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Home » Dessert

Easy French Macarons Recipe (Not too Sweet - Less Sugar)

Published: August 24, 2018 Last Modified: May 25, 2024 This post may contain affiliate links.

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French Macarons are colorful dainty cookies with ganache, buttercream or jam sandwiched between two macaron cookies. It can be addicting but they are too sweet.

Macarons are always described as finicky, fuzzy cookies that should have feet. For some people who are not familiar with these cookies are probably wondering what the h#$# are those feet.

The first time I saw and tried macarons was years ago in downtown Chicago.

Three layers of colorful French macarons and more in containers probably about 50 pieces total.

We have reached a milestone with our website. This is our 100th posting and to celebrate, we decided we will feature this French macaron recipe. Thank you for visiting and supporting our site. We hope you will continue to enjoy the delicious recipes we feature. 

French Macarons became so popular that they were popping up in high-end bakeshops in the US. Now, you see them everywhere even in Costco and they are still expensive.

When we were Paris, it was in our itinerary to stop by Pierre Hermes since they are known for macarons. After a stroll around Notre Dame, we headed to Pierre Hermes a ten minute walk so we can try a few of their popular flavors.

It was good but just like any macarons they were also too sweet for my taste. When we were in Versailles, my niece bought a box of different flavored macarons at McDonalds. Again, it was good but sweet.

Our hotel was close to Louvre and a walking distance to another known bakeshop called Patisserie Stohrer. My brother visited this bakery everyday and came home with bags of desserts.

One day, I walked with them to this place and offered to pay. It was over $100 for all the cakes we bought. So I assumed he easily spent around $500+ for desserts and food at Stohrer for the 4 days we were there.

On our last day, we stopped by Stohrer again and ordered cakes to take for our train ride to Switzerland and my niece bought some macarons to take back to the US.

The funny thing was she hand carried the macarons for two weeks to different countries. They were gifts to family and friends.

The macarons were pretty expensive so she babysat them. Honestly, she was better off getting it in one of the bakeshops in the US or Costco. Anyway, that was our story with these fuzzy Parisian macarons.

A diagram of fifteen images of step by step how to make French macarons.  From mixing all the ingredients in the kitchenaid, then piping all the macarons and baking it.

I was motivated to make macarons not because I like it. It became a challenge due to all the comments about how finicky it is to make these little pretty cookies.

Another reason, I am drawn to colorful things or food. I enjoy looking at these colorful cookies. If they were not too sweet, I could get addicted to them.

After checking all the ingredients, I gave it a go. If I messed up, there were only a few ingredients that will go to waste.

My first attempt in making French Macarons was a success. It was not perfect but for a first timer it was perfect in my books. I believe I under mixed it or maybe not. Maybe I didn’t bang it enough to get rid of the nipples or air bubbles.

Also, another thing I learned from this batch was once piped do not add more batter on top of it. That was a no - no, the biggest mistake I made. Regardless, it was still delicious.

It became a challenge to make more. To me making macarons is easy but you have to get the macronage right. This is key for a successful macarons.

For a less sweet macarons, reduce the sugar when making your filling.

The next time I made it, I spend a day just making batches after batches with different colors.

Experimented with over mixing, using and combining different colors and doubling the recipe. I doubled the recipe to make 30 cookies at a time and made a total of 120 cookies that I gave away.

I became over confident and started screwing up. Even the over mixed batter turned out pretty good but some had cracks. Practice makes perfect. Not that they were all perfect.

I thank every one that has a recipe online since I read many comments and learned from it.

Three French macarons with a bite on one.

Here are the things i learned when making french macarons

a. You don’t need to age the egg whites. I took the eggs out of the fridge and left it sitting on my counter for an hour at room temperature. Another thing I did to make the process quicker was I took the eggs outside the house. It was hot outside and left it there for 20 minutes, then I started making macarons. No problem.

b. When you separate the egg white and yolk, make sure that no yolk gets into the egg white. The egg white will not form a fluffy meringue. Also, use a container free of grease.

c. Before you start, prepare all the things you need.

  • Sift the almond flour and sugar in the same container and set aside.
  • Prepare the following.
    • Ingredients for meringue
    • Pastry bag with tip
    • Baking sheets with parchment paper (macaron template if you need it)
    • Coloring gel
    • Sprinkles
    • Spatulas and measuring cups

d. If you are a newbie, use cream of tartar when beating the egg whites. The meringue will form quicker.

e. The 1st time I made macarons, I used a pink gel coloring. After baking, the top turned yellowish/brownish. I googled it and some people commented to put an empty baking sheet on the top rack in the oven. That solved the issue.

f. Straining both sugar and almond flour once in a sieve is good enough. Twice doesn’t hurt.

g. I could be wrong, but in my experiment I would rather under mix than over mix the batter. Yes, I had nipples on some macarons but they looked more like macarons compared to the over mixed ones. Over mixed macarons will spread out with no feet and hollow inside.

h. When making the ganache, make sure it is thick. I took it outside to take pictures and my cream cheese ganache started melting.

i. After making so many batches, I made a mistake of over mixing. I followed the suggestion of others to fold the mixture 50 times and that didn’t work.

It was humid and my AC was working non-stop. Now, I believe humidity also plays a big role in the success of a beautiful macaron. So when humid you do less folding.

j. Watch my video to see the right consistency and when to stop mixing the batter. They say consistency should be lava like. That doesn’t do anything for me. If you watch lava flowing – it can be slow or fast. Sometimes, it flows like a pancake batter which in macarons it means you have over mixed the batter.

The best way is to experiment. Make it a few times. Get the hang of it. After a few batches, you will know the right consistency. I was just lucky the first time I made it.

k. For not too sweet macaron cookies, use less sugar with your filling. This macaron recipe uses less sugar compared to other recipes I have checked.

How to make french macarons

Watch my video, I will show you the consistency of the meringue and the almond flour batter. Goodluck!

Check out my next post How to Pipe Multicolor French Macarons inspired by the Northern Light.

Try my Candy Cane Macarons with Buttercream Filling for the holiday give away.

Other Delicious Desserts to Try.

Maple Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
Strawberry Cake
Chocolate Cake
Fruit Cocktail Cake
Fruit Tart

Recipe

easy french macarons recipe is Today's Delight

French Macarons Recipe

French Macarons are colorful finicky cookies with ganache, buttercream or jam filling sandwiched between two macaron cookies. 
5 from 4 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Dessert, Snack
Cuisine: French
Prep Time: 25 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 18 minutes minutes
Total Time: 43 minutes minutes
Servings: 30
Calories: 39kcal

Ingredients

Macaron Cookies

  • 1 cup powdered or confectioner sugar
  • ¾ cup almond flour
  • 2 egg whites extra large room temperature
  • ¼ cup granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
  • gel coloring optional

Mango Cream Cheese Filling

  • 1 8 oz cream cheese 1 package softened
  • ½ cup unsalted butter softened
  • ¾ cup powdered sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 4 tablespoons mango jam
US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Step One

  •  Sift almond flour and confectioner sugar on the same bowl. Combine and mix well.

Step 2

  • Separate egg white from yolk. Make sure no yolk gets into the egg white.
  • Beat egg white at low speed for 3 minutes until frothy. Add cream of tartar. Adjust the speed to medium and slowly add a third of the sugar every minute until it forms soft peaks.
  • This is the time to add the gel coloring and vanilla. Increase the speed to high until it forms stiff peak.
  • As soon as stiff peak is reached, stop beating.

Step 3

  • Add half of the sifted almond flour and powdered sugar mixture to the meringue.
  • Fold the mixture clockwise. Starting from the top with the spatula, scrape the side down to the bottom and upwards. Pressing the batter in the center with the spatula. Continue doing this motion until batter turns smooth and shiny. The batter should be thick but not runny like a pancake batter. When you scoop the batter with the spatula, it will fall off slowly forming a ribbon when it falls. This is the time to stop folding. You have over mixed if the consistency is like a pancake batter. If you scoop the batter with the spatula, it flows freely or continuously. (If this description is not clear, please watch my video.)

Step 4

  • Pour the macaron batter into a pastry bag with a round tip or #12.
  • If you have a template, insert that in between the baking sheet and parchment paper.
  • My template measures 1.5 inches rounds and about 2 inches apart.
  • When you pipe the batter, stop before reaching the circle. It will spread out. Pipe 30 cookies.
  • To get rid of air bubbles, tap the baking sheets against the counter about 4 times.
  • Quickly poke the air bubbles or nipples with a toothpick.
  • Let the macarons sit for 20 to 30 minutes until the top surface is dry to the touch. The batter should not stick to your finger. If it does, then let it sit for another 15 minutes and check again. Once dry, it is ready to bake.

Step 5

  • Place an empty baking sheet at the very top rack in the oven to avoid browning of the macarons.
  • Pre-heat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C). Bake the macarons between 15 to 18 minutes. Mine took 17 minutes. Baking time will vary depending on your oven.
  • Leave the macarons on the baking sheets for 15 minutes to cool down. Then transfer to a wire tack to cool completely.

