Everything about a macaron says France. They are sophisticated, gorgeous, delicious and have a romance to them; a certain je ne sais quoi? (That was gratuitous, but I couldn’t help throwing in one of the few French phrases I can actually pronounce.) But, it is true, they have a mystique to them that is both alluring and intimidating, like a really gorgeous woman; think Catherine Deneuve and Brigit Bardot. When you bite into them they are just as beautiful on the inside, and inviting, even seductive. I can eat my entire body weight in these nut-meringue cookies and still want for more. What on Earth does all of this have to do with St. Patrick’s day you might ask? I admit it is a stretch, but I really wanted to make them and they are adorable in green. I added a bit of mint to the ganache and voila, you have minty macarons for St. Patrick’s day!
Minty Macarons
Inspired by Joanne Chang’s article in Fine Cooking
. Follow along with the instructions and find the full recipe below.
To make the ganache:
In a medium sized pot heat the cream until just steaming, but not boiling. Turn off the heat and add the chocolate and butter. Shake the pot to make sure all the chocolate is submerged in the hot cream and allow to sit for about 3 minutes. Add the mint extract or liqueur and gently stir the ganache until it is completely smooth. Remove to a shallow container and allow to cool to room temperature. Can be made a day ahead. leftovers can be refrigerated for a week or frozen for a month.
To make the macarons:
Prepare 2 or 3 baking sheets with parchment paper, set aside
Prepare a Pastry Bag 18-in.
with a large round Pastry Tip
, set aside
Sift together the confectioners’ sugar and almond flour in a large bowl, set aside
Whip the egg whites on medium speed until foamy, about 1 to 2 minutes. Add the sugar 1 tablespoon at a time with the mixer on medium. Add the green Food Coloring
.
If you are using the paste colors, wipe it on the bottom of the whip attachment. Add it until you have achieved the color you like. Continue whipping the eggs until they are glossy and hold a stiff peak, about 5 to 8 minutes.
When you lift the whip out of the bowl it should hold a straight point.
Add about half of the flour mixture to the egg whites.
Using a rubber spatula fold in the flour.
Mix in the second half of the flour mixture, just until incorporated.
Fill the pastry bag about 1/2 full with the macaron mixture.
Holding the bag straight up and down, pipe the macarons so they are about the size of a quarter and 1/4-inch tall. They need to be about 1-inch apart, so they don’t bake together. When lifting the bag up, be sure to release the pressure so they won’t have a tall peak. If the macarons end up with a point, use a wet finger to smooth them down.
Tap the tray several times on the counter to flatten the macarons slightly and get any air bubbles to the surface. Let the trays sit, uncovered for about 30 minutes so the macarons form a bit of a skin on them. They will
As they are sitting, preheat the oven to 325° and position the oven racks in the top and bottom thirds of the oven.
Place the macarons in the oven and immediately reduce the temperature to 300°F. Bake until the meringue is puffed, but still pale. Switch the racks and continue to bake for a total of about 15 to 20 minutes. If you used a third sheet tray, you will need to preheat the oven back to 325° before you start to bake them. Reduce the temperature to 300° once they are in the oven. (This extra step helps them rise properly.)
Once the macarons are completely cooled, flip half of the them over and pipe on the ganache using a pastry bag and a small round pastry tip.
HINT: Just a thin layer, so it doesn’t ooze out the sides. These minty macarons were a little over stuffed, bit of a tasty mess to eat!
Sandwich them together.
Happy St. Patrick’s Day or any other day!
Ingredients
- 1 ¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar 7 3/8 oz
- 1 ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons almond flour/meal 4 3/8 oz
- 4 large egg whites at room temperature
- ¼ cup sugar
- Green food coloring
Chocolate Ganache
- 4 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate finely chopped
- ¼ cup heavy cream
- 2 teaspoons unsalted butter
- ½ teaspoon mint extract or 1 tablespoon mint liqueur—or to taste
Instructions
Ganache
- In a medium sized pot heat the cream until just steaming, but not boiling. Turn off the heat and add the chocolate and butter. Shake the pot to make sure all the chocolate is submerged in the hot cream and allow to sit for about 3 minutes. Add the mint extract or liqueur and gently stir the ganache until it is completely smooth. Remove to a shallow container and allow to cool to room temperature. Can be made a day ahead. leftovers can be refrigerated for a week or frozen for a month.
Macarons
- Prepare 2 or 3 baking sheets with parchment paper, set aside
- Prepare a Pastry Bag 18-in. with a large round Pastry Tip, set aside
- Sift together the confectioners’ sugar and almond flour in a large bowl, set aside.
