How to make French Macarons - The Ultimate Guide

July 20, 2021 Erin

The Ultimate Guide on How to make French Macarons. This post will show you how to make foolproof french macarons. Sprinkle Macarons / Hundreds and Thousands French Macarons - a grown up version of a childhood treat. Vanilla French Macaron shells, sprinkled with hundreds and thousands, and sandwiched with an American buttercream for the perfect nostalgic treat.

Original post from March 2018. Updated July 2021.

Sprinkle French Macarons / Hundreds and Thousands Macarons

Hi hi! Just popping in to share the recipe for these French Macarons with you. I have loads of macaron recipes on my website, but this was the first one that I posted. I have turned this post into the ultimate guide to French Macarons. It is full of tips and tricks to help you to be as successful as possible at macarons!

I worked really, really hard to get to this place with my macarons - it certainly isn't easy. They are sensitive and finicky. There are many things that can go wrong. It took endless videos and eventually watching a friend make them to finally get it right.

Macarons are intimidating. I am not going to pretend they aren't. But once you nail down the base your options really are endless. So I hope this post can serve as a guide for you - the ultimate post on how to make french macarons! As always please let me know if you have any questions - I am so happy to help!

Steps for making French Macarons

Macarons take practice. Don't get discouraged by them - it took me a long, long time to get to the point I am at now, and even now I still have fails. Read the recipe right through, make sure you have enough time set aside to really focus in, and don't worry if they don't work. They will still end up delicious. Here's the basic process of making French Macarons:

Prep your ingredients. Usually I don't do this for recipes, but it really helps to have everything ready to go. Dry ingredients sifted twice, your template made, egg whites at room temperature etc.
Make the meringue. These are French Macarons so are based off of a French meringue. Whip until stiff peaks form. Add colour if using.
Incorporate the dry ingredients. Do this in two goes. Mix the first half in, then mix the second to incorporate.
Mix the macaron batter. This part is important and takes technique. You want to deflate the meringue against the side of the bowl. Pick the batter up and spread it against the side, then scrape off and repeat. Watching a video on this technique is helpful.
Pipe out the batter. Using the template you made, pipe the batter out.
Bang the shells. Rap the pan hard on the counter in order to get rid of any big air bubbles in the batter. This will spread the shells out a little too and help to smooth the tops.
Add sprinkles. If you are adding sprinkles, now is the time.
Dry the shells. This step is also important as it is what helps to avoid cracked shells. Dry the shells until they are no longer tacky.
Bake the macaron shells. Bake until the shells peel cleanly off the parchment paper.
Pair and fill. Once the shells are baked and cooled, pair them up and fill with your choice of buttercream.
Leave to rest. Ideally macarons will be left to rest overnight in order to let their flavours meld. I won't tell anyone if you skip this step.

French Macarons with American Buttercream

I wanted the first macaron recipe that I posted to be a wee nod to my childhood. These sprinkle French macarons are inspired by a biscuit (cookie) I ate growing up - hundreds and thousands biscuits. They are a vanilla biscuit, covered in a pink icing, and loaded up with hundreds and thousands (nonpareils). They don't really have a distinctive flavour aside from just being sweet, which I think is probably half the appeal. I replicated the biscuit with a pink shell, and added some sprinkles just after I piped them out. I then filled them with an American buttercream, also "pink" flavour.

Usually I wouldn't use an American buttercream in almost any situation. However, the slight crust that it gets is perfect for replicating the texture of the biscuits. So here we have it - a hundreds and thousands macaron! Or, a vanilla macaron, coloured pink, with sprinkles. You decide what to call it.

How to get Feet on Macarons

I have found that there are a few factors that come into play here. The main one that helps is making sure that the tops of your macarons are dry before you put them in the oven. This means when the macarons bake, the steam escapes out the sides of the cookies and not the tops, causing them to puff up and get the feet. Preheating the baking sheet can really help to give the macaron shells a lift too.

Silicone mat vs parchment for baking Macarons

I know that some people prefer silicone baking mats, but I much prefer parchment paper when making macarons. I find that shells on silicone mats tend to get over baked, don't have as pronounced of a foot, and can have issues with sticking. Pre-cut parchment is super helpful here as you can just slide the template onto the pan and then place the parchment over the top, pipe the macarons, and move onto the next tray.

