How to Achieve the Perfect Vanilla Bean Macarons
We all have that recipe that takes us an age and a half to perfect, am I right? For me, that has been macarons. So, after making a dozen “okay” batches, reading hundreds of blogs, and watching hundreds of videos, I’m ready to present you with how to achieve perfect vanilla bean macarons.
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Even now, I feel like my grasp on perfection is tenuous at best. They are finicky and fiddly and some other words I learned from British baking shows. But, when you get them right, it’s so insanely rewarding.
There are 4 key stages in macaron development:
- Getting the Perfect Stiff-Peak Meringue
- The Perfect Macaronage
- Baking Macarons Correctly
- Filling and Aging: The Finishing Touches
So, let’s get going!
Getting the Perfect Stiff-Peak Meringue
There are 3 different methods to making meringue: French, Swiss, and Italian.
What is French Meringue?
This is the simplest of the techniques, but be aware that it’s also the least stable. French meringue is created by whipping room temperature egg whites with sugar until the desired stiff peak is achieved.
You can add in cream of tartar or “age” your eggs for up to 24 hours on the counter in a sealed container to get a more stable result.
What is Swiss Meringue?
Swiss meringue is only the slightest bit more work in that it creates a couple extra dishes. You’ll create a bain marie (a pot of simmering water with a bowl set over it), and add your sugar and egg whites to the bowl, whisking until the granules of sugar are fully dissolved.
In this technique, you do not have to age your egg whites or even bring them to room temperature first. You do have to be careful not to overheat the whites, though, as you could either end up with scrambled eggs or wrinkly macarons later on.
Once the sugar is dissolved, you’ll whip the mixture until you get stiff peaks. Using a stand mixer makes this considerable easier, but you do need to transfer from your bain marie bowl to the stand mixer bowl.
This is what we’re working with because I’m happy with the results I’ve gotten from it.
What is Italian Meringue?
To create an Italian Meringue, you set your room temperature (preferably aged) egg whites into your stand mixer bowl, whipping them to soft peaks, and create a sugar syrup in a saucepan. Once the syrup reaches 240ºF, you’ll stream it into the whipping egg whites.
This recipe introduces a couple other factors, like using cream of tartar to stabilize the egg whites further and water to create the sugar syrup.
When using an Italian meringue method, you’ll make the meringue, but you’ll also need to mix raw egg whites into the almond flour/powdered sugar mixture. You can watch The Scran Line‘s videos to get a better idea of how that works.
The Characteristics of a Perfect Stiff Peak
Whatever method you choose, the goal is to get perfect stiff peaks before you fold the meringue into your dry ingredients. What you’re looking for is this:
- The mixture is glossy.
- When you pull the mixer out of the meringue, it forms a sharp bird-beak-like point, or peak.
- If you turn the bowl upside-down, it doesn’t move at all. You could lightly shake it, and it stays put (you can test this if you’re really confident in your meringue, but don’t dump it on the floor/waste food).
The Perfect Macaronage
Macaronage is the art (yes, art) of folding meringue into the dry ingredients with the intention of knocking out exactly enough air that your mixture flows off the spatula like lava.
A common test is whether you can trail a Figure-8 pattern on the batter and have it flow back together within 5-10 seconds.
Sift Thoroughly
To do this, you’ll first want to thoroughly sift your almond meal and powdered sugar to remove large bits of almond and clumps. The finer your meal, the smoother your macaron surface will be.
Some recipes call for processing the two in a food processor. I advise against this because the oils in the almond meal warm up and come through to add moisture where it’s not wanted.
Just sift two to three times for the best result. If you remove over a tablespoon of ingredients, be sure to add it back fresh from the bag.
Fold Gently
You’ll start by transferring one-third of the meringue into the dry mixture. Fold this together until all the dry is incorporated. Then, fold in another third until fully combined, and finally add in the last third.
One trick I like is to “paint” the batter up the sides of the bowl and then scrape it down. Check after each scrape down to see how your “lava flow” is progressing. Usually about 5 or 6 times will do it for me, but depending on temperature, humidity, and a number of factors, your macaron batter may take more or less folding.
You may also choose to follow Pie & Tacos‘ methodology. This blog is the macaron bible to me, by the way. Hers was the first recipe that worked for me, and you’ll notice my ratios are very similar to hers. Anyway, she folds using a “J” figure stirring motion.
It’s really important that you mix the batter enough. If it’s under mixed, the tops won’t smooth out, the insides will be hollow, and they might explode from bubbles that couldn’t escape.
Baking the Macarons Correctly
The two biggest areas of concern when it comes to finally baking your macarons are the non-stick surface you use and the temperature of your oven.
