Easy French Macaron Recipe (Macaroons)
I am often asked why have my macarons failed?! Why are there no feet?! Why have the macaron shells cracked? And which recipe do you use for your macarons? So here it is… french macaron recipe and troubleshooting.
On a recent holiday I found a 200 year old cookbook on my mums bookshelf. It tells that King Henry VIII granted an estate in Leadenhall Street to a Mistress Cornewallies in reward for the fine puddings that she presented to him. Follow these easy steps to make macarons fit for a king. You will aquire such indulgence that is pleasing to the palate and if you’re lucky enough perhaps you too will be granted an estate!
The picture above shows the 200 year old macaron recipe. They called them almond puffs. Personally I prefer to make them using my electric mixer using the recipe below.
French Macaron Recipe Ingredients
4 large egg whites (or 5 small) approx 140g (4.94 ounces)
1/3 cup or 70g (2.47 ounces) caster sugar (also known as superfine sugar)
1 1/2 cups or 230g (8.11 ounces) pure icing sugar. IF you wish to use icing mixture INSTEAD of icing sugar you will need 1 3/4 cups or 275g (9.7 ounces) icing mixture
1 cup or 120g (4.23 ounces) almond meal
2g (0.07 ounces) salt (tiny pinch)
gel food colouring (optional) note too much liquid will make the macarons fail so if it is your first time making them try with no colour until you’ve got the technique sorted.
Macaron Recipe Directions
This recipe makes approximately 40 shells or 20 filled macarons
Preheat the oven to 150C (302 degrees Fahrenheit)
Sift the almond meal and icing sugar and salt together, discarding any almond lumps that are too big to pass through the sieve.
Place egg whites and caster sugar into a bowl and mix with electric mixer until stiff enough to turn the bowl upside down without it falling out. How long this takes will depend on you mixer.
Continue to whip for 1-2 more minutes.
Add gel or powdered food colouring and continue to mix for a further 20 seconds.
Fold the almond & sugar mixture into the egg whites. This is the most important step and where most first time macaron bakers have trouble.
It should take roughly 30-50 folds using a rubber spatula but obviously this will vary depending on your folding technique. The mixture should be smooth and a very viscous, not runny. Watch the video to see what you are going for. Over-mix and your macarons will be flat and have no foot, under mix and they will not be smooth on top. See the macaron troubleshooting post for examples.
Pipe onto trays lined with baking paper, rap trays on the bench firmly (this prevents cracking) and then bake in the oven for approximately 20 minutes. Make sure you are using NON-stick baking paper or they will stick. Check if the macarons are done by quickly opening the oven and slightly pressing on top of one – if it squishes down slightly it’s not yet ready, close the oven so the oven temp doesn’t change. Taking them out of the oven too soon will mean the insides will drop and you’ll have hollow shells.
PLEASE make sure you watch the macarons FAQ and troubleshooting video. This way you can learn from the mistakes and questions of those who have made them before you.
Filling your macaroons
My favorite is flavoured ganache, but you can use jam and cream, butter cream or just eat them plain.
Ganache Recipe
100g (3.53 ounces) chocolate
30ml cream
Bring the cream to the boil and pour over the chocolate. Let stand for a minute and then stir. If it is not adequately melted then microwave for 20 seconds and stir – repeat until smooth. Allow to cool and thicken before piping onto macarons.
More macaron recipes for you:
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Macaron trouble-shooting & FAQ
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nut free macarons
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orange choc macarons
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 macaron ice cream sandwich |
SEE ALL RECIPES |
chocolate macarons
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fun with macarons
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Salted Caramel Macarons
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My Cookbook
Stores that sell my book listed by country:
http://bit.ly/ARcookbook
All recipe quantities in the book are in grams, ounces and cups.
hey I wanted to make the ganache for the macaroons but I’m not sure what type of cream I need to use.
