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 |
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chocolate macarons
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Salted Caramel Macarons
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Hi Ann,
I’ve tried out your recipe today but I’ve reduced all the required ingredients to half (just in case I screw up) and also the icing sugar to 80g (I don’t want them to be too sweet). When I folded the egg white mixture together with the almond meal and icing sugar, I seemed to have over mixed the mixture but I just got the mixture incorporated.
Just before I got them incorporated, the mixture looks undermixed. Is it because I decreased the icing sugar which caused the mixture to be really runny after I had just folded the mixture? I tried for the second time, thinking that I’ve folded too many times but I realise the mixture becomes runny right after I’ve tried to get the dry and wet ingredients incorporated. I don’t seem to understand why.
Please help me figure out the answer. Thank you.
Hi Michelle, Yes this is not one of those recipes that you can decrease the sugar in, sorry. You can try a less sweet filling but you can adjust the sugar in the shells. Make sure you fold with a spatula rather than stir.
O and they were cracked and hollow inside please help asap.also need to know had the mixer on for 8 minutes but not sure on what speed to put it?it goes up to 9
once you have all the other problems solved -see reply to your other question -you can work on hollow. To solve the hollow don’t mix for the full 8 minutes but instead until shipped firm – this gives you less time to fold in the ingredients and it is easy to miss that optimal point or get to it and it’s still not all combined that’s why I suggest mastering the other way first.
Hi tried your recipe,followed it to the letter and they didn’t work,they were flat no feet and chewy and all got stuck on the pan.plz help
Hi ashleigh, did you weigh your ingredients? Getting stuck to the pan – did you use non-stick baking paper? They will stick if straight on the tray or on greaseproof paper. It needs to be non-stick paper or a silpat. Flat is usually overmixed. The amount of mixing is really important and practice is the only way to get a feel for it. So not to waste multiple batches I suggest you make one batch obviously undermix them, put a spoon in a ziplock bag and pipe a row onto a tray. Fold the remaining mixture 5 -10 more times (if you fold with a spatula rather than a spoon it is more gentle) then put some in a fresh bag and pipe out another row, continue this until you have run out of mixture and the last row should seem overmixed and a little runny. Bake as usual and that should give you a feel for exactly what works best. No feet – oven temp could be a little low do you have an oven thermometer to check? if not turn temp up 10 degrees and see if that helps.
Is the recipe in metric or customary units?
Hi Shirley metric 1 cup=250ml
is it ok to use liquid food coloring?
Hi Kristy, yes if you use a small amount ie less than 1/2 a teaspoon which will not give you a strong colour. As soon as you use a large amount of any liquid they will turn out lumpy and strange.
Hello Ann!
Will be attempting your recipe – actually cannot wait to try it! However I do have a question – what speed should the mixer be at when mixing the egg whites and caster sugar? I have a Kitchenaid stand mixer. Thanks very much and looking forward to your response.
Hi Lesley, I have been away on vacation hence the delayed response… on top speed kitchen aid is a powerful mixer so may only need 5 minutes.
Great instructions, I was so pleased with how my macarons turned out, thank you! I hope you don’t mind, I have popped a link to your recipe on my blog:
http://stylequandary.com/rose-water-macarons/
Katie x
Hi, i tried to make 1 set this morning using some recipe i found through the net but it is failed..Fuhh..it looks simple but it is challenging me..haha.
i am glad i found this link. I am excited to try again..wish me luck 🙂 🙂
Hello ann. Im confused with measurements.. 1cup almond meal is 120g hence 1 1/2cups icing sugar is 230g? I wanna makesure.. thann you:)
Hi Jamie, Different items weigh different amount in a cupful 1 cup of water is 250ml and weighs 250g but other items vary according to their density.
Hi Ann,
I will be trying your recipe soon Inshaallah. I have a doubt again regarding oven.
Mine is an electric oven with some selectors. In what selector should keep for baking the macarons. It has; top and bottom rods heat together with fan, Bottom rods with fan, top and bottom rods heat alone, top rods alone, top and bottom rods heat with fan and grill.
Where should I place the rack of Macarons tray if using one tray alone. And if I’m using 2 trays how and when should I switch the trays.
Will let you know when I make the macarons.
Thanks Ann
Hi ann,
Got to understand a lot about the macarons from the questions and answers above. I have tried 9 recipes but none had feet. I will be trying your recipe soon(at present I haven’t got almond meal, once I get I will).
but I have got a doubt. How should the oven heat be?. I am using an electric oven, it has different types of selector. Top and bottom rods together, bottom rods with fan, top rods alone, top and bottom rods together with fan, Top and bottom rods together with grill and fan. Which selector should I be using for baking macarons, and at what rack should i first place the oven.
