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These are the EASIEST fail-proof macarons! See how to make this easy 4-ingredient Macarons recipe with step-by-step photos!

An easy macaron recipe that’s fail-proof is a gem. With so many complicated techniques it’s no wonder some don’t want to make any, especially Italian macarons with the whole hot syrup deal. I’ve had macarons not turn out on me and it wasn’t until I tried this recipe that my macaron game all changed. Apparently this recipe was easy enough to bake for a local store for somebody! And the first time I even attempted this recipe with not so much macaron skills they turned out! My little sister even made these with successful results and ended up realizing it’s not so hard after all!

What’s the difference between Macarons or Macaroons?

Macarons with one “O” are meringue style cookies. Macaroons with double “OO”s, are the coconut based cookies.

What’s the difference between French Macarons and Italian Macarons?

An Italian Macaron typically involves a hot syrup in the making whereas French Macarons don’t.

Ingredients for Macarons-

Handy Equipment for Macarons:

How to make the EASIEST Fail-Proof Macarons Recipe:

How to make Chocolate Ganache Frosting:

Food coloring to use for Macarons:

It is best to use gel based food coloring for Macarons to not run down the meringue texture.

Tips for making Macarons:

- - DO NOT over beat the meringue! It’s just perfect at a 4 minute mark using a Kitchen-aid mixer.
  - My recipe is for using COLD egg whites. Room temperature ones will need less beating time!
  - Meringue should droop down just slightly when picking up with whisk, that consistency will be easy to pipe and make for a smooth meringue tops. Over beaten meringues will be very stiff and hard to even bang out when flattening!
  - Exceed no more than 9 minutes to bake. The longer they bake the drier they get. No one wants a brittle macaron!
  - DO NOT bake two pans at a time! I’ve learned my lesson! The ones below would poof up and crack. This is likely caused from the steam build up from the two baking pans thus causing a glitch in the macarons, just don’t risk it!
  - And least but not least this recipe works best for medium to large sized macarons. Tiny macarons will dry out at this baking time so beware!
  - A Macaron mat helps keep identical cookie shapes
  - Over baking will result in hard cookies and under baking will turn out too raw and sticky inside. I’ve found 9-10 minutes to be the perfect timing. I’ve also realized the cookies taste best next day as the cream has time to set into the cookies for the perfect crisp and chewy Macaron.
  - For flavored macarons add a hint of extracts to the meringue batter
  - To speed up the cooling process for the toasted almond flour, simply pop in the freezer

Flavor Combinations:

Plain (uncolored ones)/Vanilla Butter Cream Frosting
Purple/Blueberry filling
Green/mint chocolate or pistachio
Pink or Red/ raspberry or strawberry
Yellow/Lemon
Brown/chocolate
Tan/Caramel

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Easy Macarons Recipe

Prep Time: 15

Cook Time: 10

Cooling & drying time: 30

Total Time: 55

Servings: macarons

These are the EASIEST fail-proof macarons! See how to make these 4-ingredient airy meringue cookies with step-by-step photos!

Ingredients

Macarons

165 grams almond flour 1 1/3 cups
165 grams powdered sugar 1 cup
115 grams egg whites 3 Large eggs
150 grams granulated sugar 2/3 cup

Chocolate Ganache Filling:

100 grams bitter-sweet chocolate chips 1/2 cup
100 grams heavy whipping cream 1/2 cup

Instructions

How to make EASY Macarons:

Toast almond flour at 350°F for 5 minutes. Cool.
Sift together the powdered sugar and almond flour. Set aside.
Beat egg whites for 30 seconds until foamy. Slowly add the granulated sugar and beat for 4 minutes on high speed until firm peaks form.
Fold in almond flour until fully incorperated. Add any food coloring gel at this point.
Transfer batter into a large piping bag and pipe out. Bang 4-5 times on each side of the pan and let macarons sit for 15 minutes to dry off. (You know it's dry when you touch the macarons and it doesn't stick to your finger.)
Bake at 350°F for 9 minutes. Cool completely before removing from mat.

How to make Chocolate Ganache:

Microwave heavy cream to boiling point. Pour over chocolate chips and let sit 1 minute. Stir together and chill mixture completely.
Beat cold mixture until soft peaks form. Fill cookies and sandwich together.

