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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Hi made a batch of your easy macarons and I’ve had a mix batch.
All rose nicely but some cracked while others didn’t.
I watched your tips and rapped them but even some on the same tray cracked and others didn’t.
Any other tips?
Hi Ann,
My macaroon don’t have the feet. This is mt third batch and I’m not able to get the macaroon feet.
Thanks!
I was wondering if you could add flavoring of some sort for different taste?
Hi!
Thanks for the recipe, I tried it today and most of them turned out ok, but… I do have a fan oven and took your advice and turned the temp down to 125. It did not do well for them at all!! I had to wait a very long time until they finally came off of the paper and only after I turned the heat up to 150 did they come out ok, at that point I think it was a bit too late and they are now somewhat overbaked. My 2nd tray turned out better since I’ve learned from the 1st and just stayed with 150 degrees for 20 mins, which turned out good.
How many macarons did this make for you?
Oh I thank you so much for posting this! I’m hosting my sister’s bridal shower and she’s dying to have macaroons! Over here in the states they’re rather expensive, so I made it my mission to learn how to make them for her. I can’t wait to try this recipe out, thank you for helping me make my sister’s day complete!
Hello,
The recipe looks really good and thanks for sharing. I want to make them today, and I was wondering how many macarons do these make? (sandwiched, not shells) Thank you!
if you say 150 degrees is this in an electric oven or a so called hot air oven?
Thanks to your video, my first batch of macarons turned out nearly perfect! I just have one question, though. I’m considering making strawberry ones next time by putting some pink gel coloring and some strawberry extract in my eggs after I have whipped them. Do you think this will be too much liquid added and it will affect the consistency of the macarons? In your trouble shooting video you said not to add liquid coloring because it would make the mixture too runny, but I was just wondering if the strawberry extract would do the same.
Hi Lauren, yes any more than about 1/2 a tsp of liquid in a batch and it ruins the macarons. Try adding flavour to the filling instead.
Fantastic. Good job and very easy to follow.
😀
I can’t make these! The egg whites won’t stiffen like yours in the video. I can turn them upside and they won’t fall out, but they’re shiny and have that cool whip look that your egg whites do. I whipped them for 15 mins and that’s the stiffest I could get them. The dough gets runny after less than 20 folds. It leaks out of the pastry bag. This is my second try. Please help!
I can’t make these! The egg whites won’t stiffen like yours in the video. I can turn them upside and they won’t fall out, but they’re shiny and have that cool whip look that your egg whites do. I whipped them for 15 mins and that’s the stiffest I could get them. The dough gets runny after less than 20 folds. It leaks out of the This is my second try.
Make sure you don’t get any egg yolk in your whites, a tiny bit of yolk in your eggs whites will mean it won’t go stiff
How many days in advance can these be made? I have a birthday party Sunday that I am baking for. Today is Thursday. Is it too soon? Will they stale?
What is the icing mixture???
Hi Christy it is icing sugar or powdered sugar with a small amount of cornstarch in it to stop it from clumping together.
An excellent video – may try to make them now.
Can Macaroons be frozen
yes they can
Hi Ann, I was just wondering if the 150 deg oven applies to fan-forced ovens as well as conventional?
yes it does
Hi!
I was just curious. I’m not sure if that had parchment paper or silpats 200 years ago. Does that recipe mention what was used in place of?
Thanks!
Hello i made these today and the were on for about 40mins at the correct temp but still werent cooked properly. The edges started to turn crispy also?thanks
Hi Ann,
Thank you so much for this video and the troubleshooting video. I love baking and am obsessed with macarons. The thought of making them always seemed daunting. My first ever attempt making macarons and using your recipe, they came out perfect! Needless to say, I will no longer be buying macarons at the bakery anymore 🙂
Wonderful C2 that is great to hear