Basic French Macarons

Print Recipe

5 from 9 votes

Mike's best macaron recipe for making non-hollow macarons successfully for beginners at home or in a commercial kitchen

Prep Time1

Cook Time20

Total Time1 20

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: French

Keyword: Cookies, French Macarons, Macarons

Servings: macaron shells

Calories: 29kcal

Author: Mike Johnson

Ingredients

120 grams egg whites (approx. 4 large eggs) room temperature
100 grams granulated sugar
115 grams almond flour
200 grams powdered sugar
gel food coloring of choice (do NOT use liquid coloring)

Instructions

In a medium bowl, sift together the almond flour & powdered sugar and set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the egg whites on medium speed until foamy. Continue to beat until your whisk begins leaving visible trails in the foamy egg whites.
Once you can see trails, gradually add the granulated sugar, increase the mixer speed, and whip on high until the meringue forms. Add gel food coloring, if using, then beat on high until stiff peaks form. (Be sure not to over-whip your egg whites otherwise you risk drying them out.)
Remove the bowl from the stand mixer, add the dry ingredients to the meringue and fold with a rubber spatula from the bottom of the bowl upward then press the flat side of your spatula through the middle against the side of the bowl. (The batter will look very thick at first, but it will get thinner as you fold.) Continue folding until the batter gets to a lava-like consistency.
Pro Tip: The figure 8 test is a great way to check your batter’s consistency; pick up the batter with your spatula and let it flow down into the bowl while drawing the figure “8”. If it can do that without the batter breaking, immediately stop folding.
Transfer the batter into a large pastry bag with a medium-sized round tip.
Holding the piping bag at a 90 ̊ angle to the surface, pipe out the batter into 1.5-inch rounds about an inch apart on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
Holding the baking sheet with both hands, carefully bang the sheet firmly on the counter a few times to get rid of any air bubbles. (If you don’t release the air bubbles, they will expand during baking and crack your macaron shells.)
Repeat the piping and banging process until you have used up all the batter (usually about three sheet pans worth.)
Let the macarons rest and dry for 30 minutes or until a skin has developed; on a humid day, it might take an hour or more. To see if they're ready to be baked, lightly touch the shells. If the batter doesn’t stick to your finger, then it’s ready. (Don’t forget to remove the macaron templates, if using, before baking!)
While the macarons are resting, preheat the oven to 300˚F (150˚C) and position the oven rack in the center of the oven with an empty sheet pan preheating inside.
Bake the macarons, on top of the preheated sheet pan one tray at a time, for 18-20 minutes, rotating the pan once halfway through the baking process.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the sheet pan for 10 minutes before peeling off the parchment paper and cooling completely on a wire rack. (If the bottoms are a tiny bit sticky, keep them on the tray to cool off for an additional 10-15 minutes. If, however, the bottoms are already brown, they peel off cleanly, or they appear over-baked, then carefully take them off the tray immediately to cool down.) Repeat the baking process with the remaining sheet pans.
Pro Tip: It’s always better to over- rather than under-bake your macarons as the maturation process can typically salvage ones that are over-baked.
Fill with your favorite filling. Leave them in the fridge in an airtight container and let them mature for 24 hours. After 24 hours, bring them back to room temperature 30 minutes before serving. ENJOY!

Nutrition