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.
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Hi,
I followed your recipe to the T, and the macarons tasted awesome! However, they had no feet and cracked and were not melt-in-your mouth kinds, just a little biscuity. Also, I had to bake them for 40 minutes instead of 20 for them to get done and come clean off the paper. I have a microwave convection oven that I used. Could it be the temperature that affected this? Plz help!
Hi Amrital, it sounds like something went really wrong. They shouldn’t take 40 mins . Check the troubleshooting page for hints and tips especially no feet and cracking: https://www.howtocookthat.net/public_html/macaron-recipe-faq-troubleshooting/
I made some macarons the other day and they were hollow in the centre I’m wondering wether it was I didn’t tap them enough on the bench or the oven wasn’t right and also how do you get the same colour both inside and out of the macaron plz get back to me because I’m planning on making some more this weekend because my family loved them that much I didn’t have enough time to them and they just ate the shells
Hi Anaya, Check out Ann’s troubleshooting tips here: https://www.howtocookthat.net/public_html/macaron-recipe-faq-troubleshooting/ . She specifically talks about what causes hollow shells. Usually it means that your oven was a little too hot. If the macarons cook evenly the colour is similar throughout.
So, I made these today at school. I’m actually really proud of them as I never made (or even tasted!) professional macaroons. I know my mistakes too. 1. I didn’t rap the trays hard enough. 2. The oven unevenly cooked the macaroons so some were brown, and some got stuck to the sheet. 3. I will NEVER use fresh cream to fill them because they became soggy and fell apart. I’m sticking to ganache from now! But these tasted superb! Thank you Ann ?
Hi Sadiyah, Great first effort. You can see that the oven is cooking unevenly. Check out Ann’s troubleshooting tips here: https://www.howtocookthat.net/public_html/macaron-recipe-faq-troubleshooting/ . .
Also you could try popping an empty oven tray on the shelf above your macarons to reduce the browning. It will act as a bit of a shield.
Hi Ann,
This is my first time making macarons and I was so excited after seeing all your great reviews. My macs turned out bubbly looking with no feet. I used a silicone baking mat which I am never going to use again- also I used granulated sugar (which I processed to be smaller grained like castor). Can you help me figure out why my macs were a total fail? Not smooth looking at all. I watched your troubleshooting video already and my batter was good consistency- not runny and not too thick. please help!
Hi Angie, Here is my two cents worth. I have used this recipe (small batch) several times with 100% success every time. By the picture, it looks like you used too much egg or you over mixed the flour and sugar mixture. When I first started making these little suckers I must have made a 100 batches with 100 recipes before they came out perfect. The most important thing is to WEIGH all your ingredients… ALL of them. Invest in a digital scale. It’s well worth it. The sugar (castor or granulated) used in the meringue makes no difference. The sugar that is mixed with the almond flour is powdered sugar which is also called icing sugar. I don’t know what she listed as “icing mixture”; I’ve never used it. Look for a tutorial on how to “macaronage” the ingredients, that helped also. Another step that is not listed that I NEVER leave out is let the macs dry for about 30 minutes to an hour. The “crust” that forms helps in making the feet. Something that also helped was using parchment paper instead of silicone mats. Just double the pan so the macarons don’t burn on the bottom. I have used many, many different recipes and they all come out perfect. The trick is to weigh the ingredients down to the gram. Happy Baking! -Anna
Hi Angie, First tip I know is that if you add a lot of colour it can cause problems. This may have impacted yours as the bubbling is indicitative of this. Ann has a trouble shooting page with heaps of other tips, so check it out here: https://www.howtocookthat.net/public_html/macaron-recipe-faq-troubleshooting/
Hi Angie, It does look like you used a lot of colour in the mix, that may have impacted your mix. Check out Ann’s troubleshooting tips here: https://www.howtocookthat.net/public_html/macaron-recipe-faq-troubleshooting/
I was asked to bake macarons for a birthday party but I’ve never done it before so I would like to practice a bit first. But I also don’t want it to become too expensive if I have to give it a few tries, so will it work if I half the recipe (i.e. use half of the quantities of each ingredient)?
Hi Charlie, you could halve the recipe if you wanted to.
Hi Ann.. I followed ur recipe step by step and yet my macaroons cracked and didnt have any feet… my oven temp was 120 but browned at the bottom pretty quickly. ..also it stuck to the paper.. it was a mess… i tried twice but got the same result.. help!!
Hi Nashra Anwer, Firstly I would recommend checking out Ann’s troubleshooting tips for Macarons here: https://www.howtocookthat.net/public_html/macaron-recipe-faq-troubleshooting/ . From the picture it looks like your oven was too hot so they aren’t cooked properly- just crisp on the outside and under cooked in the middle. It would be worth checking that your oven temperature is actually what the thermostat is reading. It may be out. Ovens can also heat unevenly. Try reducing the temperature.
This recipe is fantastic!!! I’ve been working on finding a good recipe to make these and this recipe is PERFECT! Your video and recipe are great, thank you so much.
Hi Charlotte, Thanks for the feedback. Your macarons look delicious!
Those look AMAZING! Well done!
Ann why can,t I print your recipes with out the heading hiding the information
Ok! I have tried twice. They are cracked again. I’m definitely wrapping hard enough. Could my oven be too hot? In 15 minutes they are ready to come out. I’m also missing the cute feet. Confession… I’ve added vanilla. Do I need to be a purist here? They taste FANTASTIC!
Hi Elizabeth, macarons are tempremental. Anytime you add something like a color or flavor you can run into grief. Check out Ann’s troubleshooting tips here: https://www.howtocookthat.net/public_html/?s=macarons
I used exact measurement and my macarons were a big flop. They were too runny to be managed. I then added some more sugar and almond, it was still runny
Hi Shreyasee, Check out this video for some trouble shooting tips: https://www.howtocookthat.net/public_html/macaron-recipe-faq-troubleshooting/
First time making macarons and this worked so well! I’m so happy with them xx
Hi Laina, Well done. Great effort.
I don’t understand the paragraph of the ingredients can you please but them in another way????? thank you
What can I put to the macaroons if I don’t have almond meal?
I’m a pretty decent baker and decided to try these out as a challenge. I’ve attempted this recipe twice and failed twice 🙁 hoping third time is a charm.
All the best Cherine, I think you learn a little each time you try. You can use 1/4 of the recipe while you are getting a feel for it. 😀
How long will these stay fresh? Keep at room temp or refrigerator? Can you make these ahead of time?
some people say you can freeze them but they always get eaten quickly in our house, so I’m sorry I don’t know the answer 🙂
I agree, the recipe is hard to follow. Can you put the measures in a list form, such as:
eggs
sugar
almond meal
I would love to try my hand at making these.
Hi Ann, I want to try to make macaroon for my first time, but I can’t understand the ingredients paragraph! Please if you can send them to me with commas between them please. Thank you
And can I use granulated sugar instead of caster sugar?
I tried to make these macaroons, but they came out completely wrong. I took them out of the oven and the top was hard, kinda like a shell. On the inside it was all mushy and raw.
Any advice???
Hi Abby it sounds like the oven is a little too hot and you may need to cook them for longer. Also check out the troubleshooting page: https://www.howtocookthat.net/public_html/macaron-recipe-faq-troubleshooting/
Actually the amount of the almond is how much? because in my my computer it does not show well paragraphing . thank you
Hi Jefferson, 120g of almond meal.
Love the video! I have pretty much perfected the process on my 2nd try! Thank you so much!