It’s Easter and for our family that means it’s time to make the famous, Macaron cookie! I was petrified to make this cookie until a couple years ago during Covid I decided to tackle my fear. Now, mine may not be the most amazing and beautiful Macarons you have ever seen. But, they are doable and SO fun to make–even for your average stay at home chef like me. Not to mention they are extremely versatile and a bit addicting once you get the hang of it.
Of course there are step-by-step tutorials online, videos galore and recipes that all vary just a little bit. I would recommend just starting and giving a recipe a try. The recipe I’m posting I have used for a couple years now and about 90% of the time works. Every now and then I’ll make a batch and it’s a little flat or not perfect. However, the more you practice, you’ll get better and better. And hey, even the flat cookies taste amazing and get gobbled up before you have time to frost them!
One of my FAVORITE tips for making Macarons is using freeze dried fruit. You don’t want the moisture of fresh fruit in these cookies. Believe me, I tried and it ruined every batch. However, I wanted to play around with different flavors. Using Thrive Life freeze dried fruit was the perfect solution! You got gorgeous color, flavor and it kept the integrity of the cookie exactly as needed.
I experimented with the Thrive Life Strawberries and Blueberries and it worked amazingly well! Best part about this is Thrive Life’s Strawberries are ON SALE this month! It’s the perfect time to stock your food storage AND make these cookies while you’re at it 😉
Hope you are having an amazing Easter week and get brave and give these cookies a try. If you do, let us know how they turn out!
Ingredients
- 3 egg whites
- ¼ tsp. Cream of tartar
- ¼ cup white sugar
- 1 ⅔ cup powdered sugar
- 1 cup almond flour
- 1 Tbs. crushed freeze dried strawberries
- Filling:
- 2 cups whipping cream
- 1/4 cup powdered sugar
- 1/4 cup crushed freeze dried strawberries
Instructions
- Whip room temperature egg whites and cream of tartar with the whisk attachment of an electric mixer, until the whites begin to foam. Slowly pour in the white sugar and begin to whip the whites on high. Meanwhile, pulse your almond flour, dried strawberries and powdered sugar in a food processor until the mixture is well combined and the texture of flour. Sift this flour mixture through a sieve and throw away the pieces that are too large to pass through the sieve. When the whites have whipped into stiff peaks, fold the almond/sugar mixture into the whites, gradually and carefully until they reach proper “macaronage.” You can find videos online to show you this texture. It's a somewhat thick, glossy texture (not too thin and not too thick).
- Spoon the batter into a piping bag with a circular opening (about medium size works great).
- Pipe the circles onto a silpat form or parchment paper, using a template, if desired. Pipe the circles by holding the bag straight up and down and vertical to the pan. Squeeze out only enough to fill a circle about the size of a quarter. Do this with each cookie trying to keep them all the same size.
- Once the cookies are all piped onto the cookie sheet, slam the cookie sheets 15 times on the counter to dislodge air bubbles. Do this by bringing the pan about 18 inches from the counter and dropping the pan straight down. This step seems silly but will help get all of the bubbles out of the cookies.
- Allow the cookie circles to dry for AT LEAST 20 minutes before baking. Preheat oven at 300 degrees for 20 minutes, one sheet at a time, in the center of the oven (move oven racks, if necessary).
- Cook until you can touch the top of the cookie and it has a hard ‘crust’. Do not open the oven until the 20 minutes are up. When your macarons are done, they should feel “firm on their feet.” Remove entire silpat or parchment paper onto the counter to let the cookies cool completely. They are super fragile to be careful when transferring the cookies from the pan to the counter. Make sure the macarons are completely cooked before removing shells from the silpat/parchment paper.
- For the filling, in a separate bowl, whip the whipping cream with an electric mixer until firm peaks form. Add the powdered sugar and the crushed strawberries. Once the cream is thick you can spoon the mixture into another piping bag and pipe a portion of the cream on one side of the cookie. Place a second cookie on the top so you have little macaron sandwiches. You can also fill these macarons with your favorite jam, nutella or other fillings of your choice. Keep the cookies in a cool, dry place until ready to serve.
Give this cookie a try with a lemon twist! You can keep the cookies natural and not add food dye or you can add a little yellow coloring with some lemonade powder for a nice, puckery lemon twist. The sky’s the limit with these cute, tender cookies!
Ingredients
- 3 egg whites
- ¼ tsp. Cream of tartar
- ¼ cup white sugar
- 1 ⅔ cup powdered sugar
- 1 cup almond flour
- 1 tsp. yellow lemonade powder
- Filling:
- 2 cups whipping cream
- 1/4 cup powdered sugar
- Zest of 1 lemon
- 2 Tbs. yellow lemonade powder
Instructions
- Whip room temperature egg whites and cream of tartar with the whisk attachment of an electric mixer, until the whites begin to foam. Slowly pour in the white sugar and begin to whip the whites on high. Meanwhile, pulse your almond flour, lemonade powder and powdered sugar in a food processor until the mixture is well combined and the texture of flour. Sift this flour mixture through a sieve and throw away the pieces that are too large to pass through the sieve. When the whites have whipped into stiff peaks, fold the almond/sugar mixture into the whites, gradually and carefully until they reach proper “macaronage.” You can find videos online to show you this texture. It's a somewhat thick, glossy texture (not too thin and not too thick).
