Learn how to make macarons with these easy tips. These are the famous French cookie, not the American style coconut macaROON.  I love Paris and especially love a macaron from Laudree, a beautiful macaron shop in Paris. I have always wanted to learn how to make macarons but found them very intimidating. I am sharing my first attempt at making macarons. Make sure you scroll to the bottom to see how you can win a trip to Paris! You will be able to try the real thing!

Chocolate De Leche French Macarons

I have listed the weighed amounts for each ingredient.  These delicate cookies can be tricky and need precise amounts of each ingredient so weighing is best.  While we can get close with cup measurements of the dry ingredients the varying size of eggs is more difficult.

Chocolate Macarons With Caramel Filling

50 grams  sugar
200 grams powdered sugar
110 grams almond meal
100 grams egg whites
45 grams unsweetened cocoa powder

Caramel Frosting

Preheat oven to 285 degrees F (140 degrees C).

 How to make Macarons

My macarons will get better with practice I am sure.  Here are macaron making tips I found most helpful! A large baking sheet is helpful. Only bake one pan of cookies at a time. Recipes call for placing cookie batter in large pastry bag fitted with a 1/2 plain round tip.  Wilton has a “Perfect Fill” tip that I thought worked wonderfully.  It helped me dispense equal amounts.

French Macarons supplies

Line baking sheet with parchment paper.  I first made a template by drawing 1 1/2 inch circles on a sheet of parchment.  I then placed this under my clean parchment for a guide to perfect sized circles.

French Macaron preparing the pan Beat egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment until whites are foamy; beat in white sugar and continue beating until egg whites are glossy, fluffy, and hold soft peaks.

French Macaron meringue

Sift confectioners’ sugar and ground almonds in a separate bowl. Don’t skip this step. The sifting will eliminate some of the larger almond pieces in the almond meal.

French Macarons sifting

Fold the almond mixture into the egg whites. Don’t over mix.

French Macarons batterTest the batter by spooning a small amount onto the prepared baking sheet. If the disk of batter holds a peak instead of flattening immediately, gently fold the batter a few more times and retest.

Place batter into a pastry bag fitted with a plain round tip. Pipe the batter onto the baking sheet in rounds, leaving space between the disks. Lift the pan and tap on the counter a few times to release any air bubble in the cookies.

French Macarons piping

Let the piped cookies stand out at room temperature until they form a hard skin on top, at least 20 mins up to an hour.

french macarons before baked

Bake cookies until set but not browned, about 15 minutes; let cookies cool completely before filling.

Make caramel frosting. Fill pastry bag fitted with 1/2 wide round pastry tip. Flip meringues over and pipe caramel frosting.

French Macaron De Leche

Place another meringue on top to make a sandwich.

French Macaron Caramel filled

Delicious macarons! They make the perfect edible gift! My friend Lia Griffith has beautiful free printable gift tags for macarons!

how to make macarons

Would you love to go to Paris?

Now it’s your turn!  That’s right, you can enter to win the trip of a lifetime to Paris too. How? By creating your own Parisian-inspired art, floral, baking or paper crafting project and uploading a photo to www.paris.michaels.com through March 31. You can also share your project on social using #SpringtimeInParis #Contest

Michaels Paris Giveaway

What do you win?

A trip of a lifetime! You could win a four-night trip for two to Paris, 1,000 euros, a VIP tour of the Louvre, private classes including sketching, floral arranging, baking and more!

If you need a little Paris inspiration to get you started, take a look at some of the Springtime in Paris projects on Michaels.com.

See how my friends are inspired by Paris!



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