Strawberry Macarons

Whether you’re at a fancy French bakery or in the frozen foods section of your local Trader Joe’s, it’s hard to resist whimsical, dainty French macarons. Often, though, the price tag leaves my mouth agape. So, I head home to my kitchen, where I know I can churn out macarons that are just as exquisite. And I get to make my favorite: strawberry macarons.

These strawberry macarons are tough to beat. Their hard shells easily give way to marshmallow-like interiors, and before you know it your teeth are sinking into strawberry buttercream frosting and a strawberry jam center. They’re so luxurious that they mentally transport me to a holiday in Paris, even if it’s just a random Tuesday afternoon in my Philly apartment.

While they’re welcome all year around, I love to break out this strawberry macarons recipe on Valentine’s Day, when I pipe them into heart shapes and pass out boxes to loved ones.

Ingredients for Strawberry Macarons

• Almond flour: Almond flour is essential to the perfect macarons (it’s also one of the main reasons why macarons are so expensive). Buy completely blanched and superfine almond flour. Using blanched almond flour ensures there are no bits of almond skin in your macaron shells, and fine almond flour (as opposed to almond meal) will keep your macaron shells lump-free.
• Confectioners’ sugar: The confectioners’ sugar needs to be added in batches, so I recommend reading through the entire recipe to prepare your mise en place accordingly.
• Egg whites: Carefully separate egg whites from yolks so there’s not even a speck of yolk in the whites. That can really inhibit the whites from whipping up to stiff peaks.
• Superfine sugar: Unlike granulated sugar, superfine sugar will dissolve easily into the macaron batter.
• Pink gel food coloring: The keyword here is gel. Gel food coloring is thick and highly pigmented, and you only need to use a little to achieve the same vibrant color you’d get from way too much liquid food coloring. If you were to use that much liquid food coloring, your batter would be much too wet and wouldn’t produce nice macaron shells.
• Buttercream: In addition to the usual buttercream ingredients—confectioners’ sugar, butter, salt, vanilla and a touch of cream—you’ll need one slightly more unusual ingredient: strawberry powder. It’s simple to make; simply blitz freeze-dried strawberries into a superfine powder form.
• Strawberry jam: Each macaron has a strawberry jam center. Use your favorite jam brand here. I absolutely adore the quality of Bonne Maman’s products.

Directions

Step 1: Grind down the almond flour

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Place the almond flour and 1-3/4 cups of confectioners’ sugar in a food processor. Pulse the two until they’re thoroughly mixed and the almond flour is very fine.

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Pass the almond flour mixture through a fine mesh sieve, and discard any large pieces that remain.

Step 2: Whip up the meringue

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Place the egg whites and salt in the very clean bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Whisk on medium-low speed until they’re frothy, then slowly add the superfine sugar while the mixer is still running. Whisk the mixture until the superfine sugar is dissolved, one to two minutes.

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Slowly add the remaining 1/2 cup of confectioners’ sugar to the bowl, then increase the mixer’s speed to high and whip the meringue until it’s glossy and stiff peaks form, one to two minutes. If desired, add in enough pink gel food coloring to achieve your desired color.

Editor’s Tip: One of the most important tips to keep in mind while making meringue is that all the tools used must be cleaned and dried thoroughly. Leftover food, soap or water can seriously inhibit the meringue from whipping up into stiff peaks.

Step 3: Do the macaronage

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Take the bowl off the stand mixer. With a rubber spatula, gently fold the almond flour mixture into meringue, a third at a time. Using the side of a spatula, smooth batter up sides of bowl several times to remove air bubbles and ensure there are no lumps, but be careful to not over mix.

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Run the spatula down the center of the bowl, scraping the bottom. The line in the batter should remain visible for a moment before the mixture runs back into itself. Our Test Kitchen compares it to “slow lava.”

Editor’s Tip: Macaronage is one of the most important steps to any French macaron recipe. The batter cannot be too thick or else the shells will crack. However, watch closely, as overmixing will deflate the egg whites and ruin the texture.

Step 4: Pipe the shells and let them rest

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Position an oven rack in the upper third of your oven. Preheat the oven to 300°F. Transfer batter into a pastry bag fitted with a #7 or #10 round tip. Pipe 1-3/8-inch rounds onto a parchment- or silicone mat-lined tray, about 1 inch apart.