Notes

Meringue- I used a Kitchen-Aid 5 quart mixer. Watts and whipping speeds will vary. 4-5 minutes is the perfect timing for my meringue to whip properly. It should be easy enough to pipe out. A stiff meringue stays in place even after piping. You want a gliding smooth batter that will easily pipe out and that will flatten easily after banging. An over-beat (stiff) meringue will result in brittle macarons. You know your meringue is stiff when you cannot get the macarons to flatten after banging well.
Size-This recipe is for medium/large macarons anything smaller can dry out at this baking time.
NOTE: All equivalent cup measurements are approximate so please go by grams for precise measurements.
Baking time- Oven temperatures will vary from oven to oven. If the macarons stick after they have cooled then they need an extra minute or two next time.

Nutrition per serving

Serving: 1servingCalories: 86kcalCarbohydrates: 11gProtein: 2gFat: 4gSaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 4mgSodium: 9mgPotassium: 25mgFiber: 1gSugar: 10gVitamin A: 41IUCalcium: 20mgIron: 1mg

Other cookie recipes to try:

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Alyona Demyanchuk

Author

10 days ago

i love this recipe

Nikki

1 year ago

I did it! I omitted the strawberry powder this go around and they turned out amazing. I know I have room for improvement, but I’m just so happy with how they turned out. I sent you an email with pictures of them. Thank you again for your recipe!

Reply to Nikki

They turned out perfect, Nikki! I did see the email and featured your image above:) So happy to hear!

Reply to Alyona Demyanchuk

Oh wow, that’s awesome! Thank you. I’m definitely going to be making more and would like to explore other flavors too. Thanks again for the great and simple recipe!

I made them! Im pretty happy with this first attempt. However, something is wrong but I cannot figure out what. So a couple things I noticed throughout the process. My meringue turned out beautifully, I think it helped that I made the meringue cookies last night. The batter, once I incorporated the almond flour and powdered sugar, seemed dry and thick. I stirred a lot and tried to find the medium between being not too hard but still firm. I kept stirring because I thought it was just taking longer to get the right consistency. It did get somewhat glossy, but completely lost it in baking. Surprising they had feet, they weren’t high and just barely came out the sides. They also ended up cracking and being chewy, almost undercooked. One big thing, I went with using a scale and noticed while weighing out the almond flour and powdered sugar that I had to add more than the imperial measurements called for (as I was using them while pouring in the bowl on the scale.) I did sift the strawberry powder with the flour and sugar twice. The flavor is great!! I’m super happy with that too and I did end up adding gel food coloring to get a deeper color. This is only my second ever attempt at making them and I don’t remember the process being this simplistic the first time. This recipe was stress free lol. I am going to attempt again tonight. Do you have any tips and ideas as to why they didn’t turn out? Did I not stir enough? Did the strawberry powder dry out the batter? Is my scale off? I’m sorry for the novel here and I truly appreciate any help you give.

Hi Nikki, you sound eager to bake macarons, that’s great! From my experience, it seems like the cracking can be lack of resting the meringue or baking 2 pans at once. I try to bake mine in the center one pan at a time because the ones below seemed to crack. Also, you don’t want the meringue to stiff otherwise it will be hard to pound, I find that when it’s runnier it is much easier to pipe, perhaps the powder made it thicker too. Regardless, they just about always seem to turn out even when cracking happens and they surprisingly get feet too:)

Thank you! The batter definitely seemed thick (also a little lumpy), however it did not give me a hard time with piping them. I did only let them rest for 15, maybe 20 minutes, under a fan. Again, they didn’t have the shiny glossy top, but when I put my finger to it, it didn’t stick. Ha ha I am eager, I really want to get this for many reasons, loving to bake and cook being one of the major ones.

Love it! Thanks for communicating your experience, feel free to drop a comment on any tips or changes:)

So by cups, it’s almost 1⅔ cups of almond flour at 165 g. I know the measurements are different in cups vs weight. Would that still be okay?

I feel like that could differ from flour to flour so it’s best to do it by weight.

If I were to do a strawberry one, as far as the meringue batter, could I add freeze dried strawberries as powder to it? I don’t have strawberry extract, if there’s even such a thing. Amateur baker here. I made meringue cookies last night and added the strawberry powder and the flavor was fantastic, however I think I deflated some of the air some because I added it in at the wrong time. With that said, I know this can be different as macarons are different. If this is not recommended, then just do a gel food coloring with a strawberry flavored filling? I appreciate your time!

Hi Nikki, I think the powder would work great, especially if the flavor is there, I just don’t know how pink it would get since the powder is not as concentrated as the gel.

Keren

What size macarons does this make for 36 cookies?

Reply to Keren

This makes large Macarons about 2 or 2.5″ wide.

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Easy Macarons Recipe (Fail-proof!)

What’s the difference between Macarons or Macaroons?