Raspberry Macarons (with Video)

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After making our raspberry meringue cookies, and being pleasantly surprised at how easy they were to make, I decided to tackle a similar meringue-based cookie that even the most experienced home bakers tend to balk at.

Macarons.

Homemade Raspberry Macarons - naturally colored and flavored macaron cookies. An easy to follow recipe with tips on how to get a perfect batch of homemade macarons!

When looking around at different recipes, I was a bit grossed out at how often artifical colours and flavours were added to homemade macaron recipes, and I wanted to come up with a naturally coloured and flavoured macaron recipe that would still hit all of the requirements for a “true macron”:

  • glossy, smooth shell
  • the “little foot” at the base of the cookie
  • airy, chewy texture inside with a soft crunch exterior

These natural raspberry macarons definitely hit all of those marks, plus I think the more developed flavour from using real fruit elevates these among some of their artificially-enhanced cookie peers.

I’ve also successfully used raspberry compote in this recipe but I’ve taken out that suggestion because the success really depends on the consistency of the compote and the reported experiences in the comments using that method seemed mixed.

Simple and easy homemade macaron recipe - these raspberry macaron cookies are naturally flavored and coloured, unlike most recipes which use artificial colors and flavorings

You’re going to want to make these on a cool or at least not humid day. Here in Canada, that doesn’t happen too often in the summer, so we cranked up the air conditioning a couple of hours before starting this recipe. Humidity or undue heat during the preparation stage will result in disaster for the cookies.

Even if the meringue cookies don’t turn out perfectly in terms of shape, they will still be delicious and you can always add any truly appalling cookies to an Eton Mess dessert – in fact, I kind of think that’s where the idea for the Eton Mess came from; hiding the failed attempts of a batch of meringue cookies!

 

Homemade Raspberry Macarons - naturally colored and flavored macaron cookies. An easy to follow recipe with tips on how to get a perfect batch of homemade macarons!

Pay careful attention to the small details in this recipe – things like tapping the baking sheet before putting it in the oven, or cooling the cookies off of the baking sheet are especially important when making homemade macarons.

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Raspberry Macarons

Raspberry Macarons

Ingredients

  • 3 egg whites, room temperature
  • 1/4 cups white sugar
  • 1 2/3 cups powdered icing sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt, optional
  • 1 cup almond flour
  • 2 teaspoons raspberry powder
  • Red food dye, optional
  • 1-2 Tablespoons raspberry puree or raspberry compote or jam
  • Filling Ingredients:
  • 1 stick unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 1/2 C powdered sugar
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1-1 1/2 TBSP raspberry puree/compote

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F and line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats
  2. Put powdered sugar, almond flour, and optional salt in a food processor and pulse several times until all of the ingredients are fine and well combined. Sift into a large bowl and set aside.
  3. Place the whisk attachment on your mixer, and beat the eggs on medium speed until stiff and glossy, about 4 minutes.
  4. With the mixer running, slowly add the granulated sugar, and raspberry powder one tablespoon at a time until the sugar is combined, the peaks are stiff, and the whites are shiny, about 1 minute. Do not over whip. Transfer the meringue to a large bowl.
  5. Using a silicone spatula, gently fold the dry mixture with the egg whites in 1 cup increments until the dry ingredients are just combined.
  6. Spoon half of batter into pastry bag fitted with 1/2-inch plain round tip. (Or a large ziplock bag which you can cut the corner off of.) Pipe batter onto each prepared sheet in 12 walnut-size mounds, spaced 3" apart because cookies will spread slightly.
  7. Now comes my daughter's favourite part: tap the cookie sheets flat against the counter - you can even slam them down a bit. You want to get any possible air bubbles out of the cookie batter before baking.
  8. Bake cookies, 1 sheet at a time, until firm to touch in center, about 14 minutes. You may want to rotate your cookie sheets midway through baking to ensure even cooking (imperative with macarons).
  9. Immediately slide the parchment paper off of the baking sheet to cool. Leaving the cookies on the hot baking sheet will continue to cook them past taking them out of the oven.

Raspberry Filling:

  1. Using a mixer, cream butter until smooth. Add the powdered sugar and beat until light and fluffy.
  2. Add the vanilla and raspberry jam. Beat until combined. Place in a piping bag with a small round tip, like a #5.
  3. Assemble your cookies by matching cookies with similar sizes (diameters). Pipe a small amount of raspberry buttercream into the center of one cookie, and sandwich with it's other half.
  4. Continue with all cookies. If you store your finished macarons in the fridge, their flavour will continue to develop.

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What do you think? Would you try your hand at making a batch of homemade macaron cookies?

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9 Comments

  1. 350 degrees was definitely too high. The raspberry was a great flavor, but we burnt several batches because of the oven temp.

    1. I’m sorry to hear that – ovens do vary and that can be frustrating. My oven and my friend who tested the recipe’s oven did 350F but we rotated halfway through – and I just checked, Martha Stewart’s recipe says 350F, too. Just maybe something to consider with other recipes that your oven may run hot?
      I am sorry though, I’m always sad to hear that someone trusted one of my recipes and it didn’t turn out for them.

    1. Hi Melisa,
      Some ovens run hotter than others, but that sounds like an issue with the batter. Meringues can be really tricky in humidity – was the batter really light and fluffy when you portioned it out? If it was and you still run into this issue, you can try refrigerating the portioned cookies briefly before baking.
      I also ran this google search and it suggests the egg beating process – the next time I make these I’ll take a picture of what the eggs should look like at the different stages: http://www.myrecipes.com/how-to/cooking-questions/meringue-cookies-flat

  2. This recipe worked great. I have had previous experience with macaroons and I have never had such of a good experiance.

    1. Hi Danielle,
      Sorry for the late reply – just seeing this now. The 1/2 teaspoon salt is optional to help mellow out the sweetness of this recipe, depending on how sweet your raspberry filling is.

  3. Hi. I tried this receipe for the first time ever making these macaroons. And followed all instructions. My batter was to thin and I could not even pipe it. I discarded everything. I will try another receipe.☹

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