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What’s better than a fresh cup of eggnog during the holidays? A batch of these freshly baked Eggnog Macarons with White Chocolate-Eggnog Ganache filling. Effortlessly elegant with their cream-colored appearance speckled with nutmeg, these French macarons are easy to make at home but look like they came straight from a gourmet patisserie!

Eggnog Macarons Recipe

After updating our viral Santa’s Belt Macarons, I couldn’t stop at just one holiday macaron recipe – so this week, we’re sharing 5 Christmas Macaron recipes to add a touch of elegance to your holiday baking.

We’ve already posted our Snowman Macarons and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Macarons, and later this week we’ll be sharing Little Debbie-inspired Macarons and Grinch Macarons – but today, it’s all about these gorgeous Eggnog Macarons!

Our eggnog macarons feature a creamy and sweet white chocolate-eggnog ganache sandwiched between two whisper-light almond meringues with a tender, chewy inside, balanced with just the right amount of nutmeg for depth and warmth.

To enhance the eggnog flavor beyond the ganache, I recommend using Instant Eggnog Mix if available, and if not an Eggnog Flavor Extract. You can just rely on the eggnog in the ganache and the nutmeg garnish for a more delicate eggnog flavor, but if you want a more bold eggnog flavor, definitely add some eggnog flavoring using one of those two methods to the meringue batter.

A big myth with macarons are that they are super hard to make. While they are definitely a recipe that needs to be followed to the letter (!) they don’t deserve their reputation as incredibly tricky or technical.

Practically no one is intimidated by making boxed pasta – even though it needs to be cooked the perfect amount of time to not be too crunchy or too mushy. It needs to be drained and enjoyed quite quickly after making for best results. To make the perfect pasta, you have to rely on visual and textural cues, while timing things well. The same principles exist with macarons.

For example, the egg whites need to be beaten for a full 4-8 minutes so they become fluffy and shiny. They cannot be over-beaten or under-beaten (so watch them carefully). The finished macaron batter should flow like lava – thick, without clumps.

Eggnog Macaron FAQs

How to store macarons: These macarons can be stored in the fridge for a week, or at room temperature for 2-3 days (as long as you only use a ganache filling).

How to freeze macarons: It’s best to freeze the macaron shells without the filling, as the filling can soften the texture of the meringue cookies, however you can freeze them with the filling if you don’t mind the slightly softened texture.

To freeze the macarons, flash freeze on a baking sheet or tray for one hour before transferring to a ziptop freezer bag or your favorite freezer containers, with each layer of cookies separated by parchment paper. (This set of freezer containers is a crazy bargain.) The macarons can be frozen for up to 2 months.

Thaw in the refrigerator for a few hours, then bring out and let come to room temperature for 30 minutes before serving or enjoying.

Check out this quick recipe video to see how to make macarons for an idea of what the batter should look like at various stages of the recipe (note that this is not a video for these eggnog macarons – just another macaron recipe on my site that has similar steps):

Eggnog Macaron Ingredients

• Almond flour
• Powdered sugar
• Granulated sugar
• Egg whites
• Cream of tartar
• Egg white powder, optional
• Instant Eggnog Mix OR few drops Eggnog Flavor Extract, optional
• Nutmeg, to sprinkle for garnish

Eggnog White Chocolate Ganache Ingredients:

• White chocolate chips
• Eggnog

Scroll down to the printable recipe card for full measurements.

Tip: replace the cream of tartar with ½ teaspoon meringue powder, if desired. You can also replace the egg white powder with meringue powder.

Kitchen Tools You May Find Helpful

• Kitchen scale
• Sifter
• Silicone Spatula
• Electric mixer with whisk attachment
• Mixing bowl
• Cookie sheet
• Parchment or Silicone baking mat with macaron template
• Pastry bag (or a Ziptop bag)
• Large round metal tip

How to Make Eggnog Macarons

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.  

Separate the eggs and retain the egg whites – be sure that there is no yolk, or they will not whip up.  Beat egg whites until foamy in the bowl of the mixer with the whisk attachment, about one minute.

Add in the cream of tartar.  Slowly add granulated sugar in three increments and mix well after every addition on medium speed. Once all the sugar has been combined, increase the speed to medium / high and mix for another five minutes.  Mixture should be very stiff peaks and balled up in the whisk attachment and pulling away from the sides of the bowl.

Combine almond flour, powdered sugar, instant eggnog powder (if using), and (optional) egg white powder together in a fine mesh strainer and gently sieve, leaving behind any larger chunks and discarding.  

Pour the sifted dry ingredients into the whipped mixture and stir only enough to incorporate. (Add the eggnog flavor oil at this stage, if using.)  From here, slowly start to fold, deflating the mixture and occasionally checking for consistency.  Take special care to scrape the bottoms and sides of the bowl to ensure no dry ingredients are hiding.  To check the consistency, pull a scoop of the mixture up with your spatula and let the mixture drop back into the bowl.  When it’s ready, it should flow nicely off the spatula, ribboning as it falls and then re-incorporating back into the mixture within about a 20 second count. The mixture should be the consistency of lava.  Too few turns will result in tall macarons with a “peak”.  Too many turns will result in the macarons spreading outward like traditional cookies rather than upward to get the nice, ruffled edges (feet).

Transfer batter to a pastry bag fitted with a large round metal tip.  If you do not have a tip, then just a straight cut across will do.  Also, if you do not have a pastry bag, a Ziploc will also work. 

Prepare your baking pan by turning it upside down if it has a rim to it.  Place your mat on the pan or your template with parchment paper covering it.   

Holding the bag approximately ½ inch above the template and perpendicular to the pan, using the center as a bullseye in the center and slowly squeeze the bag, keeping it in one place until the mixture reaches the inner circle of the template (provided).  The mixture should settle to the outer line.   Pipe out all the rounds until all batter has been used.    

Take the entire baking sheet with the piped rounds on it and firmly hit the sheet on the counter several times, releasing any air bubbles and settling the batter.  Any stubborn air bubbles can be popped with a toothpick.  Sprinkle lightly with ground nutmeg.   

Allow the piped rounds to rest for at least 30 minutes.  The tops should no longer be sticky/tacky.  Sacrifice one shell to test by gently touching the surface.  If it sticks to your finger, it’s not ready yet. Allow it to rest until you can touch it without sticking to your finger.

Once they have rested for about 30 minutes, place the tray in the oven and bake for 11 minutes.  If baking more than one tray at a time, make sure to rotate the pans halfway through the cooking time.  Let them cool on the pan.  When cooled, very gently remove from baking sheet.  Store in an airtight container stacked on their sides until ready to fill.

How to Make Eggnog Ganache:

Place the white chocolate chips and eggnog in a microwave safe bowl.  Microwave for 30 seconds at a time and stir well between each interval until the mixture is smooth.  

Transfer to mixing bowl to allow to cool.  Once cool to the touch, use the whisk attachment to whip the ganache on medium speed for about a minute or two – the mixture should look like fluffy frosting.  

When ready to assemble, transfer the whipped ganache to a pastry bag (or ziploc) and pipe a dollop of filling on a shell and sandwich with another shell.  

Can be enjoyed right away, but to get the best texture, it’s best to wait 24 hours for the shells to mature and create the chewy goodness we all love!

Pin this Easy Eggnog Macaron with White Chocolate Eggnog Ganache for your holiday baking:

Grab your free printable recipe card for our eggnog macarons recipe:

I hope your family loves these easy eggnog macarons as much as my family does!

For more scrumptious cookies, check out our full cookie recipe collection here:

For more decadent desserts, check out our full dessert recipe collection here: