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
|
Macaron trouble-shooting & FAQ
|
nut free macarons
|
orange choc macarons
|
 macaron ice cream sandwich |
SEE ALL RECIPES |
chocolate macarons
|
fun with macarons
|
Salted Caramel Macarons
|
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.
we respect your email privacy
thanku-i needed to learn how to do this because i am half french and more english but i live in france and speak french.how do you know when enough mixes is enough?
Hi Mia, It is a little bit of an experiment every time but you want the mix to appear even but still light and fluffy. If it starts to flatten you have gone too far. Use the video as a guide for texture what you are after.
Hi,
Im wanting to add raspberry flavour to my macaroons i have LorAnn oils so only a drop or two goes a long way. Do you think it will affect them adding an oil? Thanks Amanda
Hi Amanda, Use less rather than more for best results. Macaroons can be tempermental. Place a small amount of the mix in a bowl, add a drop of your flavour and mix gently, thenfold back into the mix.
Hi Ann, in many other macaron recipes, after piping them out onto the baking tray and banging them against the bench, they allow the macarons to sit for 30 mins or until they are not sticky to touch. Should i do that?
Hi Julia, This is a common question, so Ann has tested this recipe both with and without letting them rest and found no difference in the finished result. Hence, she does not require that in the recipe.
Love ALL of your recipes/video’s.. Need help. My Macarons came out looking beautiful but unfortunately somewhat hollow and crumbly on the outside.. What did I do wrong?
Hi Linda, It looks like your macarons needed a little longer in the oven. The centre is undercooked. It probably collapsed when you took them out of the oven. You may have done it but just in case, make sure you remember to rap the tray on the bench before baking as well.
Hello, I am loving this recipe, I have made them many times this year, not quite perfect yet with the shape or colours but getting there. I am wanting to know how far in advance can I make these for an event? I would presume I could make the shells in advance, how would I store them? then fill on the day? Also mine seem to be very crispy? Does that sound correct? Appreciate your feedback as I am making them for an event this weekend.
Hi Naomi, They are always best fresh, but you can store the unfilled shells in an airtight container for a couple of days. Some people freeze them and say that works really well, but they always get eaten quickly in my house.
After bak i g and filling macRo a can they be frozen for a month or two
Hi Judy, once filled the shells soften quickly. It is better to try freezing the unfilled shells.
when i bake the macarons the colour always changes in the oven and they tinge brown slightly, how do you retain the bright colour?
HI Hannah, try popping an empty baking sheet/tray on the oven shelf above the macarons while cooking.
Hi Ann, I have seen some recipes that helps make our own almond flour which needs raw almond peeled,dried and the powdered. Can I make almond flour like this or swap to your nut free macaroons? Would be glad if u answer. Thank you! <3
Hi Ross, yes you can but you need an excellent machine that will chop them fine enough to resemble a coarse flour.
Yeah.. Will try to make..Thanks for replying Ann! Love you lots..<3 <3
Tried twice following the recipe with no success. Used color powder food coloring and color gel food coloring. beat meringue for 8 minutes and turned the bowl upside down to test stiff peak, baked at 300 degrees, folded the shifted almond flour/powder sugar slowly. Aged egg white in fridge for three days, fourth day warn to room temperature. I have made French Macaron using different recipe and haven’t have any problem (smooth surface, feet appear) . Recipes that I have used before called for 3 egg whites instead of 4 egg whites as mentioned in your recipe. Egg white was separated very, very carefully from egg yolks. The mixture was not overbeat because I had a tip after piping onto the parchment paper.
Attached are photos of the twice failed French Macaron. The French Macaron that I have made using other recipes that called for 3 egg whites and letting the French Macaron shell rest came out perfect. Your recipe, the shell was sticky after 40 minutes of resting.
When I have made the french macaron – I’ve tap the tray 2 to 3 times each sides (4 side) and seen some of the air bubbles pop. I live in Chicago and the outdoor temperature was 57 degrees outside the day that I have made the french macaron. By looking at your video, tmy mixture he mixture was not unmix and not running.
Hi Pamela, That’s a shame as the recipe Ann’s used works perfectly for me every time. We don’t ‘age’ egg whites here at all. From the pic your batch looks like it was undermixed or not rapped as there is a lot of cracking. If you have a great recipe that works for you then keep using it.
Thanks for the comments. I’m sorry the recipe did not work for me as well. I really wanted to see how the one extra egg white will act (4 eggs white vs 3 egg white). I had aged my egg whites as it was in the refrigerator for 3 days with a lid and on the 4th day I let it set to room temperature without the lid. I did rapped two times each on all four side of the baking sheet (8 rap total). Baking is tricky and it take patient. I will try again and review the instructions again.
pls can you give me the recipe you have used earlier which you said had wroked perfectly?thank you!
It turned out way too thin and only made like 6 macarons. The first time I made these macarons they turned out perfect. What happened?
Hi Shannon, It is impossible to tell for sure but it sounds like your quantities were out. Just double check.
I tried 3 time and I still have no footing!!! My ingredients were consistent as he pictures ( the only difference is I used 1 cup of sugar instead of 1,5 cup and 70 g ) . Could you please look at my pictures and advise me what was wrong ?
Thanks
Hi Henry, firstly try usung the quantities given in the recipe, these are tested over and over to give the best results. You can also check out Ann’s Troubleshooting tips here: https://www.howtocookthat.net/public_html/macaron-recipe-faq-troubleshooting/ . No foot often means the oven temp is too low. Also if you used a strong colour that can impact your bake.
Hi,
Iam using electric otg for making macarons
Just bought a new otg (Morphy Richards 40rc-ss).
For the otg, do we use top and bottom heat alone?
Use top+bottom heat + fan?
Use bottom heat + fan?
And what is the best temperature to bake using this otg?
Regards
J
Hi Jayanth, We haven’t tested this recipe using a Toaster Oven. I would suggest trying to keep an even temperature through the oven by using the fan.
Does it matter if my eggs are room temperature or not before beating them?
Hi Cindy, It is a myth that eggs need to be at room temperature first. Ann tested this out here: https://www.howtocookthat.net/public_html/baking-hacks-tested/
Hello, I’ve scrolled through about 10 pages and have not seen this question come up. I live in the US and we don’t have castor sugar. I have powdered sugar. Can I just use regular powdered sugar for the castor sugar and icing sugar? I’m assuming icing sugar is also powdered sugar.
Castor sugar is a fine white sugar. The texture is in between, regular white sugar (like you’d put in your coffee) and icing sugar/powdered sugar.
If you have a high powered food processor, you might be able to mill regular white sugar.
Good luck!
Hi Elizabeth. This is a common question castor/caster sugar is similar to superfine sugar. Powdered sugar is equivalent to icing sugar. For best results use the types of sugar given in the recipes as macarons can be finicky. The icing sugar is just folded in at the final stage and should dissolve easily. The caster sugar needs a lot more mixing, which will flatten your batter.
Hello – I was trying to find castor sugar was well. I did find Baker’s Sugar which seemed to do the trick while making meringue a while back.
Castor sugar is the same as superfine sugar.
Hi my name is Luke, and i’ve been a big fan for a while. I am 13 years old and have a love for baking! I wait for nearly 15 minutes each week refreshing youtube for your video, and when it comes out i’m so excited. I made so of the macarons you made during your livestream, even though i couldn’t watch it live because i had to run to the shop to get Almond Meal! I got home and made them. I used chocolate ganache on 5 of them, and caramel on the other 5. Thankyou for your weekly videos, keep up the good work!!
If you could maybe show this in your video it would make me so happy! Thanks Ann!
Thanks Luke that is fab to hear!
You don’t let them sit out at all before baking? Also, what if it’s humid out, and the shells won’t form a skin if I’m letting them rest?
Hi Brooke, Ann has thoroughly tested this myth. Using this recipe it makes no difference if the piped macarons are left to rest ot not.
Why gel or powdered?
Hi Bob, Regular colours cause the batter to go flat. You want to avoid adding unnecessary moisture or oil to the mix.
Mint macarons with mint ganache and peppermint cream
Hi Anji, your macarons look so yummy. I want to try the raspberry ones!
These are raspberry macarons filled with buttercream &a raspberry jam 🙂
These look so yummy!!!
First attempt at making macarons on the left ? Second attempt after watching your video on the right ?
Wow, What a turn around. Well done!