I have NEVER liked Macarons, I admit it. I just didn’t GET them… until last month. I FINALLY had a GOOD macaron and now I’m in love. When we decided to make recipes for National Chocolate Mint Day for our Celebrating Food round up this month I knew JUST what I wanted to make!
So before I got started I did a TON of research. Online AND asking friends that I know have made macarons (successfully – Thx Cynthia). I heard such scary stories about making them that I was a little nervous. So I spent a few days learning everything I could (like the difference between Italian and French macarons – these are french), then I just bought everything and got started!
Up until the point that I opened the oven door and saw those perfect feet on the shells I wasn’t sure if it worked! PHEW!
Chocolate Mint Macarons
how to make mint macarons with a chocolate ganache filling
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Servings: 40 cookie sandwiches
Calories: 41kcal
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp dried egg white powder (not meringue powder)
- 2 Tbsp granulated sugar
- 1 3/4 C powdered sugar
- 1 1/8 C fine almond flour
- 4 lrg egg whites set out at room temp (at least 24 hours, better at 3 days)
- 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
- peppermint syrup
- ganache
Instructions
- Print your template and place in pans (2-3) under parchment paper - OR draw 1 1/2 inch circles on the underside of your parchment paper.
- Stir the sugar and egg white powder into a small bowl.
- In another bowl sift together the almond meal and powdered sugar at least twice.
- In a copper or grease free bowl add the cream of tarter to your egg whites, beat them on low speed until foamy (with a hand mixer or by hand - not a big machine mixer).
- Slowly add the sugar/egg white powder mixture as you beat the eggs.
- Increase the speed to medium and beat until almost stiff egg whites, still glossy, but more firm that soft peaks.
- Beat in food coloring gel, until uniform.
- Gently fold in 1/3rd of the almond mixture.
- Once its combined, add another third of the almond mixture, fold, and so on.
- Add your batter to a piping bag with a large round tip (around 1 cm or less) and pipe rows of macarons.
- Pipe into the smaller circle they will spread to the larger circle.
- Pick up the pan with both hands, and holding it level, tap it firmly onto the counter several times. This will bring up any air bubbles in the cookies for you to pop (with a toothpick)
- Let the cookies rest between 45-60 minutes
- This is a great time to make the ganache - in a small pot bring the cream to a simmer
- add the flavored oil and stir
- pour the cream over the chocolate, let it sit for 5 mins
- stir it until it's smooth (if it's still chunky you can melt it over a double broiler
- Let it cool, it will thicken so it can be pipped
- Pre-heat your oven to as close to 290°F as possible, a little over is better than a little under.
- Bake the cookies for 16-18 minutes. One sheet at a time.
- Let the shells cool, then pop off the parchment paper
- LIGHTLY brush some of the syrup to the bottom of the shells
- Pipe the ganache onto half of the shells
- Twist the other half of the cookies onto the ganache
- Refrigerate the cookies and let them maturate, 1-3 days
- Bring to room temperature then enjoy
Notes
for more scientific posts on macaroons check out these posts by "not so humble pie"
https://notsohumblepie.blogspot.com/2010/08/macaron-troubleshooting-new-recipe.html
https://notsohumblepie.blogspot.com/2010/08/macaron-troubleshooting-new-recipe.html
Nutrition
Calories: 41kcal | Carbohydrates: 7g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 2g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 2mg | Potassium: 4mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 6g | Calcium: 7mg | Iron: 1mg
Did you make this recipe?Mention @ashleemariecakes or tag #makesomeawesome and I'll share your image in my Instagram stories!
Tips and Tricks
Macaron Template
- use a template – otherwise you’ll have a hard time matching up sandwich halves.
- egg whites – AGE them, separate them, throw the yolks back in the fridge, or in a recipe, and leave your egg whites out (and covered) for 1-3 days.
- hand mixer – You guys KNOW I love my bosch, but it is SO powerful that it easily OVER beats egg whites (so does the kitchenaid stand mixer) so it’s best to stick with a hand mixer OR whisk by hand.
