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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Should I flip my macaron tray half way through the baking to insure they cook evenly?
Hi Wendy, Macrons tend to be a bit sensitive so I would leave them alone (keep the oven door shut) unless you are concerned about the even-ness of the temperature in your oven. If that is a problem then turning the tray or placing an empty tray on the shelf above is a better way to go.
Is there anyway I could cut the portion for the macarons in half? I want to make a small batch. This also goes for the ganache recipe.
The ganache recipe can easily be halved, but I wouldn’t halve the Macaron recipe. It is not a large bake.
I have tried your recipe multiple times and I don’t know what I’m doing wrong, I follow the recipe exactly but my macarons end up flat. Always. I literally mixed for 30 turns and they’re flat. I need help. Badly
Hi Brittany, it is difficult to know without seeing what you do. If the mix is flat at that point you may not have mixed the egg whites well enough or they have been overmixed. See the troubleshooting page for help: https://www.howtocookthat.net/public_html/macaron-recipe-faq-troubleshooting/
Wow! What a recipe. I tried making macarons yesterday for the first time – perfect! Thanks so much for sharing this recipe and your troubleshooting page as well. Have shared your webpage with my baking friends. One happy amateur baker 😀
What a great result Michelle, I would be exstatic if that was my first batch. Well done!
You have great write up, I always read your blog , and I must say you are doing good job, plz do write like this.
Awesome!
is granulated sugar ok instead of caster sugar?
Hi Mariya, No granulated sugar is too coarse to give great results in this recipe.
I’ve tried making macarons on 6 different occasions, but I always end up with a hollow shell. I’ve looked on other websites to troubleshoot the problem, but I also end up with the same problem. I follow the recipe the letter, I bang the tray to get rid of air, I’m counting my foils- I stop foiling 55-60 turns. I don’t know what I’m doing wrong. I’ve all but given up on making these cookies.
Hi Dameece. If they are hollow in the middle, then that suggests that they weren’t cooked properly. They are cooked well on the outside, but may have been taken out of the oven too soon and the center has fallen. The other thing that can cause this is a sudden drop in temperature. For example if they were taken out of the oven mid cooking or the oven door was opened too many times. Resist the temptation to check them too often. Macarons can be finicky and are very temperature sensitive.
It doesn’t sat that we have to leave them to dry at room temperature – does this mean that we can more or less cook straight away or do I need to leave them for 45 minutes to dry on tray before cooking. thanks heaps Brenda
Hi Brenda, Some bakers believe that allowing the piped macarons to sit at room temperature for an hour helps produce a good result. Ann has tested this recipe both with and without letting them stand and found it makes no difference to the finished result. So, yes you can bake straight away.
Can you please add a note to not add oil based gel food dyes I did this and the egg whites didn’t get to stiff peaks . It’s ended up being horrible .
Hi Elizabeth Gel food dyes generally work well though you must only use a very small amount as per Ann’s recommendation.
When I make them and get ready to eat them, the top come off what am I doing wrong.
Hi Michelle, This post may help: https://www.howtocookthat.net/public_html/macaron-recipe-faq-troubleshooting/
HELP!, what do I do if my mixture is too runny?. I didn’t fold it too much though. Maybe I mix the egg white+caster sugar too long? 🙁
Can it be fixed please advise.
thanks
Hi Soraya, Check here for tips and FAQ’s that may be of assistance: https://www.howtocookthat.net/public_html/macaron-recipe-faq-troubleshooting/
Hi just wondering about the measurements for using icing sugar mix instead of pure icing sugar – there seems to be a typo as while the cup measurements differ the gram and ounce measurements don’t?
“1 1/2 cups or 230g (8.11 ounces) pure icing sugar [US cups: 1 1/2 cups plus 4 tsp] . IF you wish to use icing mixture INSTEAD of icing sugar you will need 1 3/4 cups or 230g (8.11 ounces) icing mixture [US cups: 1 3/4 cups plus 4 tsp]”
Hi Fiona, great spotting! I have corrected this typo.
I was wondering how and for how long can these be stored minus filling?
Your recipe looked fairly easy so would love to try this.
Hi Traicy, Macarons start to soften when exposed to the air or moisture. If you store them in an air tight container without filling, they may last up to 5 or 6 days. Ann finds they generally get eaten by her family pretty quickly so she doesn’t normally keep them long. Other followers have said they found they could freeze them well, though they may not be quite have the crispness of the fresh baked ones.
Hi ms reardon i have recently done 12 of your recipes this year in 2017 and over 50 last year tomorrow im doing a sugar bowl. I am 9 and you and another baker encouraged me to do French Italian American and Australian dishes i hope you are proud of me!!❤
We are super proud of you Ali. It sounds like you are a super baker!
My macaroons cracked, so I made a second batch but that one cracked too! What do I do?
Hi Omer, Check out the trouble shooting tips here: https://www.howtocookthat.net/public_html/macaron-recipe-faq-troubleshooting/ . Ann talks about what causes the cracking and how you can minimize it.
How do make them if your son is allergic to nuts??
Hi Emma, If your son is allergic to almonds the you could try this nut-free recipe: https://www.howtocookthat.net/public_html/macaron-substitute-almond-flour/
Thank you, my husband bought a ice cream machine, and having trouble what to use the egg white, been making pavilion and now going to try making your macarons. Thank you for your wonderful tips
I made 4 trays of the recipe from the same batch and my first two trays had cracks, were hollow, lost their colour and had no feet
But my second two trays were almost perfect (just lost a bit of colour) why did this happen. I made every tray from the same batch and cooked them for the same time.
Hi Grace, It will likely be your oven. By the second batch your oven temperature would have been more consistent. Macarons are finicky and need a good even oven temperature. If your first batch were hollow and cracked it is likely there was more direct heat as the oven was still heating up on them and they cooked too quickly. Let the oven preheat really well.
Macarons and macaroons are two different cakes
Yes, they are different!. What you have here is macarons. Macaroons are made with coconut and completely different.
Thanks Anne love your tutorials I will give these a try for my daughter’s 21st this month