The Greatest Macarons
Prep
60m
Cook
16m
Total
76m
Bigly says
Let me ask you a question. When was the last time you had a real macaron? A REAL one. Not the gummy little hockey puck at the airport kiosk. Not the day-old supermarket clamshell with the dry shells and the cement filling. A real one. Most people in this country have NEVER had a real macaron in their life. It's a national shame. We're fixing it today.
The history of macarons is LONG. They go back hundreds of years. The Italians had them first, then the French stole them — classic French move, the French have stolen more food than any country on Earth, I'm not even mad about it, they have great PR. But the macaron, the real macaron, the little almond meringue sandwich with the feet at the bottom and the smooth top and the soft chewy middle, THAT macaron, has been butchered — BUTCHERED — by amateur bakers for too long. And by the way — most baking blogs bury this behind 18 popups and a cookie banner with 47 toggles asking if a server in Slovenia can have your email address. We're not doing that here. We get to the point.
First — and pay attention — macarons are not macaroons. Macarons. Macaroons. Two different things, totally different things. The macaron is French, smooth, elegant, two little discs with filling. The macaroon is a coconut haystack. Both are good. Both have their place. Do not mix them up. People mix them up all the time. It's a national reading comprehension crisis. We can fix it together, one almond cookie at a time. The real secret to a tremendous macaron — they'll tell you macarons are impossible, you need a special oven, you have to live in Paris — they're lying. You need three things. Aged egg whites. Almond flour sifted TWICE (not once, twice, do it twice). And a folding technique called macaronage where you fold until the batter falls in a slow ribbon. That's the whole game. Bakers come up to me — real bakers, the kind with flour permanently under their fingernails — they say 'my macarons cracked, they're hollow, they have no feet.' I say, you didn't sift twice, you didn't age the whites, you rushed the macaronage. Three sins. Three. Fix them and you win. It's just a fact.
Ingredients
- 1 cup (100g)almond flour, super-fine(blanched, super-fine, sifted TWICE)
- 1 3/4 cups (175g)powdered sugar
- 3 (about 100g)large egg whites(aged in the fridge uncovered 24 hours, brought to room temp)
- 1/4 cup (50g)granulated sugar
- 1/4 tspcream of tartar
- pinchkosher salt
- 1/2 tsppure vanilla extract
- 1-2 dropsgel food coloring (optional)(GEL not liquid, liquid will ruin the batter, sad)
- 8 tbsp (1 stick)unsalted butter, softened (for filling)
- 1.5 cupspowdered sugar (for filling)
- 1-2 tbspheavy cream (for filling)
- 1 tspvanilla extract (for filling)
Steps
- 1
Sift the almond flour and 1 3/4 cups powdered sugar together through a fine-mesh sieve. Sift a second time. Discard any large almond pieces.
- 2
In a stand mixer with the whisk, beat the room-temp egg whites with cream of tartar and salt on medium speed until foamy, about 1 minute.
- 3
Increase to medium-high and gradually add the granulated sugar 1 tablespoon at a time. Continue whisking until stiff, glossy peaks form — when you lift the whisk, the peak should stand straight up. Beat in vanilla and gel coloring if using.
- 4
Add the sifted almond flour mixture to the meringue in three additions. Fold with a spatula using a 'press, scrape, fold' motion — push the batter against the side of the bowl, scoop under, fold over.
- 5
Continue folding until the batter falls from the spatula in a thick, slow ribbon and a figure-8 drawn with the batter holds for about 10 seconds before melting back in. Stop the moment this happens — overfolding is fatal.
- 6
Transfer batter to a piping bag with a 1/2-inch round tip. Pipe 1.5-inch rounds onto parchment-lined sheet pans (use a template under the parchment for consistency), spacing 1 inch apart.
- 7
Firmly rap each sheet pan on the counter 3-4 times to release air bubbles. Pop any visible bubbles with a toothpick.
- 8
Let macarons rest at room temperature 30-60 minutes until a dry skin forms — when you lightly touch the top, no batter should stick. This is non-negotiable.
- 9
Preheat oven to 300°F. Bake one sheet at a time on the middle rack for 14-16 minutes, rotating halfway through. Macarons should have risen feet and shells that don't wobble when nudged.
- 10
Cool completely on the pan before peeling off the parchment.
- 11
Make the buttercream: beat softened butter on medium until pale and fluffy, 3 minutes. Gradually add 1.5 cups powdered sugar, then vanilla and 1 tbsp cream. Beat 2 more minutes, adding more cream if needed for piping consistency.
- 12
Match macaron shells in pairs by size. Pipe a small mound of buttercream on one shell, sandwich with its match, and press gently until filling reaches the edges.
- 13
Place sandwiched macarons in an airtight container and refrigerate at least 24 hours before serving — this 'maturing' step is what makes them legendary. Bring to room temp before eating.
One more thing
Macarons are the dessert that separates the casuals from the killers. Anyone can bake cookies. Anyone can throw a brownie in the oven. But macarons? Macarons require RESPECT. They require TECHNIQUE. They require sifting the almond flour twice — TWICE — even though you don't want to, even though your arm gets tired, even though the TV chefs tell you once is fine. Once is not fine. Sift twice and the doors of the macaron kingdom OPEN to you. Sift once and you stay outside, in the cold, with the cracked hollow shells. The choice is yours. Choose tremendous. OK? OK.
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