- clean bowl – Copper is best for beating egg whites, if you don’t have copper (I don’t..,. yet) just make sure your bowl is completely grease free (and make sure you have NO egg yolk in your whites)
- oven thermometer – ovens can be WAY off, I suggest this for EVERY baked recipe, my oven is off by 25 degrees!
- scale – recipes this sensitive often call for weight not measurement, since dry ingredients settle. I use my scale ALL the time totally worth the investment
- parchment paper – you can also use silpat mats, but they can be tricky, and sometimes the shell’s won’t pop off as easily
- sift – don’t skimp on the sifting, it’s frustrating and time consuming but you won’t get the right texture if you don’t do it
- syrup for moisture – using syrup to brush on the shells brings flavor to the shells as well as helps the maturation process
- wait 3 days – something magical happens during that time, I try one every day to test the overall effect. The first day it’s all too dry, the maturation brings moisture to the cookie while still leaving a crisp outer shell
- overcooking is better than undercooking – the syrup and maturation will bring the moisture back if they are a little dry
Kara
I have never even tasted a macaron, but these make me want to. That chocolate ganache in the middle looks sooo good!
Ashlee
I’ve never liked them until I tried a GOOD one, time to try another recipe, see if I can make more that I love.
Aimee @ Like mother like daughter
Can you believe I’ve never eaten a macaron, or obviously never made them either. Now you need to teach me how to make these, so I know how but also so I can enjoy these delectable cookies!
Ashlee
we should totally have a cooking day, I used to love doing that with my other foodie friends in other places I’ve lived. we’d have a blast!
Alli @ Cupcake Diaries
These macarons are so perfect! I love the idea to use a template. I’m excited to make some! Thanks for all the great tips!
Ashlee
I hope it helps! can’t wait to see what you make! maybe a cupcake flavored macaron?
Julie @ Julie's Eats & Treats
I’ve never had a macaroon and all the horror stories scare me out of making them but yours look delicious! Love your tips!
Ashlee
I was worried too, but got great advice! so much info out there to help too! you should totally give it a try!
Jo
These are the perfect little recipe to make in a gift bag as part of a Christmas gift basket! So pretty and delicious looking!
Ashlee
yup, perfect for Christmas gifts!
jan
Hi Ashlee
I just tried printing off your macaron template and it is having issues- it is printing off extremely small. Any tips to get it to the right size? Can’t wait to make these. Thanks tonz for the recipe!
Ashlee
too small? I’m so sorry, that must be frustrating, it should print off as an 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of paper, I use borderless printing. Make sure it’s printing 100%
cats
I just made the macaroons and they didn’t have the feet and they were all cracked.
Do you know some of the reasons this might have happened?
Ashlee Marie
usually that’s because of overmixing
Catherine Umandal
I didn’t see here the cream of tartar in the instruction but it is in the list of ingredients…please clarify.thanks.
Ashlee Marie
It’s in step 4, with the egg whites
Taryn Picton
hi there, just wondering if there is anyway to convert the powdered egg whites to fresh egg whites? i can’t find the powdered ones at my local supermarket!
Sophie
Is there anything I could use other than egg white powder?
Ashlee
I’ve used recipes without egg white powder but I didn’t have good luck with those recipes. so yes you can, but I think it helps stabilize the recipe better to use it.
Liza
This is incredibly helpful! Because of this post, I think I’m going to try making them! THANK YOU for taking the time, especially with the tips! Although I’m a little leary to leave eggwhites out for so long… Gonna need to do a little googling to convince myself it’s safe. 🙂
Anjill
Ashlee
I found that your coding for this page is faulty when I tried to print your recipe. You might want to fix that, just sayin.
Ashlee Marie
it should be fixed, let me know
Tastie Dine
There is one important question no one is asking.
Do you bake the macarons with:
1. Top heat only
2. Top and bottom heat
3. Bottom heat only
Thia has been my challenge and no one seems to be mentioning this part. I’d appreciate if you could clarify.
Ashlee Marie
my oven only has bottom heat, most ovens only have bottom heat – only convection ovens do both, and a recipe will tell you if you needed convection