Macarons are sweet, meringue-based confectionary that are as lovely to look at as they are to eat!
The only problem? They're notoriously tricky to make. But don't let this put you off. If you want to attempt making macarons, our step-by-step guide is as foolproof as they come. Just try it out for yourself...
Ingredients
Makes 16 macarons
- 200g (7oz) ground almonds
- 225g (8oz) icing sugar
- Pinch of salt
- 150g (5oz) egg whites
- 70g (3oz) granulated sugar
- 1tsp vanilla bean paste, optional
- Flavouring and colouring of your choice
For the buttercream
- 150g (5oz) unsalted butter, softened
- 250g (9oz) icing sugar, sifted
- 1tbsp milk
- Flavouring, optional
Method
- Preheat oven to 170°C (150°C fan) mark 3. Line two large baking sheets with baking parchment. Draw 4cm (1½in) circles on parchment, spacing them about 2.5cm (1in) apart then flip parchment so that circles are underneath and put on tray.
- Work ground almonds through a fine sieve until you have 115g (3¾oz) in bowl then sift over icing sugar and a pinch of salt. Stir well and set aside.
- With a handheld electric whisk beat egg whites, granulated sugar and vanilla bean paste at medium speed for 3min. Increase to medium-high for 3min, then turn up to maximum for 3min. Add any flavour or colour, and beat at full speed for 1min more. It’s best to use colouring pastes or powders when making macarons as liquid food colouring can make macaron batter too runny.
- Add almond mixture in one go and use a silicone spatula to fold it together. Count folds – be firm, aim is to knock air out of whites. After about 40 folds, it should move like lava.
- Transfer half mix to a piping bag with a 1cm (½in) plain nozzle and pipe it inside drawn circles. Repeat on other baking sheet with remaining mixture. Bang baking trays down hard against your counter a few times to burst any bubbles.
- Bake for 18min or until you can peel macarons from parchment. Cool completely on trays.
- To make buttercream, beat together butter, icing sugar, milk and any flavouring until combined. Use to sandwich together macarons, piping for a neat finish.
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Per macaroon:
- Calories: 155cals
- Protein: 2g
- Far: 8g
- Saturates: 3g
- Carbohydrates: 19g
- Sugars: 18g
- Fibre: 1g
An experienced and highly skilled team of food writers, stylists and digital content producers, the Good Housekeeping Cookery Team is a close-knit squad of food obsessives. Cookery Editor Emma Franklin is our resident chilli obsessive and barbecue expert, who spends an inordinate amount of time on holidays poking round the local supermarkets seeking out new and exciting foods. Senior Cookery Writer Alice Shields is a former pastry chef and baking fanatic who loves making bread and would have peanut butter with everything if she could. Her favourite carb is pasta, and our vibrant green spaghetti is her weeknight go-to. Lover of all things savoury, Senior Cookery Writer Grace Evans can be found eating crispy corn and nocellara olives at every opportunity, and will take the cheeseboard over dessert any time (though she cannot resist a slice of tres leches cake). With a wealth of professional kitchen know-how, culinary training and years of experience between them, they are all dedicated to ensuring every Good Housekeeping recipe is the best it can be, so you can trust they’ll work (and if they don’t – we’ll have the answer for why*) every time (*90% of the time the answer is: “buy an separate oven thermometer”!).