Thanks
heavy cream… (whipping cream)
Hi Cloudy, Ann uses pure cream, but this goes by different names across the world. This page will help you work it out for your area: https://wellness-wave1.news/public_html/cream-use/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
Hi Ann, just wondering (and apologies of it has already been answered) at what point is the pinch of salt incorporated into the recipe? couldn’t find it in the video tutorial. Thanks 🙂
Whoops, found it. added it to egg whites :s
Fab recipe – they were perfect. My advice – watch the video through twice. Take your time and follow the recipe to the letter. I actually counted folding the mixture 50 times and then compared my mixture to the video. The mixture makes lots of macarons so make sure you have a container handy!
Hi Jo, They look Fab!
Do the eggwhites have to be room temp, in order to peak properly?
Hi June, Ann has tried using eggs straight from the fridge and at room temperature but it really made no difference to how they peaked. The key is to make sure there is no fat or egg yolk in the mix.
heyyy
I tried to make macarons twice but it didn’t work out
the first time the batter got very runny even though I didn’t mix it that much then when I tried to pipe it, it was to runny and it got all over the parchment paper when I baked them and took them out it was cracked , it didn’t have the foot and when I tried to take it off the parchment paper it was not all getting off the parchment paper.
the second time the batter was not runny , it piped out ok , it was not very runny and allover the parchment paper and it looked fine but when I baked it , it was cracked , it didn’t have the foot and when I tried to take it off the parchment paper it was not all getting off the parchment paper.
I want to get this recipe right
can you give me some tips for next time?
and what I did wrong?
thanks! 🙂
Hi alisha.a, Try checking this page out first. It has some common macaron issues and how to troubleshoot them: https://wellness-wave1.news/public_html/macaron-recipe-faq-troubleshooting/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
Hi..thanks for the recipe and troubleshooting..i hve tried many attempts to make this but failed..and cant wait to try your recipe..but i have some questions in mind..hope you dont mind to answer it
1-is it still okay if i cut down the ratio coz im afraid if it didnt come out perfectly it will be a waste..
2-is it ok to use liquid food colouring
3- most of the recipes tht i have looked before stressed on letting the macarons rest until it doest stick to your hand when you touched it before it goes to the oven (my attempt before almost take bout 4 hours)..but in your post..doest state anything about resting the macarons..after piping it can go to the oven..is it like that?
Thank you for ur attention 🙂
Hi Anna, In answer to your questions: 1. You could make a quarter batch with one egg, but don’t use colouring. 2. If you are making a full batch you can use a very tiny amount of liquid colour for a pale colour effect. The colouring is often what will wreck Macrons, so if you have to use liquid colour use the minimum. 3. Ann has tested both resting and not resting the mix and found it makes no difference to the end result, so you don’t have to do it.
What is the difrence between Casper sugar and icing sugar?
I mean caser sugar.
I mean caster sugar
caster sugar is granulated sugar- but finer. You can put granulated sugar in your food processor and grind it a bit. Icing sugar is powdered sugar.
I was just wondering what ‘rap trays on bench’ means?
thanks
Hi CW, Ann means to lightly tap or lightly bang the tray on the bench to knock the air bubbles out.
It just means to pick up the tray a little and hit it against the table to get rid of air bubbles
Hi Ann :)) I love ur recipes especially the macaron one cos their so easy to follow so thanks so much 😀 however, do you mind helping me identify the problem with my macaron? Because they just doesn’t look like one thanks 🙂
Eileen
Hi Eileen, Firstly check your ingredients match the recipe. The mix should look smooth, so it makes me wonder if the recipe was followed. Then it looks from the photo that your macron mix could be a little under mixed. There may also be an issue with your oven temp. This page has lots of troubleshooting tips for Macrons: https://wellness-wave1.news/public_html/macaron-recipe-faq-troubleshooting/%3C/a%3E. Better luck with the next batch.
