You don’t necessarily go straight to macarons when you think of 4th of July treats. But I do! Macs for every holiday! I love making macs because you can so easily make them look festive and match the theme of whatever party you’re throwing. These red white and blue macarons are perfect for your 4th of July party.
4th of July Treats
Treats just make everything better. In my opinion, a party isn’t complete until I eat dessert. I have a sweet tooth and making delicious treats is one of my favorite parts of entertaining. Get ready to learn how to make the most festive 4th of July treats, starting with classic red white and blue macarons.
How to Make Red White and Blue Macarons
I’m going to show you a few different ways to make red, white, and blue macarons. Each style uses a different technique and I’m obsessed with them all! Of course, I’ll need my favorite color formulas. Here are my favorite patriotic red white and blue colors for 4th of July.
Hey Holiday Red
85 drops Super Red (AmeriColor)
2 drops Maroon (AmeriColor)
Splash Blue
35 drops Navy (Wilton Color Right)
17 Red (Wilton Color Right)
4 drops Pink (Wilton Color Right)
Chalk it Up White
3-4 drops fog (AmeriColor) *use aluminum baking pans for whitest results!
Patriotic Macaron Designs
These are patriotic macaron designs that are easy for beginners but make a big impact!
Swirl Macarons
Step 1: One of my favorite and easiest designs is these swirl macs! Here’s how to make them:
Step 2: Individually wrap the colors you desire in separate saran wrap burritos. You can find examples of this on my Instagram!
Step 3: Line up the ends of each saran wrap burrito and trim.
Step 4: Place all three color burritos into your piping bag prepared with a Wilton 12 tip. Pipe as usual. Some macs will have more of one color than another, but all will look fun with the swirl!
Swirl Mac Variation
Prep the colors and piping bag the same as above. While piping, shake the bag ever so slightly to create cool jagged color variances in the shell.
Flower Macs
Step 1: Take each color and bag them in their own piping bags.
Step 2: Pipe the red first, just a little smaller than you would your normal macs. Pipe the white on top of the red in a smaller circle, and pipe the blue on top of that in a smaller circle.
Step 3: Take a scribe and run it with a light hand toward the middle to create a flower shape.
Captain America Variation
Pipe your macarons as you would the flower style, but skip the scribing step. This looks like Captain America’s shield, which we thought was also fitting for the 4th of July.
American Flag Macaron
Pipe your red, white, and blue macaronage into an American flag shape. This will take a bit longer to bake as it is such a huge cookie!
Patriotic Cookies
Some of my other patriotic cookies that I love to make are my Rice Krispie Memorial Day Macs that work perfectly for 4th of July as well.
If you don’t want to heat up your kitchen with your oven, you can make macarons on your smoker! They’re delicious and taste just like you roasted them over a campfire. It’s such an awesome way to bring your baking outdoors, which normally you can’t do.
You can find all the dos and don’ts of Traeger macarons in this blog post.
SweetMacShop Macaron Shells
Equipment
- baker's half sheet pans: high quality baking sheets with rimmed edges
- KitchenAid stand mixer
- parchment paper or silpat baking mats (with macaron template)
- oven thermometer
- piping bag
- Wilton Tip #12
- food scale that will measure in grams or ounces
- scribe (a sharp, pointed tool), or a toothpick
- digital minute timer
Ingredients
- 160 grams egg whites room temperature
- 88 grams granulated sugar
- 256 grams powdered sugar
- 200 grams almond flour
- 1 tsp. clear vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 285 for steel pans, or 300 for aluminum pans. Preheat for at least 10 minutes.
- Measure out your granulated sugar in a small bowl; set aside.
- Measure powdered sugar, almond flour together, then use a sifter to combine. This will make them smooth and lump-free. Set aside.
- Place your bowl on the surface of your food scale. Hit the "tare" button to zero out the weight of the bowl. Now measure the room temperature egg whites into the bowl of your KitchenAid stand mixer.
- Add the clear vanilla extract.
- Place bowl on mixer stand (this recipe is for the KitchenAid mixer), and attach the wire whisk beater. Set timer for one minute. Turn mixer to Speed 4, and slowly add sugar to egg whites, shaking it in a little at a time during that first minute.
- When timer goes off, set mixer to Speed 6, and set timer for 2 minutes.
- When timer goes off, set mixer to Speed 8, and set timer for 1 and 1/2 minutes (90 seconds). Coloring may be added just before this last mixing. Egg whites should look silky, yet stiff enough to hold the peak.
- Now we'll make the macronage: blend in dry ingredients, by moving a flexible spatula around the bowl, then cutting down through the middle, making sure to scrape the bottom for the flour and incorporate it into the meringue. You know you are done when the batter rolls off the spatula in a continuous ribbon. Batter will be thick…but can flow like a ribbon.
- BAKER'S NOTE: I have several videos of making macronage in my Instagram Highlights.
- Insert Wilton #12 tip into the small opening of your piping bag. Scoop the macronage into the bag, filling only half-way full, leaving room to twist the top closed in order to keep the batter from spilling out the top. Pipe the macrons by applying pressure until the batter flows out and just reaches the inner rim of the marked circle on your mat. Immediately release pressure and swirl tip to incorporate point back into the center of the cookie. See my tips on Instagram Highlights.
- NOTE: if you will be using parchment paper — search for online — then download a template of circles and place underneath your parchment paper. You'll remove this before baking.
- Once the full pan is piped, gently (or aggressively–no judgement here) bang the pan down onto the counter to release air bubbles. I usually place a towel on the counter before banging the pan. Use your scribe or toothpick to pop any large bubbles, in order to create smooth shells.
- PREP FOR BAKING, METHOD ONE: Place your parchment paper or silpat mat on the bottom of an upside-down baker's half sheet. Pipe your circles. Let rest about 5 minutes, bang (see above) then place them to bake in a pre-heated oven.
- PREP FOR BAKING, METHOD TWO: Place your parchment paper or silpat mat on the inside of a baker's half sheet (like normal). Pipe your circles. Let rest until your finger can glide across the top of the mac without stickiness, often up to 30 minutes. Bang (see above), then place them to bake in a pre-heated oven.
- Bake for 20 minutes.
- Once out of the oven, DO NOT — I repeat — do not remove from pan until they are completely cooled.
- This recipe yields 36-42 completed cookies (about 72-84 shells).
I want to hear from you: a comment or review!