- Spoon the batter into a piping bag with a circular opening (about medium size works great).
- Pipe the circles onto a silpat form or parchment paper, using a template, if desired. Pipe the circles by holding the bag straight up and down and vertical to the pan. Squeeze out only enough to fill a circle about the size of a quarter. Do this with each cookie trying to keep them all the same size.
- Once the cookies are all piped onto the cookie sheet, slam the cookie sheets 15 times on the counter to dislodge air bubbles. Do this by bringing the pan about 18 inches from the counter and dropping the pan straight down. This step seems silly but will help get all of the bubbles out of the cookies.
- Allow the cookie circles to dry for AT LEAST 20 minutes before baking. Preheat oven at 300 degrees for 20 minutes, one sheet at a time, in the center of the oven (move oven racks, if necessary).
- Cook until you can touch the top of the cookie and it has a hard ‘crust’. Do not open the oven until the 20 minutes are up. When your macarons are done, they should feel “firm on their feet.” Remove entire silpat or parchment paper onto the counter to let the cookies cool completely. They are super fragile to be careful when transferring the cookies from the pan to the counter. Make sure the macarons are completely cooked before removing shells from the silpat/parchment paper.
- For the filling, in a separate bowl, whip the whipping cream with an electric mixer until firm peaks form. Add the powdered sugar, lemon zest and lemonade powder. Once the cream is thick you can spoon the mixture into another piping bag and pipe a portion of the cream on one side of the cookie. Place a second cookie on the top so you have little macaron sandwiches. You can also fill these macarons with your favorite jam, lemon pie filling or other fillings of your choice. Keep the cookies in a cool, dry place until ready to serve.
Have some freeze dried blueberries in your pantry? Try a Blueberry Macaron cookie too! The pretty, purple color is so gorgeous and completely natural. No added food dyes or colors. This cookie is beautiful using the fresh, freeze dried blueberries from Thrive. Thrive has their raspberries on sale this month as well! I’ll be trying those next 😉
Simply add the crushed, freeze dried fruit tot he flour mixture, sift out any large pieces and away you go! Use the crushed blueberry in the cookie batter as well as in the filling for double the flavor!
Ingredients
- 3 egg whites
- ¼ tsp. Cream of tartar
- ¼ cup white sugar
- 1 ⅔ cup powdered sugar
- 1 cup almond flour
- 1 Tbs. crushed freeze dried strawberries
- Filling:
- 2 cups whipping cream
- 1/4 cup powdered sugar
- 1/4 cup crushed freeze dried blueberries
Instructions
- Whip room temperature egg whites and cream of tartar with the whisk attachment of an electric mixer, until the whites begin to foam. Slowly pour in the white sugar and begin to whip the whites on high. Meanwhile, pulse your almond flour, dried blueberries and powdered sugar in a food processor until the mixture is well combined and the texture of flour. Sift this flour mixture through a sieve and throw away the pieces that are too large to pass through the sieve. When the whites have whipped into stiff peaks, fold the almond/sugar mixture into the whites, gradually and carefully until they reach proper “macaronage.” You can find videos online to show you this texture. It's a somewhat thick, glossy texture (not too thin and not too thick).
- Spoon the batter into a piping bag with a circular opening (about medium size works great).
- Pipe the circles onto a silpat form or parchment paper, using a template, if desired. Pipe the circles by holding the bag straight up and down and vertical to the pan. Squeeze out only enough to fill a circle about the size of a quarter. Do this with each cookie trying to keep them all the same size.
- Once the cookies are all piped onto the cookie sheet, slam the cookie sheets 15 times on the counter to dislodge air bubbles. Do this by bringing the pan about 18 inches from the counter and dropping the pan straight down. This step seems silly but will help get all of the bubbles out of the cookies.
- Allow the cookie circles to dry for AT LEAST 20 minutes before baking. Preheat oven at 300 degrees for 20 minutes, one sheet at a time, in the center of the oven (move oven racks, if necessary).
- Cook until you can touch the top of the cookie and it has a hard ‘crust’. Do not open the oven until the 20 minutes are up. When your macarons are done, they should feel “firm on their feet.” Remove entire silpat or parchment paper onto the counter to let the cookies cool completely. They are super fragile to be careful when transferring the cookies from the pan to the counter. Make sure the macarons are completely cooked before removing shells from the silpat/parchment paper.
- For the filling, in a separate bowl, whip the whipping cream with an electric mixer until firm peaks form. Add the powdered sugar and the crushed blueberries. Once the cream is thick you can spoon the mixture into another piping bag and pipe a portion of the cream on one side of the cookie. Place a second cookie on the top so you have little macaron sandwiches. You can also fill these macarons with your favorite jam, nutella or other fillings of your choice. Keep the cookies in a cool, dry place until ready to serve.