Step 6

  • Pair same sized macarons.
  • Pipe or spread ganache on half macaron. Sandwich the filling or ganache with the other half macaron,
  • Transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate or freeze for about 5 months.

How to Make the Filling

  • Combine and beat cream cheese, unsalted butter, powdered sugar, mango jam and vanilla.
  • Beat for about 5 minutes or until well blended.
  • Refrigerate for a thicker filling.

Notes

  1. Interested in making multi-color cookies, check my Northern Lights French Macarons . That would be part 2 of this original post.
  2. Use whatever filling you like.
  3. If you like to use this filling, check my post on how to make mango jam.
  4. Tools and Ingredients I used for this recipe: Bob's Red Mill Super-Fine Almond Flour, Powdered Sugar, Kitchen Aid, and Flour Sifter and Sieve.

     

     

Nutrition

Calories: 39kcal | Carbohydrates: 6g | Fat: 1g | Sodium: 3mg | Potassium: 7mg | Sugar: 5g | Calcium: 6mg | Iron: 0.1mg
Three layers of colorful French macarons and more in containers probably about 50 pieces total. A jar of mango jam and a bowl of macaron filling.

Adapted from Shinee. Thank you for sharing.

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    Recipe Rating




  1. CToth says

    October 08, 2018 at 9:43 pm

    5 stars
    A+++ These turned out perfectly. Thank you for the detailed instructions. I made a vanilla buttercream for the filling and they were sooo yummy. I appreciated not having to weigh the ingredients, thank you for using measuring cups and spoons.
    Much gratitude for a delicious recipe and 'easy' methods. .

    Reply
  2. Kris says

    February 01, 2019 at 9:15 am

    5 stars
    while making the cookie, when do you add the vanilla?

    Reply
    • Fortune says

      February 01, 2019 at 12:48 pm

      At the same time as the gel coloring. I updated the recipe. Thanks for catching that!

      Reply
      • Andy says

        March 08, 2021 at 2:08 pm

        Can you bake more than one pan of macaroons at a time? Or do you wait until one pan comes out to put in the next?

        Reply
        • Fortune says

          March 10, 2021 at 1:25 am

          It is best to place them in the middle oven rack position. They can burn easily if too close to bottom and at the top rack I place a sheet pan so top of macarons doesn't brown.

          Reply
  3. Jen says

    April 27, 2020 at 3:36 pm

    5 stars
    I made this recipe today and the macrons turned out perfect. Not so sweet which I love. My kids can’t wait to eat them. They secretly ate a few before I can assemble them.

    Reply
    • Fortune says

      May 01, 2020 at 1:43 am

      Haha, glad you and your kids loved it!

      Reply
      • Amy Jo says

        October 27, 2021 at 9:35 pm

        I want to make mine red velvet flavored. How much cocoa powder do you think I should add to not through off consistency?

        Reply
        • Fortune says

          October 28, 2021 at 12:20 am

          I have not made it with red velvet flavor so I can't recommend measurement without testing it. Thank you for checking out the recipe.

          Reply
    • Tola says

      May 30, 2021 at 7:36 pm

      On the printed recipe you say 300 degrees and in the video you 350 degrees. What temp do you use?

      Reply
      • Fortune says

        June 01, 2021 at 11:50 pm

        I've used both temps but go with 300 degrees F as stated in recipe.

        Reply
  4. Annie says

    September 08, 2020 at 5:11 am

    This recipe worked out perfectly for me! i was just wondering, if i half the powdered sugar, will it mess up the batter? the macarons are too sweet for me unfortunately but it turned out great!

    Reply
    • Fortune says

      September 09, 2020 at 1:12 am

      Glad it turned out perfect. I have tried reducing the powdered sugar when I was experimenting and the texture was not the same. It had very thin feet and the top breaks easily. You can reduce the sweetness in your filling which I do. Some use rice flour or corn flour as substitute for powdered sugar. If you try this, let me know how it turned out.

      Reply
  5. Rprejean says

    May 24, 2023 at 9:10 pm

    I tried making these for the first time. I’m fairly new at baking So, I will try again another day. My batter was a little to stiff and my piping was not great at all.

    Reply
    • Fortune says

      May 25, 2023 at 12:54 pm

      After a few tries, you'll eventually get it. Are you sure you reached a stiff peak? From your comment, it sounds like you did but maybe the batter was still soft that's why you were having issues piping. Make a template, I have it in the instructions. It is easier for beginners when there is a template. Goodluck with your next batch!

      Reply
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The Real Cook

Welcome to Today's Delight. My mom is a great cook and for many years had a catering business. Due to dementia, she doesn't remember. This food blog was inspired by our mom's cooking. 

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