The Best Macarons Recipe in The World

A macaron or French macaroon is a sweet meringue-based confection made with egg white, icing sugar, granulated sugar, almond meal, and food colouring. There is some variation in whether the term macaron or macaroon is used, and the related coconut macaroon is often confused with the macaron.

In North America, most bakers have adopted the French spelling of macaron for the meringue-based item to distinguish the two. Stanford professor of linguistics Daniel Jurafsky describes how the two confections have a shared history with macaroni (Italian maccheroni). Jurafsky notes that French words ending with “-on” that were borrowed into English in the 16th and 17th centuries are usually spelled with “-oon” (for example: balloon, cartoon, platoon). In the UK, many bakeries continue to use the term “macaroon”.

Ingredients

• 3 egg whites
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1 2/3 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 1 cup finely ground almonds
• Food coloring optional

Instructions

Step 1

Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat.

Step 2

Beat egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment until whites are foamy; beat in white sugar and continue beating until egg whites are glossy, fluffy, and hold soft peaks. Sift confectioners’ sugar and ground almonds in a separate bowl and quickly fold the almond mixture into the egg whites, about 30 strokes.

Step 3

Spoon a small amount of batter into a plastic bag with a small corner cut off and pipe a test disk of batter, about 1 1/2 inches in diameter, onto prepared baking sheet. If the disk of batter holds a peak instead of flattening immediately, gently fold the batter a few more times and retest.

Step 4

When batter is mixed enough to flatten immediately into an even disk, spoon into a pastry bag fitted with a plain round tip. Pipe the batter onto the baking sheet in rounds, leaving space between the disks. Let the piped cookies stand out at room temperature until they form a hard skin on top, about 1 hour.

Step 5

Preheat oven to 285 F.

Step 6

Bake cookies until set but not browned, about 10 minutes; let cookies cool completely before filling.

Notes

If you do not have a sifter, you can use a blender or food processor to thoroughly mix the almonds and confectioners’ sugar. Just blend or pulse for thirty seconds. Remember that because the consistency of the mix is like cake batter, you’re going to have to be quick about piping it onto the silicone mat. Hold the pastry bag sideways between piping so it doesn’t spill.