Simple Vanilla Macarons
You guys I made macarons that were not a complete failure! After three miserable failures last week, I made a batch that looked pretty, had something that resembled feet, and taste absolutely delicious. I didn’t want to over complicate things on my first try, so I just made basic macarons with some vanilla mixed in and a simple vanilla buttercream. Now that I know these beauties are actually doable, I can’t wait to be a little more daring with the colors, fillings, toppings etc.
what i learned:
1- For me at least, liquid egg whites from a carton do NOT work. I thought I read somewhere that they did, but you won’t get a good meringue and you’ll end up tossing them.
2- Letting your egg whites “age” for 12-24 hours is supposed to release some of the moisture and help make these beauties rise better. For me though, I had a failure even when I aged them, and in this recipe I didn’t age them and they still turned out well. Next time, I may try this same recipe with aged whites to see the difference.
3- When you pipe these onto your parchment lined baking sheet, they will spread- a lot. Make sure you leave a couple inches in between each round of batter so they don’t end up spreading into each other like mine did.
4-Don’t be afraid to fold your dry ingredients into the meringue a bit quickly at first to break it up. After reading the wonderful tutorial on Tartelette and watching a few videos- I finally learned that lesson.
5-Yes a kitchen scale is needed for these. I got a reasonable on one amazon and have used it for many things!
Simple Vanilla Macarons
Ingredients
- 110 grams blanched slivered almonds or ground almond flour
- 200 grams confectioners sugar
- 100 grams egg whites, from 3 eggs, separated 24 hours in advance or microwaved for 8 seconds
- 1/4 tsp vanilla paste or extract
- 1 vanilla bean split lengthwise
- 50 grams granulated sugar
- vanilla buttercream
Instructions
- Pulse the almonds/almond flour and confectioner's sugar several times in your food processor until thoroughly mixed. Place egg whites in a clean bowl and beat using mixers (or whisk) until soft peaks form. Split and scrape the vanilla pod and add the beans and extract to the egg whites. Add the sugar and turn the mixer to high, whisking until you have a glossy meringue with stiff peaks.
- Fold the dry ingredients into the egg whites gently, briskly at first to break up the meringue a bit, until thoroughly mixed. It's important you don't over mix the batter, but it should be well combined and is supposed to "ribbon" off the the spatula when lifted from the bowl.
- Transfer the batter to a piping bag fitted with a large round tip and pipe rounds of 1.5 inches along two parchment or silicon-lined baking sheets (leaving space between each.) Let sit one hour at room temperature to develop a shell.
- Heat oven to 300. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Cool completely and remove from the pan.
- To fill, match up like sized cookies and pipe with buttercream or other filling of choice. Helen says they taste even better when stored in the fridge for a couple days and I agree!
Nutrition Information:
Serving Size: 1 gramsAmount Per Serving: Unsaturated Fat: 0g
Recipe adapted from Confections of a Foodie Bride via Tartelette
These turned out beautifully! Love these :)
How many did this recipe make?
Marcarons are my favorite!
I haven’t been brave enough to try these- yours are perfect! Love them!
Can’t wait to give these a try. They are gorgeous, Audra!
Ok, I immediately perked up with the “simple” title, and you didn’t disappoint in the recipe! It really looks very simple. I just might get back on the horse and try again! Thanks for the inspiration, Audra. Have a great weekend.
Do what I suggested Audra – once you pipe them out, dust with confectioner’s sugar and let sit on counter for minimum of 30 minutes before baking – the sugar is hygroscopic – absorbs moisture – and will help produce the crust on top. Yours look great!
How many does this recipe make?
They look beautiful! Well done, I’m really impressed. I’ve never baked those little cuties, but I too would like to learn:-)
Question: The ingredients say silvered almonds, the instructions say almond flour. Which one did you use? Or is it supposed to be almonds and flour? Thanks!
You can use almond meal for this recipe
Yep! Almond mel is perfect!
Ooh thanks for catching that- I will correct!
In addition to being so beautiful, these were delicious! Way to go, Audra.
Wow, after your failed attempts I am impressed at how wonderful these look!
Well done :D I’ve never made macarons before but I do know they can be tricky ~ these look fantastic!
I have yet to try making macarons, but I would love to try making them some day. I personally don’t see a single flaw in your macarons. They look beautiful :)
Oh, congratulations! They’re stunning and I can only imagine how excited you are!
Well fine Audra! I had a few failed attempts in my first try. Yours look great and delicious!!
xx
Katie {EpicureanMom.com}
Gorgeous macarons! I love the pictures… I had the same experience with the meringue batter spreading and touching each other, but yours look perfect! I love that moment when you realize your macarons have feet! Love these! Thanks for sharing your recipe :)
Vanilla is my all time favorite macaron flavor! So simple and delicious.
Hi Audra,
I just found your blog and I’m lovin it. Your recipes are lovely and seem easy peasy and your photos are fab. Well done. One of my best finds of the week!
I’ve been too scared to try macarons, but your post may have inspired me! This recipe looks fairly straightforward – thanks for posting it!
How many macarons do you get with this recipe? =)
These look lovely, but am a bit confused.
You say to “pulse the almonds and sugar until thoroughly mixed”. Then you say to add the sugar to the whites and mix, then add the almond flour. Should the almonds and sugar be mixed together as you first say, and added together, or kept separately?
Hey Tara- you add the powdered sugar to the almond flour and pulse. You add the granulated sugar to the egg whites.
Does that help?
Is there something that should be do e differently when using a fan oven? After 8 minutes, my macaroons have risen so much that I look like I’m building a tower, rather than a nice round biscuit shape like you have? They still taste good, but would love them to look as good as they taste to really wow the crowds!
How many macarons does this recipe make?
About 2 dozen!
Thanks! They’re delicious! Just to clarify, when you write “300”, I assume you meant 300ºF, correct? I have an oven that will reach 350ºC and your measurements are in metric, hence my question. At 150ºC they turn out great!
You might also want to note that size is of prime importance (as I’m sure you know from experience) where if they’re too big, not only will they not cook through, they’ll also brown too much on top and be too sweet to have more than one… I prefer to have at least five in one sitting ;-)
It would be useful if you could alter your recipe to say granulated sugar to the egg whites, I added the confectioners sugar and the whole thing was ruined