read quite a few and after the first disaster, I tried another version with quite a bit of success. It also impressed my friends and family so hey, I'll take it!

I thought I would share my journey and process so others will at least give it a try. I promise, it's not hard, but you do have to FOLLOW THE STEPS.

Here's my process/recipe. My inspiration is from this pin Patty|Cake. I changed some steps but mostly followed her's (thank you!). Also remember, everyone's oven is different, pan is different, climate is different, so you may have to adjust as needed. Oh, one more thing...SIFTING is your friend, don't skip it!

Ingredients: 

1 cup powdered sugar

¾ cup almond flour, SIFTED (*see post HERE for instructions on how to make your own almond flour)

2 large egg whites, room temperature (click HERE for an idea of what to do with the yolks!)

¼ teaspoon cream of tartar 

¼ cup superfine sugar (*also made my own, see post HERE for instructions)

¼ teaspoon clear vanilla extract

gel food coloring

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 and line baking sheets with parchment or silicone mat 

2. SIFT together the almond flour and powdered sugar. Discard any lumps in sifter, do not force through. (tip: your almond flour should be as dry as possible, you may need to spread out on a baking sheet and allow it to dry for 1-2 hours).

3. Put room temperature egg whites in mixer starting on low speed and moving to medium speed until foamy and add cream of tartar

4. Once you have soft peaks, add the superfine sugar. Continue to whisk until stiff peaks form.

Pictures are Foamy-> Soft-> Stiff.

5. Add the vanilla and food coloring and continue to mix until all of the color is mixed in.

6. SIFT the flour and sugar mix once again into the egg whites and discard any lumps in sifter.

7. Fold just until everything is combined, do not overfold. I use a silicone spatula that works very well. The mixture will be sticky and slightly lumpy and should have a lava like consistency when you tip the bowl.

Pictures are sugar/almond flour mix->sifted into batter->folded batter.

8. Put the batter in a pastry bag or macaron dispenser (see photo below, Amazon has a bunch to choose from). Try to get all the air out of bag before you start and then pipe with the bag straight up, you'll figure out what works best for you 😁. I don't use a stencil which is why my macarons are not all the exact same size, but you can if you want to.

9. Turn the oven down to 325. Don't add pans too soon or the macarons will brown so be sure it cools down enough.

10. Tap the pan on the countertop...A LOT, you might see bubbles come up and that's what you want. Let the pans sit for 15-20 minutes and do not touch or tap anymore or you will get cracks or holes.

11. Bake for 10 minutes, one pan at a time and rotate once after the first 5 minutes. Let the macarons rest on the pan for 10 minutes and then transfer to wire rack.

12. Once cooled, make your favorite filling and place in a pastry bag with a round tip.

Fill a circle around the edge of one half of a cookie and place the second half gently on top. Be careful not to push too hard or you will smash your beautiful creation. Enjoy!

Pictures are macaroon dispenser-> pre-tapped batter-> finished product!

**Update (3/7/19): As you can see in the picture above, my macarons had a small peak at the top that didn't quite settle. There are two possibilities for this: 1. the batter needed a little more folding or 2. I needed to pat the pan on the counter a few more times before allowing them to rest. Like I said, I'm still learning, but it's also fun and tasty to make progress!

Swiss Meringue Buttercream Filling

Below is a recipe for a buttercream filling also from the same post which used a Martha Stewart recipe. The egg ratio was adjusted and I added some powdered sugar to mine, but you don't have to, it's good either way.

Ingredients:

1 large egg white

¼ cup sugar

¼ tsp. salt 

1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature and cubed

½ tsp clear vanilla or almond extract

¾ cup powdered sugar (optional)

Directions:

1. Make a double boiler and whisk sugar and egg white in heat safe mixing bowl over a pan of simmering water. Whisk by hand until the sugar is melted and when you rub the mixture between your fingers and you can’t feel any granules. 

2. Place in mixer and whisk at low speed first, then medium until it's a stiff, shiny ribbon like consistency. Touch the bottom of the pan to make sure it's cool, then you know it's ready. If it's not cool, your butter will melt and the filling will be runny. Be Patient 😬

3. Switch to low speed again and add cubes of butter a little at a time making sure it is combined after each addition.

4. Add food coloring and salt and vanilla or almond extract. Increase speed until everything is combined.

5. Add powdered sugar if you would like, I found it added a little more substance and made the butter flavor more subtle.

My first attempt story....UGH.

When I decided to make macarons, I asked my mom to buy me a macaron baking set for christmas. Ha! If I had the right tools I was halfway there, right?? So the kit arrived via Amazon and I looked on Pinterest for a recipe, picked one at random, and went for it.

I don't remember what recipe I tried, I thought they were all the same. And I thought, "I make pretty good desserts, how hard can it be?"Boy was I wrong! My first mistake was the almond flour. I went to my local fancy grocery store, saw almond flour and bought it. I think it was like $15 but I was so sure I was going to make amazing macarons I bought it. This is what I bought:

The problem was, it was almond flour from whole almonds with the skin still on. So not only was it heavier, but it had a mixed color, brown and white. I just added it, and it was the beginning of the end. The batter was so lumpy and heavy, it didn't even form a circle, I just had globs of glob on the pan. You could see the pieces of almond skin and it wasn't pretty. I wish I had taken a picture of the disaster because in hindsight, it's pretty funny. I still have most of the $15 bag of almond flour in cupboard, destined to collect dust because I have no idea what to do with it. Maybe I'll think of something...

Another update 3/7/19, see my post HERE for what I did with this flour, it's a good one!

After that, I gave up for a while, but finally decided I love macarons so much that I had to try again. Thank goodness I didn't give up, I'm really enjoying trying to get it close to perfect. I've already found some helpful pins with tips and pointers so check out my pinterest board, I'll also update with my next attempt!

Check out my recipe for Pistachio Macarons HERE, just as easy but with added ground pistachios!