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Fun and festive Christmas macarons inspired by the iconic Little Debbie’s Christmas Tree Cakes, today’s Little Debbie Macarons combine the playful snack cakes with elegant meringue cookies to create a new Christmas cookie that’s sure to be a classic!

Little Debbie Christmas Macarons Recipe

Today’s Little Debbie Snack Cake Macarons recipe is the finale to our impromptu week of Christmas-themed macarons.

We kicked things off with a 10th anniversary update of our Santa’s Belt Macarons, and then followed it up with four brand new holiday macaron recipes:

• Snowman Macarons
• Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Macarons
• Grinch Macarons with Whipped Red Velvet Ganache
• and, Eggnog Macarons!

Of all of the macarons, I think these ones are the most creative of the bunch!

The white meringue cookies drizzled with bright red candy melts and sprinkled with green sugar crystals clearly evokes the iconic appearance of the Christmas Tree cakes, but you might think that’s where the familiarity ends. However, sandwiched between the crisp and airy almond meringue cookies is a “frosting” entirely composed of mashed up snack cakes. (Who knew they make the perfect, indulgent vanilla frosting?!)

Of course, if you don’t love the idea of sacrificing your snack cakes to make this recipe, you can swap out the filling for a vanilla buttercream or any of the suggestions listed in our variations below.

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.

Little Debbies 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):

Little Debbie Christmas Cake Macaron Ingredients

• Almond flour
• Powdered sugar
• White granulated sugar
• Egg whites
• Meringue powder
• Egg white powder (optional)

Little Debbie Macaron Filling:

• Little Debbie Christmas Tree Cakes
• Red candy melts
• Green sanding sugar

Scroll down to the printable recipe card for full measurements.

Tip: replace the cream of tartar with ½ teaspoon meringue powder. 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 Little Debbie Christmas Tree 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, and (optional) egg white powder or meringue 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.  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.

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 10-11 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 Little Debbie Cake Filling:

Using a food processor or a mixing bowl with the paddle attachment, mash up the Little Debbie cakes until smooth.  The mixture will be sticky.  Transfer the cake to a pastry bag and set aside. 

In a microwave safe bowl, melt the red candy melts.  Heat for about 30 seconds and stir well.  Heat for an additional 15 seconds if needed and stir until smooth.  Transfer the red melts to a piping bag, set aside to cool slightly. 

To assemble – lay out your macaron shells and pair up similar size partners.  Pipe one half of the shells with the mashed up Little Debbie cakes.  Because the mixture is sticky, you may need to assist shaping it.  Sandwich with the top half of the shells.  

Cut a small hole in the bag of the red melts and drizzle over the macarons.  Quickly sprinkle with the green sanding sugar before the candy melt sets up.  Repeat with remaining macarons.  

Pin this Playful Little Debbies-inspired Christmas Macaron for a festive addition to your holiday baking:

Grab your free printable recipe card for our Little Debbie-inspired 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: