Hello Everyone! Below you will find a mediocre video on how to make macarons (lol). It was my first time recording my baking process which was actually a lot harder than I expected. I learned a lot about camera angles and will improve on that for future videos, but I feel like this video gets the point across. Macarons can be a little tricky to make and I would say it took me about 20-30 trial and errors to get my technique down, so don’t feel discouraged if your first couple of tries don’t come out perfect. Speaking of, I actually changed my recipe since making the video so you will find that the one I have posted below is a little different than the one in the video. Both work, but the new one allows for a more consistent, full shell in my opinion. Enjoy and message me with questions!
Macaron Credit: Me
French Macaron Recipe
(Yield ~30 macarons)
Ingredients for Macaron Shell:
1 1/4 cup almond flour (spooned into cup)
1 1/2 cup powdered sugar (spooned into cup)
3 egg whites, aged and at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 pinch salt
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
Ingredients for my favorite Vanilla Buttercream:
3/4 cup unsalted butter (1.5 sticks), softened
3 cups powdered sugar (packed into cup)
1/4 cup soy or almond milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste to taste
1 teaspoon almond extract
salt (to taste)
Directions for Macarons:
1. Age your egg whites! 24-48 hours before you plan to make your macs, separate 3 large egg whites from yolks and place in a bowl covered with plastic wrap. I place this in the fridge to age, you can apparently also just leave it out on your counter, but that scares me. Bring to room temperature on the day you plan to make your macarons. If you don’t have time to age your egg whites, just make sure they are at room temperature before using.
2. Organize your supplies! Place parchment paper onto baking sheets and draw 1 inch round circles with pencil onto the bottoms on the parchment paper (If needed. You don’t have to draw the circles if you don’t want to). Prepare a piping bag with a large, round piping tip. Set all ingredients and measuring tools aside. (MISE EN PLACE!!!)
3. Measure powdered sugar and almond flour by spooning into measuring cups. Place into a food processor and blend until smooth, about 30 seconds.
4. Pour powdered sugar and almond mixture into a sifter and sift one time. Set aside.
5. Meringue timee! Place your aged egg whites, cream of tartar, and salt into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Blend at speed 2-4 until frothy and bubbly, then add your granulated sugar slowly.
6. Increase speed to 6 and whip until soft peaks form, then add vanilla extract, almond extract, and food coloring. Continue whipping and check meringue often until you just hit stiff peaks, then stop and remove from stand mixer.
7. Time for Macaronage! Pour half of your almond flour/powdered sugar mixture into the meringues and gently fold in using a rubber spatula until combined. Add the rest of the flour/powdered sugar and fold until. Once incorporated, continue to fold batter by swiping the edges of the bowl with the rubber spatula and then parting down the middle of the batter. You can also rub the batter onto the edges of the bowl. This releases some of the air bubbles. Check the consistency of your batter often by scooping up the batter with the rubber spatula and letting it fall down into a figure-eight pattern. If the batter falls in a smooth, consistent line, it is ready. If it falls in chunks, keep mixing. The batter should fall slowly like lava and should have a slightly grainy texture. If the batter falls quickly, or looks completely smooth, you have stirred too much and your batter is too thin. If you mess up, its okay! Bake the cookies anyways and that will help you troubleshoot batters in the future.
8. Place batter into piping bag and pipe 1-inch diameter round circles in even lines.
9. Tap the tray on the counter to release air bubbles! Use a toothpick to pop any remaining bubbles.
10. Let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes-2 hours to dry. To speed up this process, place next to a dehumidifier. Your cookies are ready to bake when you can rub your finger across the top without pulling the batter. They will be dull looking and dry.
11. BAKE! at 300 degrees Fahrenheit for 12-14 minutes. Your cookies are done when they are hard and remove easily from the sheet. Touch them slightly, if they wiggle at all or stick to the sheet keep baking!
12. Let cool, remove from baking sheet, match with a similar sized shell and fill!
13. Place in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 24 hours before enjoying! (SERIOUSLY DO THIS! Your cookie will absorb the moisture of the filling and become melt in your mouth delicious)
**Notes**
-Macarons are good for up to 1 week in the refrigerator and up to 6 months in the freezer. They freeze incredibly well and thaw out beautifully
-Let them sit at room temperature before eating! You can eat them cold but they are not as good.
-Use a small amount of the batter as glue to hold your parchment paper onto your baking sheet.
-If adding sprinkles, do so immediately after popping air bubbles. If you wait, they will not stick.
-Get creative with flavors!! You can use any flavored extract you want. If adding powdered flavors (like cocoa or matcha powder), add these to the food processor with your dry ingredients. If you add a lot of extra powder, remove an equivalent amount of flour or powdered sugar.
Directions for Buttercream:
1. Beat softened butter in a mixer until smooth.
2. Add powdered sugar and beat for about 1 minute.
3. Add milk, vanilla extract, almond extract and salt.
4. Beat until smooth and serve!
**Notes**
-If adding food coloring, use gel food color and add at the end.
-I use the paddle attachment of my mixer when whipping this frosting, it helps to beat out air bubbles.
-You could really use any milk or cream for this recipe. I like using almond or soy because it gives the frosting a lighter flavor.
Dreamy Life Bakery 