Why did my Macarons Crack?

The most common cause of cracking macarons is the dryness of the shell. If you do not dry out your shells enough when you pipe them, then when you bake the shells, the steam escapes out the top of the shell rather than the sides. This will cause your macarons to crack. Make sure that before they go into the oven the surface of the shell is only just tacky, or is not sticky at all on your finger.

Correct Batter Consistency for French Macarons

This can be a tricky one to check. If you over mix your macarons, they spread everywhere and bake up flat. However if you under mix them, they can have bubbles and not have a nice smooth top, and can have points on them.

The best way to get this right is practice. The consistency I like to look for is when you lift your spatula up, the batter flows like lava. You want to be able to draw a figure 8 with the batter flowing off of the spatula without it breaking.

You are best to err on the side of under mixing your macaron batter than over mixing. Remember it will continue to get mixed as you add it to the piping bag and pipe it out onto the trays. If your batter is super runny and flowing everywhere, you know you have over mixed.

How to tell when Macarons are baked

It can be a little tricky to check if French Macarons are properly baked. There is a fine line between having the shells set, and the feet set and stable, and overbaking and giving them colour, which you don't want. I like to very gently press on the top of one of the shells, and if the foot stays stable, then I know that it is well on the way to being done. If it is not quite there, I give it extra time, checking every minute.

What do I do if my macarons stick to the parchment?

I also had some issues with the macs sticking a little to the parchment paper (I have had much better luck with paper than silpat), even though they were baked through. My friend who is a pastry chef suggested that if this happens, then you can freeze them, still attached to the paper, for 5-10 minutes, and they usually peel right off!

French macarons and pinch pot of sprinkles

How to Troubleshoot French Macarons

All kinds of things can go wrong with macs. I have experienced almost all of them, so if they happen to you don't sweat it, you're not alone. I used this site to troubleshoot, but the main solution was just to keep at it and keep trying. This video from my friend Erin is also amazing to learn all things macaron!

Why are my French Macarons Hollow?

I have had some issues with my macarons being hollow in the past. Eventually, I discovered that it was from over whipping the meringue (Which I didn't realise that I was doing!). You want it to be nice and stiff, but not too dry. If it starts to dry out and clump up in the whisk then you have gone too far. If your macarons do come out hollow don't worry - just fill them as usual and then leave them overnight in the fridge. The filling will soften the shell down and then the hollows won't be as noticeable. They will still taste great!

What Sprinkles to add to French Macarons

Adding sprinkles to macarons is a super easy way to fancy them up a little. Sprinkle macarons are my absolute favourite to make - I love grabbing whatever is on hand and using it to reflect the flavour of the filling. You do have to be a little selective about your sprinkles. Non-pareils, or what we call "hundreds and thousands" work best. Jimmies (the longer rod sprinkles) tend to melt in the oven, so avoid them. The confetti style round sprinkles work great for sprinkle macarons too as they don't melt in the oven. Avoid anything with sugar balls in it as these will melt in the oven, causing holes in your macaron shells.

Can Macarons be Frozen?

Macarons freeze super well. I usually will freeze the empty shells layered in an airtight container with parchment, but depending on the filling, you can freeze buttercream based ones too. However I prefer to freeze components separately and then assemble.

FAQ for French Macarons

Can I make different flavoured macarons?

This is essentially just a vanilla macaron recipe! You can colour it any way you like, leave off the sprinkles, or fill it with whatever flavour you like!

Why are macarons so hard to make?

Macarons are tricky. They take practice. Don't feel disheartened if they don't work the first time (or even the second time!), they still taste super yum. Take lots of notes. Work out what works for you. Play around with baking time and oven temperature. Its all about finding the good balance. This is the recipe that works for me - hopefully it works for you too! There's so many different recipes floating round on the internet.

Why are my macarons browning / why are macarons not baking properly?

Invest in an oven thermometer if you haven't already. I calibrated my oven a while back and it's made a huge difference to the consistency of my oven.

How do I know when my macaron batter is ready?

Watch lots of videos. This is one of my favourites - the recipe is different but the technique is the same. It can be tricky to judge how far to take the meringue and then again how far to take the batter, so a visual guide is best, for me at least.

Why aren't my macarons round?