Tap the tray against the counter two to three times to remove excess air bubbles. Let the macarons rest until they’re no longer wet or sticky to the touch, 30 to 60 minutes. It may take longer depending on how humid it is in your kitchen.

Editor’s Tip: If there are still air bubbles, poke them with a toothpick. It feels tedious, but it’s worth it. Air bubbles are very noticeable in baked macarons.

Step 5: Bake the macaron shells

Bake, one tray at a time, until the macaron shells rise about 1/8 inch to form “feet,” 14 to 16 minutes, rotating the tray halfway through baking. Remove the tray from the oven and let the macarons cool completely to room temperature. Meanwhile, repeat with the remaining trays. Once the macarons have cooled completely, remove them from the parchment.

Step 6: Make the filling

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Using a hand mixer or stand mixer, cream the butter in a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment.  Slowly add the confectioners’ sugar until it’s incorporated. Beat in the strawberry powder, heavy cream, vanilla extract, salt and, if desired, enough gel food coloring to achieve the desired color. Mix the frosting until it’s nice and smooth.

Step 7: Assemble the macarons

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Transfer the frosting into a pastry bag fitted with a small round tip. Pipe a circle of buttercream onto the bottoms of half the macarons. Dollop 1/4 teaspoon of strawberry jam in the center of each frosting circle. Top them with the remaining macaron shells.

Refrigerate the macarons, covered, until you’re ready to serve them.

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Recipe Variations

• Use another filling: While a strawberry jam center really drives home the strawberry flavor, you can use another jam flavor, or something even more indulgent like lemon curd, chocolate ganache or Nutella.
• Shape them into hearts: Pink-hued and a perfect present, why not pipe the strawberry macaron shells into heart shapes? They’ll be the ideal Valentine’s Day, birthday or anniversary gift to a loved one.
• Turn these into any flavor: Now that you have the base recipe for a fruit-flavored macaron, you can swap the strawberry powder for any blitzed freeze-dried food. Change the macaron shell’s color and the jam center to match.
• Decorate finished macarons: Melt white chocolate, pour it into a piping bag and decorate the macaron shells with a controlled drizzle or a fun design. You can even add additional freeze-fried strawberries or strawberry powder on top before the white chocolate sets.

How to Store Strawberry Macarons

Store strawberry macarons in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to four days, or in the freezer for up to one month. Thaw the macarons in the refrigerator before serving them. You can also store unfilled shells in an airtight container at room temperature for up to three days, or freeze them for up to one month. Like all cookies, macarons taste best at room temperature, so if you can hold out, take the macarons out of the fridge 15 minutes before enjoying them.

Can you make strawberry macarons ahead of time?

Yes, strawberry macarons can be made up to three days ahead of time. Try to enjoy them all up by the fourth day, as they’ll quickly lose their integrity the following day.

Strawberry Macarons Tips

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How do you make strawberry powder for strawberry macarons?

The strawberry powder used in strawberry macarons is made from freeze-dried strawberries. You can either buy it pre-powdered, or make yourself from sliced, freeze-dried strawberries. Just pop them in a blender or food processor and pulse until you get a fine powder. Different freeze-dried fruits can be used to create different macaron flavors.

Can you use regular all-purpose flour instead of almond flour to make macarons?

No, you can’t use all-purpose flour in place of almond flour when making macarons. Macarons are traditionally made with almond flour, which is higher in fat than all-purpose flour, and soaks up less moisture. Unlike wheat flour, almond flour also contains no gluten. If you want to attain the macaron’s signature texture (and flavor, of course), it’s important to only use almond flour.

Why do my macaron shells not have feet?

The macaron shell “feet” are those ruffled edges on the outside bottom of each macaron shell. They’re a sure sign that your macarons turned out perfectly. If yours don’t have that edge and lift, they did not dry out enough before baking.

It’s best to make macarons on a dry day for this reason. Summer’s humidity can cause the macarons to dry out extremely slowly, often taking over an hour, which is much longer than the 30 to 60 minutes time range in our strawberry macarons recipe. To truly tell if your macarons are ready for the oven, tap the shell with your finger. It should no longer be tacky.