I’ll let you know how it turns out.
Thanks Ann
Hi Ann,
Ive been trying a lot of recipes and yours is the first recipe which saw my macarons with feet! I was really excited when I saw them 🙂
I had some other problems though which I really hope you can help me with! I used a Sharp Healsio water oven to bake my macarons. This oven has worked well for baking cakes, muffins, bread etc so far.
I read through the comments and used your recommended modified temperatures to bake them: 180 degrees preheat and 150 degrees when i put the macarons in to bake. However, halfway through baking, my macarons started to become brown (i didnt add colouring so the original colour was white). I lowered the temp to 130 but my macarons was undercooked; i had to bake them for a total of abt 45 mins before they could come off cleanly. The macarons have feet at the side and a smooth top but it also has a smooth botom (pic attached), not sure if thats how its supposed to be.
For my second batch, i preheated the oven to 180 and lowered it to 150 when baking the macarons. I left the temp at 150 even though they browned and this batch took about 30 mins before they could come off cleanly.
Both batches of macarons looked okay but the colour and taste was off. The top part of the crust is crispy but the centre and bottom part is harder and really chewy 🙁 1-2 macarons had slight cracks but the rest were fine.
My questions which i really hope you can advise on are:
– how do i prevent my macarons from becoming brown?
– how do i get my macarons to taste like the ones sold outside, crunchy throughout instead of chewy?
– are the undersides supposed to have feet as well or just the sides?
– could it be my oven that’s causing the problem? Theres a fan in the oven and im not sure if that makes it ‘fan-forced’ but reducing the temp didnt help. Also, this oven is a bit diff from the traditional ovens.
I attached a picture here, not sure if you can see it.
Really appreciate your help please!!
Hi, I am going to try to make these for my Home Economics lesson, do I have enough time to do everything in an hour if there are two people?
How do you make white Strawberry ganache or brown orange flavour ganache. Do you just add flavourings and use white chocolate instead of dark for the strawberry ones?
Thankyou, and thankyou for the inspiration.
Hi Ann,
I really like your recipe for the macarons. Unlike many other macaron recipes/ guides out there, you showed us the problems we could make on our macarons too. I really like your chocolate ganache filling, but I would prefer some kind of strawberry cream filling. My family loves strawberries and they’re getting kind of sick of the chocolate. ( I know! Who can get sick of chocolate….. ) So I’m just wondering if you know any good strawberry cream filling recipes that don’t have cream cheese or buttercream. It would be greatly appreciated if you could reply back!
Thanks
Hello, I tried out the recipie and they were great!Even though I’m only 13, I succeded! My friends loved them so much , I could barley take a picture before they were all gone.I made strawberry buttercream for the filling. I separated them into two pans before baking. The macaroons on pan A cracked(which I was fine with) while pan B did not crack and they had feet.Since I piped pan B fist, they formed shells. So I found that the recipe works better if you form shells.Also is your recipie in metric or custamary units? That would be a great help if you could tell me.
i follow this recipe and made the maracoons… 🙂
there is a photo but these ones were my third try!!
they taste delicious though, they are strawberry with white chocolate ganache and strawberry puree in the white chocolate in the middle… 🙂
everybody love them!! i will be doing this recipe again!! 🙂
i made some maracons from your recipe and love them!!
this is my second try though, here’s a photo of strawberry maracoons, i put white chocolate ganache with strawberry puree in the middle… 🙂
ALL i can say is THANKYOU!! i tried the bbc macrons but it wasn’t for me! but when i followed your instructions it came out PERFECTLY! LOVE YOU!! thanks so much. this is my 2nd time making macrons n its a huge success! so happy!!xx
Can you please give us the recipe in grams?
thnaks a lot
will do
I have used this recipe 5 times now, most easiest and simple to follow, but each time the macaroons have been coming out hollow ! Just wondering if there is anything I can do to prevent this ?
I have read other sites who have said not to mix the mixture as much or leave the out to dry before cooking, but I wanted to know if you have the same problem or know how to stop this !
Hi Shannon, once you have the knack of what consistency to mix your macarons too before piping, which it sounds like you have… then you can whip your egg whites and sugar for less time, so that it is stiff but not dry. This does not give you as many folds to fold it in smoothly so takes a bit more skill to fold without over-mixing but should solve your problem. Leaving on the bench I have tested many times and found no difference at all.