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.
I’ve recently just made the macarons from this recipe how come the shells I made has no feet?
Hi Wen Cheng. See here for Ann’s trouble shooting tips: https://wellness-wave1.news/public_html/macaron-recipe-faq-troubleshooting/%3C/a%3E . Usually the lack of a foot means that you may need to increase your oven temperature a little.
Hi Ann, thank you for sharing your recipes. I tried the macaroon recipe 3 times and keep having cracks on them. I rapt the tray a dozen times! Not sure if it is undermined? I’m so scared of overmixing them which I did the first time! The beautiful yellow color was lost too. Was it because the oven was too hot?? Hope you can help!! Thanks!
Hi Jo, Here is a link to Ann’s troubleshooting page: https://wellness-wave1.news/public_html/macaron-recipe-faq-troubleshooting/%3C/a%3E . Without being able to look at them, it does look like they may be a little undermixed and the oven could be too hot. Try cooking them at a slightly lower temperature and/or place an empty tray above them in the oven. If you added colour this might be the issue too. Use gel colour if needed rather than liquid colour for best result.
I’m really sad. My macarons didn’t feet nor skirts. They just look like rounded blobs. They didn’t change their shape at all when they baked. I tried this recipe twice and the results were the same? Where could I have gone wrong? Please help!
And almost all of them cracked. I rappes the tray on the counter for 15 times already.
*rapped
One almost had a foot. But all the others failed.
They still look yummy. Here is a link to Ann’s trouble shooting tips: https://wellness-wave1.news/public_html/macaron-recipe-faq-troubleshooting/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
One last question. For the first two or three batches most had feet and only little had cracks but for the next few batches none had feet and most have cracked.
If they were just rounded blobs and didn’t change their shapes, it was likely because you over mixed them. Make sure that you don’t mix them to the point that it quickly runs back into a liquid, and you’re folding the batter rather than stirring.
If you’re having trouble with them cracking even after rapping them on the table multiple times, try banging them on the table a bit (not hard enough to break anything, though!), just gently enough to release any bubbles that might be trapped inside.
Anyway, these are a pretty hard snack to master, and I’m sure if they taste good it’s all right 🙂
Ann, why you didn’t let your macaroons sit for about 30minutes before baking?
Please answer me
Hi Marry, Ann has tested this over and over and has found it makes no difference to the end result if you let them sit or not.
Hi Ann,
First time I made macaroons, the result was perfectly. Second time I did exactly as first time but my macaroons were wrinkled on surface Please tell me why?
Thank you so much.
Diana
Hi Diana, Macarons can be finicky. Check here for Ann’s macaron trouble shooting tips: https://wellness-wave1.news/public_html/macaron-recipe-faq-troubleshooting/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
Ann, is macaron and macaroon same?
Marrry. Macaron and Macaroon are both light biscuits made with egg whites but are very different. A MACAROON is usually a free form little blob of delightful biscuit (sometimes sandwiched together with filling but not traditionally) and were popular in the 80s and 90s. MACARONS are more uniform little round biscuits in bright colours and always contain filling.
Hi Marry, Macarons and macaroons are not the same.
A macaron is what is made here; small French colorful biscuits.
A macaroon is made with coconut and is a type of cookie; where I live I know that they’re popular with Jewish families while they’re fasting and don’t eat anything with yeast.
Ann-
This is a wonderful recipe! Thank you for sharing. I love that it is a historical recipe! The fact that it was my first ever successful batch of “almond puffs” is just a bonus!
Hi, I have a problem with your directions on you recipe is that your shells are not rested for at least 30min before baking.
If you didn’t rest the shells before baking how did they not crack?
Hi Wen Cheng, Ann has tested resting and not resting the piped macarons and it made not difference. Tapping the tray to remove air bubbles does.
how long is prep and bake time
Hi Joryn, this will depend on your skill and your oven. You could allow 15-20mins prep time and 20-25 mins baking.
Hi, I was just wondering around how many macarons will be made in total from this recipe. Thanks!!
Hi Jacqui, it will depend on how big you pipe them, but it this recipe usually makes 40 shells or 20 complete macarons.
Hi Ann.. Can i use water base colour?
Hi Chhaya, water based colours don’t work as well. You need a lot of liquid colour to produce the intensity of colour you want and that can destabilize the mix.
Hi there, I don’t have cream for the frosting, can I replace it with milk or butter? thanks!
Hi Zoe, You can’t make a direct replacement but you could try a different type of filling. Use the link on the page to check out buttercream options.
Hi there,
I made your macarons few times now and aside from the first time, about 1/2 always crack. I rapped them really hard and follow instructions exactly and this still happens. I do get a nice foot, but towards end of cooking they still crack. I tried reducing cooking time but they turned out uncooked. Any ideas?
Thanks!
Sasha
Hi Sasha, It sounds like your oven is heating unevenly which is difficult to sort with macarons. Ann suggested trying air filled baking trays. These reduce the likelyhood of some areas of the tray overheating. You can find a few on amazon. Here is one example: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00091PN9I/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00091PN9I&linkCode=as2&tag=howtocookthat-20&linkId=FGMBMPXFLLQKDAMV
hy ann if almond powder can be replaced peanuts?
Hi Okta, The almond meal could be replaced with any unsalted nut meal, but it must be very finely ground to a similar consistentcy as the almond meal. The final results and taste will vary according to the type of meal used.
Hey Ann
My macaroons don’t have feet. I don’t know what I did wrong.
Yea this same thing happened to me. I also don’t know what I did wrong. Reply please.
Hi Eunice, Have you checked out Ann’t trouble shooting tips? https://wellness-wave1.news/public_html/macaron-recipe-faq-troubleshooting/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
Hi Ann, my sister is trying to make these lovely macarons and, no matter what she does, the eggs won’t cooperate. She’s following your video and FAQs to the T using egg whites (not separating eggs) and it’s hopeless. Help please!
Hi Lola, The likely issue is the egg whites. You need to use fresh egg whites and actually seperate the yolk from the egg makinfg sure no yolk or fat gets into the white. If you try to use egg whites that you have bought in a container from the super market it will not work as these will have been pasteurised. Ann mentions this in her blog.
instead of almond meal , can i use almont flour
almond meal and almond flour are usually very similar, so yes.
Hi
Ann, u r so talented, I m in love with your work. I am from India n here many ppl are eggless, can u email me a eggless macaroons recipe plz. Waiting for us reply
Hi Anupama kataria, while we have seen a few macaron type recipes that use an alternative to eggs, there is not one that we have tested and found to be a good equivalent. eggs a base ingredient for something like macarons.
i am having a hard time trying to print this recipe or email it to myself. help.
looking forward to making them.
I mad this and the quadruple choclate cheesecake on here for my moms birthday and she was very happy. Thanks!
Hi Ann,
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.
Hi Viva, usually macarons are crisp in the outer shell and a litlle soft in the middle. See Ann’s troubleshooting page for assistnace. Usually minor tweeks: https://wellness-wave1.news/public_html/macaron-recipe-faq-troubleshooting/%3C/a%3E It sounds like you may just want to slightly reduce your cooking time. Trial it next time and see how that goes.