I know, I know. You’ve made macarons before and they’ve never worked out. Before you give up, try my tips and tricks! I’ve made thousands of batches of macarons and have developed a no-fail, no-rest recipe that is easy to follow.
You can find my famous French Macaron recipe at this blog post.
Find a video tutorial of all of my tips and tricks on my Instagram.
Let’s start with my tip + tricks for how to make French macarons.
French Macarons Tips + Tricks
*Preheat your oven to 285 for at least 10 minutes. Don’t trust your oven’s preheat timer. Your oven can be up to 20 degrees off if you go off of your oven’s internal thermometer and preheat timer. I like to use an extra oven thermometer to make sure it’s nice and hot!
*Wipe down your silicon mats, mixer bowl, and whisk with white vinegar to make sure there is no grease
*Use upside down baking sheets to help with airflow
*Crack eggs into a white bowl so you can see if there is any yolk, then add to your stand mixer
*Use room temperature egg whites
*Pre-measure and sift your dry ingredients
How to Make French Macarons
I’m going to walk you through my process. See my recipe below for the whole recipe, but I’ll include some helpful tips here!
First off, don’t skip on setting a timer! Setting a timer is like insurance. I include very specific timed instructions for a reason– it works!
Now let’s get into it.
How to Make French Macarons Step-by-Step
Step 1: Add your egg whites to the bowl of your KitchenAid. Beat at Level 4 for 2 minutes. Add granulated sugar during this step. Pour all the sugar in slowly. This should take about 40-45 seconds. The mixture should look frothy.
Step 2: Beat at level 6 for 2 more minutes. If you’re adding color, this is when you should add it!
Step 3: Beat for 1 minute at high speed. You should have really stiff peaks. I like to test mine by swirling my whisk around the bottom of the bowl and checking the peak. If it stands up and forms a little slightly curved point, you’re done!
Step 4: Macaronage. Add premeasured dry and sifted ingredients to your meringue mixture. Start to fold in the dry ingredients. At the beginning go soft and swirl around the bowl so you don’t lose any dry ingredients.
Macaronage 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.
Gir spatulas help you get the edges of the bowl really clean.
So your arm doesn’t get tired, set the bowl on its side on the counter and continue to macaronage. Scoop around the edge of the bowl folding the batter onto itself.
See below for the macaron batter consistency that you’re looking for.
Step 5: Pipe your macarons. See below for details!
After I pipe my macarons I tap the pan 3-4 times on the counter to release any air bubbles. Then, I turn the pan around and do the same thing. I like to pop any large air bubbles with a scribe or toothpick.
Step 6: Bake! I like to bake just one pan at a time in the center of my oven. I never use the convection setting, only baking conventionally.
How to Pipe Macarons
Prepare your piping bag by placing it inside a large cup, with the end of the bag rolled around the outside of the cup. Fill your bag and twist the end so that your batter doesn’t leak out the top.
Apply pressure as you pipe to the inside ring of your guide on your silicone mat, then stop applying pressure and swirl the tip around the top of the mac.
To get all of my batter out of my piping bag, I like to lay my bag down on the counter and scrape all of the batter toward the piping tip with a flat spatula, kind of like I’m trying to get the last bits out of a tube of toothpaste.
Then I’ll repeat with my remaining batter.
If I’m making different colored macarons, I’ll start with the lightest color first, and use the same piping bag for the rest of the colors. Your girl doesn’t like to do dishes! Lol.
Macaron Batter Consistency
It can be really hard to know if your macaronage is the right consistency.
Fold until your batter flows off the spatula in a v shape. It should flow in a continuous ribbon, not plopping down in small chunks. It doesn’t matter how fast or slow that it flows, just that it flows continuously. The batter will become shiny and more liquid-y the more you macaronage.
Be careful not to over mix. Your macaron batter is over mixed if it is runny. Look for that v shape and continuous flow and you’ll be fine!
Just go for it!
Now you’ve learned all about how to make French macarons! Go be brave and try it out for yourself. With my famous recipe and tips above, you’re sure to make delicious macs that will impress all of your friends and family.
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!