Frist time making them and i had my oven at 107 becusea my oven dose not go lower then that then i realized my oven it ferinhight so i needed to change it so i did well they were still in there and i dont really know what happened to them what should they taste like ? I though they were yummy but they are a tad chewy are they ment to be ? Any tips on what to do i have to perfect them be for July
Hi emily, macarons are really picky about oven temp so I am not surprised that you had trouble. Looks like they are a tiny bit undermixed, try another batch with your oven at the right temp, or if you’re wanting the practice just make a quarter batch at a time.
I’m very interested in the 200 year old cookbook. Will you please provide the name? I will move mountains to find a copy!! I’m studying how preparing Fooda had changed through the centuries. Thank you!.,
Hi Alyssa, the cookbook belongs to Ann’s mum and says FAMILY COOK on the spine, it is this book here… http://books.google.com.au/books?id=DtsqAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA3&lpg=PA3&dq=%22in+the+primitive+ages+of+the+world,+when+the+preservation+of+human+existence%22&source=bl&ots=ZHKnL17Non&sig=-oXkld5zCkG2RpGCEn7apDBcF5o&hl=en&sa=X&ei=2YL2ULf_GKetiAfP7oHICg&ved=0CDIQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22in%20the%20primitive%20ages%20of%20the%20world%2C%20when%20the%20preservation%20of%20human%20existence%22&f=false
You might also enjoy this link http://www.angelfire.com/md3/openhearthcooking/aaCookbook1800.html
Made these! My first try!!
They look so good Janay. Well done!
I will be trying my hand at the very difficult French macarons I’m really excited!!! I love your videos! I can’t afford to go to a culinary class and ur video are seriously the next best thing so thank you for being so detailed and taking the time to make these videos
Thanks Janay.
how to store that and how long does it last until it becomes spoiled? thx
Hi Zey, Whenever Ann makes these they all get eaten. If you keep the shells unfilled you can store them in an airtight container for a week or two. If they are filled you can potentially freeze them though Ann has not not tried this herself.
Can I freeze macaroons
Hi Alisonj, Ann hasn’t tried it but apparently you can. Her macarons always get eaten same day!
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for the perfect miracle recipe! my friend and i have nearly lost hope in making macarons after 5 failed attempts using other recipes… and not to mention the 8 hours lost each time making them. We thought well give it a last shot with your recipe… and my oh my! It was amazing! Our partners… family… friends.. everyone! Loved it and asked for more! They were so perfect and have not failed once since that special day. Youve lifted our spirits and gave us the joy of baking again hehe 😀
My brother is a vegan. Ive tried a vegan macaron recipe but again, failed miserably. I was wondering if you could do a tutorial on vegan macarons? He was the only one who couldnt try these amazing beauties!
Cheers
Tu
Hi Tu, Thanks for the awesome feedback! Unfortunately Ann doesn’t have a Macaron recipe suitable for Vegans. Let us know if you find a good one!
This post popped up in my search for a macaroon recipe. You should remove “(macaroons)” from the title as these are not macaroons. They are macarons — there’s a big difference between the two.
Good day,
thank you so much for the video and tips – it helped me tremendously in my firt atempt at macarons. I do how ever seem to have a problem. My macarons came out looking perfectly – but are hollow on the inside. Can you perhaps give some advice as to what I could have done wrong?
Hi Mercia, Ann talks about this issues in her troubleshooting blog. Check it out here: https://wellness-wave1.news/public_html/macaron-recipe-faq-troubleshooting/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
Can you use all purpose flour and if I use regular sugar will it be a problem or does it have to be caster sugar ?
You can’t use all-purpose flour. You can use granulated sugar and just grind them into finer crystals using a food processor
My macrons cracked even though I bang it several of time to the table
And they turned brown even I didn’t put colour in it
Hi Lyn, It looks like the oven may be a little on te hot side. Next time reduce the temperature a little or place an empty tray on the top shelf of the oven and then your tray of piped macarons on the middle tray underneath.
What size do you make your macarons?
If you use a template can you give me the link.