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At once both sophisticated and playful, today’s Santa’s Belt Macarons look like they marched straight out of the North Pole pâtisserie!

A classic almond-flavored meringue cookie filled with homemade chocolate ganache, these easy French macarons are very simply decorated to a great impact and would make a wonderful addition to your holiday cookie boxes or a sweet treat left out for the man himself!

Santa Macaron Recipe

Can you believe it’s been almost a decade since I originally shared these Santa’s Belt Macarons?

They were a sleeper hit, growing in popularity even more until last year, when they were lost among all of the new Santa’s Belt Macaron recipes that had flooded the internet.

So this year, I thought I’d update the pictures and include some FAQs that might come up for you while baking these holiday macarons for yourself. (If there are any FAQs I’ve left off, please let me know and I’ll get right back to you!)

And since I was updating this post, I figured, why not add a few new holiday macarons? This week I’ll be adding Snowman Macarons, Little Debbie-inspired Macarons, Grinch Macarons, Eggnog Macarons and Reindeer Macarons!

I hope your family loves this whimsical Santa’s Belt Macaron recipe with its lightly crispy and chewy meringue cookie outside and rich, oh-so-chocolately ganache inside. Be sure to check out my list of variations below to make this easy macaron recipe truly your own!

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.

Santa 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).

The texture is best 1-2 days after they are made, as the chewy center doesn’t tend to develop until 24 hours after baking.

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 the below video to see how to make homemade macarons (it doesn’t show this exact recipe but it will show you the textures you will want to aim for):

Santa Macaron Ingredients

• Almond flour
• Powdered sugar
• Granulated sugar
• Egg whites
• Meringue powder
• Egg white powder (optional)
• Red gel food color

Chocolate Ganache Ingredients:

• Dark chocolate
• Heavy whipping cream

Santa Macaron Decoration Ingredients:

• Yellow candy melts
• Edible marker (black)

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 Santa Macarons

Preheat oven to 300F.

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 meringue powder or 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, 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 12 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 Chocolate Ganache:

In a microwave safe bowl, heat the chocolate chips and heavy cream for 1 minute.  Remove and stir thoroughly.  If needed, heat for an additional 15-30 seconds and stir well again until all chocolate chips have melted and the mixture is smooth. 

Transfer the ganache to a piping bag and allow to cool slightly.  

When ready to assemble, lay out the macaron shells and partner up with similar size shells.

How to Decorate Santa Macarons: 

In a microwave safe bowl, heat the yellow candy melts in 15 second increments and stir until smooth.  Transfer to a piping bag and allow to cool slightly until ready to use. 

Using the edible marker, draw a thick black line across the center of the macaron shells.  Then draw two small dots above the line.  Repeat with half of the macaron shells.  

Cut a small hole in the end of the yellow candy melt bag and carefully pipe a square over the center of the black line to create the belt buckle.  Allow to set.

For the remaining half of the shells, place bottom side up on your work surface.  Cut a hole in the end of the ganache bag and pipe a mound of chocolate ganache on each shell.  

Place the top shell (with the belt decoration) on top of each ganache filled shell to create the cookie sandwich.  

Pin this Santa’s Belt Macarons recipe for a whimsical holiday treat:

Grab your free printable recipe card for our Santa’s Belt macarons recipe:

I hope your family loves these easy Santa 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: