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:
easy macaron recipe
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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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hi! i tried making these lovely bites for my dad’s birthday. though i might say my batch did not rise properly but it surely does taste delish! need more practice to get the perfect shape and heights! thanks for the lovely recipe and tutorial!
Great blog, but the proper pronunciation of macaron is “mac-a-ron”, not “macaroon” (proper French pronunciation). Although both are made with egg whites, macaroons are confections made of coconut, while macarons are made with almonds. (While dogs are animals and cats are animals, dogs are not cats. Same analogy).
yes, i’ve got it both ways because many people search online for both spelling variations 🙂
fantastic publish, very informative. I wonder why
the opposiite experts oof this sector do not realize this.
You should proceed your writing. I’m sure,
you have a huge readers’ base already!
Hi Anne, I’m loving your blog 🙂
I can see how busy you are but I have a bit of a random question here. A friend of mine and I have been having a long and sporadically heated debate on the pronounciation of ‘macaron’. As I am always looking to gain support for my own side of the argument, can I ask why you think it should be pronounced ‘macaroon’? Cheers! AJ
sorry AJ, it’s actually macaron … macaroons are a coconut biscuit. But i use both in the title because many people search for both spelling variations.
Yeh why dere aint no chez macaroons. I think Chez is da best flavor in da world GIRRl. U better out dat chez in there cuz i am comin for you to give my secwet wecipe for my grandmas best chez in da world.
How many macarons does this recipe make?
it makes 20 complete in the size that i made them Alexandra
I want to ask you something… Can I use food colouring in powder? Thank you 🙂
yes you can use that
How many shells or total macarons does this recipe make, its just I’m making them for a high tea this saturday
hi ellen, this recipe makes 20 complete macarons
hi Ann, love that you shared a recipe on how many eggs cause all others i found have said “95g of egg whites” or “127g of aged egg whites” so thank you for that. i was wondering if i could add flavouring to this recipe like raspberry essence or matcha powder of something like that and it won’t ruin the texture like make it to lumpy or thin? thanks!
if you add liquid flavouring to it, then it will affect the texture but powdered should be fine
Im in 8th grade and im making these for immigration day im excited but nervous for the people with allergies… is there anything i can do.
hi kayla, there’s a nut-free macaron recipe on my website as well
Hi Ann. Can I make these macaroon using normal gas oven? Not the digital one? Thanks Ann
Hi Kayla, yes you can
Yesterday I make it but it turn brown very cuickly before 20 minutes. And also in the middle they was like a cotton candy and very sticky. And they all flat. What did I done wrong? Can you help me Ann? Thanks!
I first want to say Thank you for sharing this wonderful recipe with us all! I have been wanting to make macaroons for a very long time. I was always so intimidated until I came across your recipe. It was easy and so helpful.
My macaroons looked beautiful, no cracks :))…My only concern was that they were a bit chewy on the inside. Is this normal? Am I doing something wrong? Any advice would be greatly appreciated :))
Cecilia :))
They look lovely cece, they should be crisp on the outside and soft in the middle, but not hollow. If they are hollow make sure the oven temp doesnt drop during cooking (e.g.: from opening the oven door) or they might be taken out to early before they are quite done
I did everything exactly how you did, and I only folded my mixture about 5 times and it was like soup! Any suggestions? I just I can put macaroons on my list of can’t make along with pie 🙁
I have over mixed my mixture, how can i fix it?
Howdy! I know this is somewhat off-topic but I had
to ask. Does building a well-established blog such as yours take a large amount of work?
I am brand new to blogging however I do write in my diary every day.
I’d like to start a blog so I will be able to share my personal experience
and feelings online. Please let me know if you have any kind of recommendations
or tips for new aspiring bloggers. Appreciate it!
I live at high altitude Denver and it took me several tries to get it right. 300 degree oven for 25 minutes. Even after many raps on the counter, some still cracked a bit, but all had feet. I am an established baker and these were difficult for me. Not for the novice at all.
I have a strong relationship with macaroons. They were with me since the dawn of time. Macaroons and me are like PB&J. BABOOM shakespeare son #cantstopwontstop24/7alldayeveryday #meandmacawoonsdabuddyz
lol
Thank you so much, I made these for the first time for my sister for her birthday. She has just gotten back from France where she fell in love with them so the standards where pretty high, glad to say. That these totally did the trick. She ( and her friends) loved them. Great vidieo, easy to follow. Thanks so much
thanks Katie
Hi Ann, do you have a recipe for red velvet macarons? (:
Hi, how many days life do these have please?
Hi Frances, a week in the fridge or longer in an airtight container in the freezer