- Whip the egg whites on medium speed until foamy, about 1 to 2 minutes. Add the sugar 1 tablespoon at a time with the mixer on medium. Add the green Food Coloring.
- If you are using the paste colors, wipe it on the bottom of the whip attachment. Add it until you have achieved the color you like. Continue whipping the eggs until they are glossy and hold a stiff peak, about 5 to 8 minutes. When you lift the whip out of the bowl it should hold a straight point.
- Add about half of the flour mixture to the egg whites. Using a rubber spatula fold in the flour, and mix in the second half of the flour mixture, just until incorporated.
- Fill the pastry bag about 1/2 full with the macaron mixture.
- Tap the tray several times on the counter to flatten the macarons slightly and get any air bubbles to the surface. Let the trays sit, uncovered for about 30 minutes so the macarons form a bit of a skin on them. They will
- As they are sitting, preheat the oven to 325° and position the oven racks in the top and bottom thirds of the oven.
- Place the macarons in the oven and immediately reduce the temperature to 300°F. Bake until the meringue is puffed, but still pale. Switch the racks and continue to bake for a total of about 15 to 20 minutes. If you used a third sheet tray, you will need to preheat the oven back to 325° before you start to bake them. Reduce the temperature to 300° once they are in the oven. (This extra step helps them rise properly.)
- Once the macarons are completely cooled, flip half of the them over and pipe on the ganache using a pastry bag and a small round pastry tip. Sandwich together.
Beautiful Macs, Zoe! I love the fact that you didn’t age the egg whites, unlike most other recipes do.
Hey Ria,
These are lovely, and simple to make. Room temp eggs and let the piped cookies sit and they are good to go!
Cheers, Zoë
Absolutely gorgeous! Love the description – that pretty much captures the experience for me too.
You didn’t save me any did you?!….sigh… 🙂
Hey Jen,
I did, I promise! But, G ate them all, he found your stash. 😉
z
Gorgeous, dainty, minty, and tempting!
Macarons fit the bill for any occasion! Yours are so pretty. I can’t seem to reliably get mine to puff up nicely.
Really beautiful macarons!
What perfect beauties! Love chocolate and mint.
I’m in love with Macarons. I really should get a move on and actually make these. Yours look beautiful, the mint and chocolate colours go nicely together, they must taste great as well.
Oh, what perfection. I enjoy nothing more than a macaron, and these look so tempting.
These are so beautiful. 🙂 What macaron cookbook might you recommend for an intermediate baker but first-time macaron maker?
I can’t wait to try this recipe! My recipe left out the direction for resting them for 30 minutes. They didn’t rise, but that didn’t stop me from eating a whole tray. Macaron’s are addicting!
Hi Jeannine,
The resting seems to really help the shape of the macarons.
Enjoy, Zoë
They look delish, I have been searching for a simple recipe for french macarons and it looks like I have found it. Thanks so much.
Hi Zoe
I was wondering if the macarons can be made 1 day ahead of time. I want to make a large batch for a party and would like to know what is the best way to store it. I am concern the cookies may get stale or chewy. thanks!
So I’m making these today and I’m so excited…one thing I noticed that I didn’t seem to get right is the size…when I piped the macarons…lol they are all different sizes. Any tips on how to get uniform size? Practice I’m sure …but I might just get big as a house practicing so any tips will be sooooo appreciated.
Thanks,
Janet
Hi Janet,
One thing that you can do, but it is a bit more work, is draw the size of the circle you are shooting for. Trace something the right size and then practice piping it just to that size. In the end, it is just a matter of practice and getting the feel for when to squeeze the bag, and when to release the pressure. Maybe practicing with mayo will give you the practice, but you won’t want to eat them! 😉 This is what we did in culinary school.
Cheers, Zoë
I made these, they’re awesome! Wowed my mom’s group! Seemed so fancy! Mine were also somewhat different sizes. I just picked through to pair up the ones that were similar, and once they had the chocolate in them, the size difference was not so noticeable, as long as the mate matched! I told one woman they were macarons after she had eaten one, and she asked what those other cookies were that she buys at the grocery store in those packages. . . I said, “. . .bad macaroons. . .?”
Hi! I have a question! Can the batter for the macarons be refrigerated if I had left overs?
I know this is an old post, but I just wanted to say that I love this recipe. I’ve been using it for almost two years now and have made all different sorts of macarons based on this. It’s a great basic recipe that is easily modified, always turns out great, and doesn’t take all day to accomplish.
HI!
Really need to know something… I’m making this recipe right now and just realized I don’t have almond flour…. Can I use regular flour or even almond meal??? Thanks!!!!
Mel
Hi Melissa,
Almond meal and almond flour are the same thing, so you are all set.
Enjoy, Zoë