I had a few batches that weren't turning out perfectly circular like I wanted them to, and realised it was from the banging of the pans to help them settle. Too much banging was unevenly distributing the batter, so when it baked they would come out a little oval. I found that giving the batter just a few extra turns meant that less banging was required, and therefore less chance of oval macarons! A draft in the room can also affect this so just be careful.

Why do you use two sheet pans?

It really helps with the distribution of heat, and helps the macarons to bake nice and evenly!

Can these be baked two trays at a time?

If you are confident with your oven, then by all means go ahead!

What template do you use?

I usually draw my own. If you need a template, print two of these and stick them together to use as a guide.

Why do you sift the ingredients twice?

It makes sure there really are no lumps and helps to disperse everything evenly.

Like these Sprinkle French Macarons? Here's more Macaron recipes:

S'mores Macarons
Spiced Pumpkin and Walnut Praline Macarons
Rainbow Macarons
Vanilla Bean French Macarons with Strawberry Buttercream
Christmas Macarons
Find all other Macaron recipes here!

Made this recipe and love it?

If you made this recipe then I would LOVE for you to leave me a review below to let me know how you liked it! Also, please make sure to tag me on Instagram if you make it!

A note on salt and oven temperature

It is important to note the type of salt that is called for in a recipe. I use Diamond Crystal salt throughout my recipes - if you use a different sort of kosher salt or regular table salt you will need to adjust accordingly as some salt is 'saltier' than others. Morton's salt is twice as salty, so you will need half the quantity. Same goes for a regular table salt. I am working to get gram measurements throughout my recipes for salt but still getting there.

All oven temperatures are conventional unless otherwise stated. If you are baking on fan / convection, you will need to adjust the temperature. An oven thermometer is a great investment to ensure that your oven is the correct temperature.

Using the double / triple function in the recipe card

You will notice that there is a '1X' '2X' '3X' button in my recipe card. This can be used for doubling or tripling a recipe. However, please note that this only doubles the ingredient quantities in the ingredients list and NOT in the method. If there are quantities or pan sizes in the method of the recipe (for example weigh out 150g brown butter), you will need to scale this number manually. It will also not change the baking time in the recipe so you will need to adjust this yourself too. It is always a good idea to read through a recipe fully before doubling it just to check this. If you would like to scale this recipe or convert for another pan size, use my calculator!

Tools and equipment

For a list of my go-to tools and equipment, I have a post you can refer to here.

Why is this recipe in grams?

I post my recipes in grams as it is the most accurate way to bake. Cups are not only inaccurate but they vary in volume worldwide. There is no way for me to provide one cup measure that works for everyone. However, posting in weight fixes this issue. If you would like the recipe in cups you are welcome to convert it yourself via google, but please do not ask me to do it for you as I am not comfortable providing a recipe using a method that I have not tested. Baking with a scale is easy, accurate, and also makes cleanup super simple. Here is the scale that I use if you would like a recommendation! Here's to accurate baking!

Recipe for French Macarons

Hundreds and Thousands French Macarons

★★★★★ 5 from 11 reviews

Author: Erin Clarkson
Prep Time: 45 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour 45 minutes plus chilling and resting time
Yield: 24 macarons

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Description

A grown up version of a childhood treat. Vanilla French Macaron shells, sprinkled with hundreds and thousands, and sandwiched with an american buttercream for the perfect nostalgic treat.

Ingredients

Macaron Shells

170g ground almonds
300g powdered sugar
180g egg whites, at room temperature
160g sugar
A few drops of pink gel food colouring
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
Hundreds and Thousands Sprinkles, (Nonpareils) to finish

American Buttercream Filling

225g (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
pinch of salt
500g (4 cups) powdered sugar, sifted
2-3 Tbsp whole milk, as needed
Pink gel food colouring

