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.
Hi! Following trouble with my macaroons: they do not develop any “foot”. They are not flat or runny, they cook very half-sphere like, that means they are much higher in the middle then on the sides. Any ideas? I’ve read somewhere the oven is running to hot, but i don’t think so. I’ve used “hot air” on 120 C for 20 minutes.Thank you!
Hi Lizzy, Can I ask if you used Ann’s recipe and have looked at Ann’s troubleshooting page? You can find it here: ttps://wellness-wave1.news/public_html/macaron-recipe-faq-troubleshooting/ . Usually a lack of foot would suggest that your oven may not be hot enough. Ann uses an oven pre-heated to 150C.
Hi Anne,
I tried this recipe and have tried many other recipes for macarons before this one. Your recipe is best. My macarons came out looking perfect. However they were too crispy. Shouldn’t macarons be a little soft and chewy at the center? Do I need to adjust the temperature of the oven or the timing? I have attached a photo to this comment to show you the macaron.
— viva —
I would love to make Passion Fruit macarons. How do I add the flavor to it?
Thanks
Hi Juliette, If you wish to flavour the filling, you can add reduced passionfruit juice or syrup to the frosting or ganachemix. If you wish to flavour the actual macaron you may find it dfficult to get a good result. Adding acidic liquid to a macaron mix can spoil the finished product. You would need to experiemnt, adding a small amount of reduced passionfruit juice to the macaron mix and seeing if you get enough flavour into the mix without negatively impacting the quality of the shells.
Great video but you keep calling them macaroons, they are macaron. Macaroons are a coconut biscuit.
Hi! I’ve attempted to make macarons a few times, but they keep turning out like this. They don’t develop any feet what-so-ever, and they aren’t very smooth. (however that could just a result of my bad piping!) Any suggestions on what’s going wrong?
Hi Paige, It is difficult to tell what is going wrong, but the shells in your photo suggest the mixture is undermixed. Check out Ann’s troubleshhoting page as well as that has quite a few tips: https://wellness-wave1.news/public_html/macaron-recipe-faq-troubleshooting/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
Hi! I heard that macaron shells freeze very well. How long could you freeze this recipe’s shells?
Thanks!
Hi Alyssa, a number of subscibers have frozen them but Ann hasn’t done it. We have heard they last well for a couple of weeks.
Hi Ann,my macarons look lovely,they had feet on them.but when i went to lift them off the shell cracked and i ended up with a gooey mesh. had to throw them out.
Hi Janet, They do look lovely, but it sounds like they were undercooked. Leave them for longer next time. Ann suggests that you test one before you take them out of the oven. Gently apply pressure to the top of one of the macrons. If there is any squish or softness internally, then they are definitely not ready.
Is there a way to save runny batter once the icing sugar and almonds are incorporated? I think I didn’t beat the egg whites for long enough and I don’t want to waste it!
Hi Alaina, Oh dear. Yu can’t save it or fix it unfortuantely. You could just bake it flat in a tray and use it as a base for a dessert or something like that.
Hi, I’m just wondering if you have any preferred brands? Ones that you find perhaps work a little better in making macaroons for this recipe…?
Hi Jemma, Ann likes to use whatever is readily available in the local area. She doesn’t currently recommend any particular brands.
How many macarons does this recipe make?!
Hi Chrysanthi, It makes 40 shells or 20 macarons piped at the size shown in the video.
Thank you very much for this amazing recipe! I’ve used it countless times and they have turned out perfect! Thank you 🙂
That is great to hear latoya! Thanks for the feedback.
Hi Ann. I’ve tried your recipe and followed everything. But mine came out cracked. What did I do wrong 🙁
Hi Margaret. Ann has a tutorial on troubleshooting macarons: https://wellness-wave1.news/public_html/macaron-recipe-faq-troubleshooting/%3C/a%3E .
From your photo, the macaroons looked cracked. This can be caused by air bubbles in the mix. Tapping or rapping the tray of piped macarons on the bench before cooking can help remove these. if you used different sugar from what the recipe it can create this problem. Were your macaroons nicely cooked on the inside? Sometimes if the oven is a little too hot they can cook quickly on the outside and not enough on the inside. Ovens can vary a lot so if you could try adjusting the temperature a little might help.
How many macarons does this recipe produce?
We ended up with about 18 large-ish macarons (36 pieces, 18 little sandwiches 🙂
Hi Olivia, depending how large you pipe your macarons, the mix will usually make about 40 shells or 20 filled macarons.
hey ann
i just wanted to know that can i half the recipie accordingly so that i dont get many macarons
I’ve read macaroon recipe. I hope I can do it perfectly
Thank you!!!Your tips helped so much!I must say that for first time making macarons they turned out almost perfect. A few had cracks but it doesn’t bother me. I would like to ask something.Don’t they have to rest for 1-2 hours before baking?I read it in other recipes.
Hi Xarakoula, Ann has tested resting the mix and not resting the mix and found it made no perceptible difference in the result.
Thank you so much! My first try the macarons turned out flat, after seaching everywhere for an answer your video finally told me what I had suspected. Lovely video, lovely site!
Thanks Kimberly!
Can you use hazel nut flour for making maccoorns?
Hi Carm, In principle any nut meal or flour should be able to be used, though the texture may not turn out as well.
Your recipe is VERY confusing
Hi Gail, Which bit is giving you trouble? If you have watched the video tutorial and maybe the troubleshooting tips( https://wellness-wave1.news/public_html/macaron-recipe-faq-troubleshooting/%3C/a%3E ) it usually clears up most questions but we would be happy to help if we can.
Can i replace some or all the almond meal with pistachio powder?
Yes Farah, Ann hasn’t tried it but in principle you could replace it with another nut meal or powder. Let us know how it goes.
I did try your recipe and it was great before baking it,but i think i did something wrong cause it turned out so strange .So can you tell me what i did wrong. I left it to rest for 30 min before baking maybe this is the reason
Hi Ola Hassan, Ann has a great tutorial for trouble shooting macarons. Check it out here: https://wellness-wave1.news/public_html/macaron-recipe-faq-troubleshooting/%3C/a%3E . From the look of the photo, there could be a couple of issues. The mixture may be a little under mixed and it also looks like your oven temp may have been a little low. If macarons have a skirt instead of a foot, it is usually a sign that the oven temp is a little low. Every oven is different, so put your temp up a bit for the next bake. Watch the troubleshooting guide and then have another go. Hope batch 2 are perfect.