Homemade Blood Orange Macarons are gorgeous, delicate, and flavored with fresh blood orange juice and zest. For a truly impressive dessert, follow the detailed steps below for perfect macarons every time.
Blood Orange French Macarons
Each bite of these homemade macarons features a crunchy on the outside, chewy on the inside shell filled with a creamy, citrusy blood orange buttercream. They’re light, airy, and simply stunning!
While making French macarons from scratch may seem intimidating, follow this foolproof recipe for homemade macaron success! Quickly become an expert macaron baker with my tips and tricks for success.
Between the perfectly baked macaron shells and the zesty orange filling, it’s impossible to pick a favorite part of these classic French delicacies.
Why You’ll Love this orange Macarons Recipe:
- Simple: With a finicky and intimidating reputation, macarons are often a “bucket list” recipe for many bakers. This recipe simplifies these classic French cookies and breaks down each step, resulting in perfect macarons every time.
- Inexpensive: Skip the bakery and make macarons at home for half the cost!
- Citrusy: Made with fresh blood orange juice and zest, each macaron features bright and refreshing flavor.
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How to Make Blood Orange Macarons
Be sure to see the recipe card below for full ingredients & instructions!
- Make the macaron shell batter.
- Pipe the macarons onto a prepared baking sheet.
- Let the macarons rest while the oven preheats.
- Bake and cool.
- Make the blood orange filling.
- Sort the macaron shells into pairs of similarly-sized shells.
- Pipe the filling onto half of the macaron shells.
- Press the top macaron shells onto the filling.
- Refrigerate the macarons overnight to age.
- Bring the macarons to room temperature, serve, and enjoy.
A macaron is a French sandwich cookie made from almond flour and egg whites with a meringue-like texture. Macarons are endlessly customizable and fun to make once you get the hang of it!
While the cookies have similar origins and ingredients (hence their similar names), macarons are made with almond flour and macaroons are made with sweetened flaked coconut.
Blood oranges are more complex in flavor than classic oranges, with both tangy and sweet flavors. If blood oranges aren’t in season, use cara cara or valencia oranges instead.
While I’ve provided standard measurements, using a kitchen scale and gram measurements ensures that you’re using the exact right amount of each ingredient. If you use even the slightest bit too much of an ingredient, your Blood Orange Macarons may not come out correctly.
Macarons are traditionally made with almond flour instead of all-purpose flour because of the chewiness, texture, and flavor that it contributes. I do not recommend making macarons with all-purpose flour.
If the insides of your macaron shells are hollow, chances are you overmixed the meringue. However, collapsed macarons also occur when you don’t bake the shells for long enough before aging them, which could also cause them to be hollow inside. To avoid hollow shells, don’t over mix the meringue, and always bake for the right amount of time!
Letting the macarons age in the refrigerator enhances the chewy texture and gives the flavors time to mingle. While still edible (and delicious!) as soon as they’re assembled, even just a couple of hours in the refrigerator can add that quintessential macaron texture we all know and love.
Store assembled macarons in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Store unfilled macaron shells in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 6 days.
Make Ahead
For the best tasting macarons, make them 1 day in advance and allow them to age in the refrigerator overnight before enjoying. This allows the macarons to develop their signature chewy texture.
Storage Instructions
Store leftover blood orange macarons in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Tips for Perfect Homemade Macarons
- Egg Whites: For best results, use fresh egg whites instead of egg whites sold in a carton. The egg whites can be room temperature or cold – either works!
- Scale: Making macarons requires precision. Use a kitchen scale and gram measurements when measuring ingredients for this recipe.
- Temperature: For perfect macarons, use an oven thermometer and make sure your oven is at exactly 325°F. A too hot or too cold oven can lead to a macaron disaster.
Blood orange macarons are elegant, decadent, and always wow a crowd. They’re sure to be the star of any dessert table!
More Macaron Recipes We Love
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Blood Orange French Macarons Recipe
Ingredients
For the Shells
- 3 large egg whites
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ⅘ cup powdered sugar
- 1 cup almond flour
For the Filling
- ½ cup unsalted butter room temperature (1 stick)
- 2 ¼ cups powdered sugar
- ¼ cup blood orange juice (from 1 blood orange)
- 1 teaspoon blood orange zest (from 1 blood orange)
Equipment
- Baking Sheet
- Silpat Mat Optional
- Kitchen Scale Optional, but recommended!
- Stand Mixer
- Piping Tip Set
- Oven Thermometer Optional, but recommended!
Instructions
For the Shells
- Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or Silpat mats. Set aside.
- Heat a small pot of water on medium-low heat until it begins to simmer. Set a heatproof bowl over the water. To the bowl, add the egg whites and granulated sugar. Whisk until the sugar has fully dissolved, about 2 minutes.3 large egg whites, ½ cup granulated sugar
- Transfer the egg and sugar mixture to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form.
- Use a mesh sieve to sift the powdered sugar and almond flour into the egg white meringue mixture. Discard any large lumps.⅘ cup powdered sugar, 1 cup almond flour
- Use a spatula to fold the dry ingredients into the meringue, making sure not to deflate them yet. Be gentle and make a "J" shape with your spatula, folding all the way to the bottom of the bowl.
- Once the dry ingredients are incorporated, continue folding the meringue, this time pressing (smushing) the batter against the sides of the bowl. Continue to press and fold the meringue until you can draw an "8" without the stream breaking. This is known as the "ribbon" or "lava" stage.
- Transfer the meringue to a piping bag fitted with a small round tip (Wilton #10 or #12). Pipe 1-inch macaron shells onto the prepared baking sheets, making sure to space them at least 2 inches apart.
- Working with one baking sheet at a time, hold the sheet a few inches off the counter and drop it straight down onto the counter to remove air bubbles from the macarons. Repeat this 5-6 times.
- Let the macarons rest for 25 minutes uncovered at room temperature, or until a skin develops.
- While the macarons rest, preheat oven to 325°F.
- Bake for 13 minutes, turning the tray halfway through baking.
- Allow the macarons to completely cool before removing from the pan. (If removed when still warm they might stick).
For the Filling
- While the macarons cool, place the butter in a bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat the butter until it is light and airy.½ cup unsalted butter
- On low speed, slowly add the powdered sugar. Mix well.2 ¼ cups powdered sugar
- Add the blood orange juice and zest. Turn the mixer to high speed and beat until the buttercream is fluffy, about 2 minutes.¼ cup blood orange juice, 1 teaspoon blood orange zest
- Transfer the buttercream to a piping bag fitted with your choice of tip. Set aside until ready to use.
For Assembly
- Place the macarons into similarly-sized pairs.
- Pipe a small amount of the blood orange buttercream onto one shell of each pair and place the other shell on top.
- Press down on the top shell gently, just until the buttercream reaches the edge of the macaron. Repeat until all macarons are filled and sandwiched.
- Transfer the filled macarons to an airtight container and place them in the refrigerator to age overnight. Bring the macarons to room temperature before serving.
Notes
- Storage: Store any leftover macarons in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
- Temperature: Your oven must be at 325°F. Use an oven thermometer!
- Shape: To get evenly round macarons, hold the piping bag perpendicular to the tray while you pipe the shells. Don’t try to draw a circle!
- Macaronage: The process of folding the dry ingredients into the meringue is one of the most important steps when making macarons. You should be able to draw a figure 8 with the meringue without the stream breaking. There are lots of great videos online if you aren’t 100% sure what the meringue should look like.
- I recommend using a kitchen scale and gram measurements for this recipe since macarons are a pretty specific recipe.
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