Instructions

MACARON SHELLS

Preheat oven to 300˚f / 150˚c, and position the oven rack in the centre of the oven. Using a round cookie cutter or the base of a large piping tip (something about 1.5 inches in diameter), draw a "template" for your macarons on a piece of parchment paper, leaving about ¾" between each circle.
Combine the almond meal and powdered sugar together in a large bowl. Sift the mixture twice, to ensure there are no large lumps and that the mixture is properly aerated. Set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the egg whites on medium speed until foamy. Gradually add the sugar, increase the mixer speed, and whip on high until the meringue starts to firm up. Add pink gel food colour a few drops at a time, until the desired colour is reached. Add vanilla and mix until incorporated. Continue to whip until the meringue forms stiff peaks (there is a good example here).
Remove the bowl from the mixer. Add half of the ground almond and powdered sugar mixture, and fold into the meringue. You want to deflate the meringue just a little at this stage, to combine the meringue and ground almond mixture.
Add the remaining ground almond mixture, and stir lightly to combine. Now comes the important part - mixing the batter to the correct consistency. Again, this video does a good job of explaining it. Fold the mixture in a series of 'turns', deflating the batter by spreading it against the side of the bowl. Turn the bowl slightly and repeat the movement - scooping the batter from the bottom of the bowl, and spreading it against the side. Continuously check the consistency of the batter - you want it to flow like lava when you lift the spatula from the bowl, and you should be able to 'draw' a figure 8 with it, without the batter breaking (again, watch lots of videos to get an idea! They help so much).
This step can take some practice until you know what it should feel and look like. If in doubt you are better to under mix them than over mix them - the process of putting the batter into the bag and piping out will help mix a little too.
Fit a large pastry bag with a medium sized round tip, such as an ateco #805. Place the macaron template on a sheet pan, and place a second piece of parchment over it. Holding the piping bag at a 90˚ angle to the surface, pipe out the batter into blobs the size of the circles drawn on the template. Finish off each piped circle with a little "flick" of your wrist to minimise the batter forming a point (it will still form a small one, but we can get rid of this with banging). Remove the template from under the macarons.
Hold the baking sheet in two hands, and carefully but firmly, evenly bang it against the bench. Repeat this a few more times - this will get rid of any air bubbles, remove points on the top, and help them to spread out slightly.
Repeat the piping and banging process until you have used up all of the batter - I usually make three sheet pans worth. Sprinkle the tops of the macarons with the hundreds and thousands sprinkles.
Allow the macarons to dry at room temperature for approximately 30 minutes, or until they form a skin that you can touch without your finger sticking to them. This time will drastically vary depending on the humidity.
About fifteen minutes before you are going to bake the macarons, place a spare sheet pan in the oven to preheat - this is going to be used to place under the pan with the macarons on it, to double up, which should help with even baking. Bake the macarons one sheet at a time - place the sheet with the macarons on the preheated sheet, and place in the oven.
Bake for approximately 18 minutes, rotating the pan once during the cooking process, and checking for doneness after 15 minutes. The macarons should develop a foot (the ruffled part on the bottom of the macaron), and bake without browning. To see if they are done - press down lightly on a shell. If the foot gives way, it needs a little longer, if it is stable, then it is close to being done.
Test a macaron shell - if you can peel it away cleanly from the paper, they are done. If they are stable but cannot yet peel away cleanly, give them another minute or so. Again, this part takes a little trial and error depending on your oven. If they seem done but do not peel away cleanly, do not worry - there is a little trick for that! Remove from the oven, and allow to cool on the sheet pan for 10 minutes before
peeling off the parchment paper and allowing to cool completely on a wire rack. Repeat the baking with the remaining trays, using the same spare sheet pan to double up.
If your macs do not peel away cleanly, place them, on the parchment paper, into the freezer for 5-10 minutes, then peel away from the paper.
Store cooled macarons in an airtight container until ready to use.

AMERICAN BUTTERCREAM FILLING

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, whip the butter, vanilla bean paste and salt until pale and creamy. Sift in the powdered sugar, and mix on medium speed until well combined. If needed, add milk a tablespoon at a time, until the frosting is light and fluffy, and a pipeable consistency. Add gel food colouring until the desired colour is reached. Transfer to a bag fitted with a large french star tip (I used an ateco #866).

ASSEMBLY

Pair each macaron shell with another of a similar size. Pipe a circle of buttercream on one half, and then sandwich with the second shell. Macarons taste best if you 'mature' them in the fridge overnight to let the flavours meld, but they are perfect eaten immediately too! Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge.

Notes

Macaron Shell Recipe from I love Macarons, with adaptations from Fox and Crane

Keywords: macarons, gluten free, hundreds and thousands, sprinkles, american buttercrea

The post How to make French Macarons - The Ultimate Guide appeared first on Cloudy Kitchen.

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