These super pretty Easter macarons are sure to bring some color to your table! Filled with a vanilla buttercream, they are light, airy and perfectly chewy.
French Easter Egg Macaron Recipe
Macarons are a firm favorite here, and they make for a wonderful treat to enjoy at Easter.
Decorated with pastel colors, these delicious Easter cookies taste as good as they look! Add a touch of class to your day with these homemade beauties!
Be sure to try my other Easter treats like rice dyed eggs and bunny snack mix.
Why You’ll Love this Easter Macarons Recipe:
- Make ahead: Homemade macarons have a fairly good shelf life, so they are great to serve as an easy but impressive treat to guests.
- Perfect for any occasion: I obviously made these macarons for Easter, but you can easily decorate them in different ways to serve throughout. the year.
- Impressive! If you want to show off, then these are the way to go! Everyone is going to be impressed, but in reality, they are pretty straightforward to make.
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How to Make French Macarons for Easter
Be sure to see the recipe card below for full ingredients & instructions!
- Whisk together the egg whites and sugar in a double boiler.
- Place in a mixer and whisk to stiff peaks.
- Fold the dry ingredients into the egg whites.
- Add food coloring and fold together.
- Smush the meringue and then pipe onto a baking sheet.
- Let rest before baking.
- Allow to cool.
- Beat the butter and add in the powdered sugar and vanilla.
- Beat until light and fluffy.
- Pipe onto the cooled macaron shells.
- Decorate.
- Allow them to age overnight before enjoying.
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.
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 Easter Macarons may not come out correctly.
Almond flour is an important ingredient for macarons because it actually provides the unique texture that you know and love! So no, don’t use any other flour besides almond.
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!
Aging is a key part of making the best-tasting French macarons. It allows the shells to soften and take on the flavor of the buttercream. Ideally, you want to allow them to rest for at least 12 hours before enjoying.
Keep your macarons stored in an airtight container to keep them fresh. The filled macarons will keep well for up to 3 days, and the shells without the buttercream will keep for up to 6 days.
You can freeze macarons either with the buttercream or just the shells. If you are freezing the shells with the buttercream, allow them to age in the fridge for 12 hours before freezing. The shells themselves can be frozen as soon as they have cooled.
Recipe Tips and Tricks
- Food Coloring: To color the macarons, I divided the batter in thirds. One third I kept white, one third I added one drop of purple gel food color to, and the last third had one drop of royal blue and one drop of yellow (to create green)— but feel free to color the macarons however you like— just make sure to use gel coloring!
- Measuring: I recommend using a kitchen scale and gram measurements for this recipe because being precise when making macarons is extremely important.
- Egg Whites: Your egg whites do not need to be at room temperature.
More Easter Dessert Recipes to Try
These Easter macarons are sure to impress your friends and family. They are so adorable and taste so good! I can’t wait to see how you decorate yours!
More Macaron Recipes We Love
If you make this recipe be sure to leave us a comment or rating. Enjoy!
Easter Macaron Recipe
Ingredients
For the Shells
- 3 large egg whites 90 grams
- ½ cup granulated sugar 90 grams
- ⅘ cup powdered sugar 95 grams
- 1 cup almond flour 95 grams
- Gel food coloring optional
For the Vanilla Buttercream
- ½ cup unsalted butter 113 grams, softened (1 stick)
- 2¼ cups powdered sugar 254 grams
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 4 grams
Equipment
- Kitchen Scale (optional, but recommended!)
- Baking Sheet
- Silpat Mat (optional)
- Stand Mixer
- Piping Tip Set
- Oven Thermometer (optional, but recommended!)
Instructions
For the Shell
- Line two large baking pans with parchment paper or Silpat mats.
- Heat a small saucepan of simmering water over medium-low heat. Add the egg whites and granulated sugar to a heatproof bowl and set it over the simmering water. Whisk constantly until the sugar has fully dissolved, about 2 minutes.3 large egg whites, ½ cup granulated sugar
- Transfer the egg mixture to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and beat on medium-high speed (Kitchenaid #8) until stiff peaks form, about 5 minutes.
- Using a fine-mesh sieve, sift the powdered sugar and almond flour into the egg white mixture, making sure to discard any large lumps.⅘ cup powdered sugar, 1 cup almond flour
- Gently fold the dry ingredients into the egg whites, making sure not to deflate the egg whites at this point.
- Once all of the dry ingredients have been incorporated, add the gel food coloring, if using. (see notes)Gel food coloring
- Continue to fold the meringue, but this time gently smush the batter against the sides of the bowl before folding it back together. Continue to smush and fold the meringue a few times before testing to see if it has reached the Figure 8 stage. The meringue is ready to pipe when you can draw a figure 8 without the stream breaking.
- Transfer the meringue to a piping bag fitted with a small round tip (I like a Wilton #10). Pipe 1-inch macaron shells onto the tray, making sure to pipe them at least 2 inches apart. Once you’ve finished piping the first tray, hold it a few inches off the counter and drop it straight down. Drop the tray another 5-6 times, or until it looks like any large air bubbles have popped. Repeat with the second tray.
- Set the trays aside to rest for at least 25 minutes. They’re ready to bake when you can touch them gently without the meringue sticking to your finger.
- While the macarons rest, preheat your oven to 325°F. Use an oven thermometer to make sure your oven reaches 325°F. Most ovens run hot, so you may have to set the temperature a little lower to actually reach 325°F.
- Bake the macarons, one tray at a time, for 13 minutes. If your oven has hot spots, make sure to turn the tray halfway through baking so the feet rise evenly.
- Allow the macarons to cool to room temperature before trying to remove them from the pan. This will help prevent sticking.
For the Vanilla Buttercream
- Add the butter to the bowl of a stand mixer and beat on medium-high speed until it has lightened, about 2 minutes. Turn the mixer to low speed and add the powdered sugar slowly followed by the vanilla extract. If the mixture seems too dry, add a tablespoon of heavy cream or milk.½ cup unsalted butter, 2¼ cups powdered sugar, 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- Turn the mixer to high speed and beat until the buttercream becomes light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
- Transfer the mixture to a piping bag fitted with your choice of tip. Set aside until ready to use.
Assemble and Age
- Place the macarons in similar-sized pairs. Pipe a small dollop of vanilla buttercream onto one of the macaron shells. Press down gently, just until the filling reaches the edges.
- To decorate the macarons, you can use white chocolate or food markers. Or to make the macarons speckled, combine 1 teaspoon of water with a few drops of black food coloring and use a pastry brush to splatter the food dye on the macarons (be careful not to get it on your clothes; it stains).
- Transfer the filled macarons to an airtight container and place them in the fridge to age overnight. Bring to room temperature before enjoying.
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.
- Food Coloring: You must use gel food coloring in macarons, not liquid! To color the macarons, I divided the batter in thirds. One third I kept white, one third I added one drop of purple gel food color to, and the last third had one drop of royal blue and one drop of yellow (to create green)— but feel free to color the macarons however you like— just make sure to use gel coloring!
- I recommend using a kitchen scale and gram measurements for this recipe since macarons are a pretty specific recipe.
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