Lining Your Baking Sheet for Perfect Vanilla Bean Macarons
I prefer to use my silicone baking mats that have a template printed on them, but you may prefer parchment paper. Let’s briefly discuss what’s great about both.
The silicone baking mat, as I said, has a template on it. This helps you make even sized macarons. It’s also reusable, easy-to-clean, and you can use it for other kinds of cookies, too. I like mine for snowball cookies!
Once you pipe your macaron batter onto the mat, you’ll want to tap the pan firmly and loudly on the counter to bring the air bubbles to the top. Use a toothpick to poke out any other bubbles.
You also need to let them dry for between 20 minutes and an hour. Again, this is dependent on the humidity and temperature. The goal, though, is to be able to touch the top of your macaron without it sticking to your finger. At this point, preheat the oven.
The Temperature of Your Oven is Crucial to Macaron Making
There’s a really effective image floating around on Pinterest of how a too-cool oven (275ºF) can lead to hollow macaron shells, while a warmer oven (300ºF) leads to fuller shells.
Heat applied to your meringue will allow them to cook without deflating inside the shell made during the drying phase. So, you need your oven to be hot enough.
Now, the flip side of this is that you do not want your oven too hot either (325ºF) because your macarons will brown. The ideal vanilla bean macaron maintains is pure creamy color so those beautiful freckles of vanilla shine.
For me, a batch at 300ºF came out much browner than I wanted, though the shells were full and chewy and they came off the mat cleanly. At 285ºF, I got the color I wanted, but they stuck and were a little hollow. For my oven, the sweet spot is 295ºF.
I say this because you’ll likely also need to play with a few batches to figure out your own oven. Did I mention macarons are fiddly?
Cooling Your Vanilla Bean Macarons
You know your macarons are done when they easily slide from your pan, but they won’t do that until they’re cool. It’s a Catch-22, and it is maddening. But! Here’s the key.
Look at the feet. Do they look glossy still, or are they matte? If they’re matte, your macarons are ready to come out. If they’re still glossy, give them another 2 or 3 minutes.
Let them cool on the pan for a good 5 minutes until the mat or paper is cool enough to touch without burning your fingers. Then, pick up the whole mat/paper and set it on a cooling rack. Give it another 5 minutes, and test a macaron.
I do this by lifting the corner of my baking mat and giving it the gentlest flick. It unseats the macaron and they slide. You can also give the mat a little bit of a stretch, and a properly done macaron will slide off with a glossy, smooth, little bottom.
Move these babies to your cooling rack without the mat beneath them and let them cool the rest of the way.
Filling Vanilla Bean Macarons
Okay, you’ve got your shells lined up like little precious toddlers on your cooling rack waiting to be filled with something yummy.
I have two favorite fillings for my vanilla bean macarons. The first is a cream cheese frosting, and the second is white chocolate ganache.
For the cream cheese frosting, reference my vanilla bean cake recipe. You’ll want 3 ounces of cream cheese and half a stick of butter, beaten together with 2 to 3 cups of powdered sugar. You’ll likely have leftovers, but this is my cake frosting recipe halved for you.
To make a white chocolate ganache, create a bain marie again with a bowl set over a pot of simmering water. Add in 1/2 cup of white chocolate chips and 1/4 cup of heavy cream.
Stir until the chocolate is mostly melted but there are still chunks. Remove it from heat and continue stirring until it smooths out, then chill it until it firms up a bit.
Whatever filling you use, it’s easier and neater to pipe the filling rather than spoon it. I’d recommend you pick up 2 Wilton piping bags for this purpose and wash and reuse them as you need them. You want tips with couplers to fit these.
How to Make the Perfect Vanilla Bean Macarons
A few final tips before you get started:
- Use quality vanilla beans. I prefer Java Sisters’ Vanilla because they’re fragrant, flavorful, and the company is woman-owned, ethical, and committed to making the planet healthier. You can save 10% on your order using my code ELLEJAYATHOME10 or clicking this link.
- Store your macarons in the fridge for 24 hours before you eat them. This ages them to perfection. Trust me, the texture difference is worth the wait!
- Eat all your macarons within 3 days of making them. This doesn’t sound hard, but you might consider freezing them or sharing with friends if you think they might go to waste.
If you have any questions, please contact me or leave a comment below. Let me know how your macarons turned out, and please share your pictures on Instagram tagged @ellejayathome.
Vanilla Bean Macarons
Equipment
- Stand Mixer with whisk attachment
- Kitchen Scale
- Sheet pan
- Parchment paper or silicone baking mat
- Small mixing bowl
- Small saucepan
- Mesh sieve
Ingredients
- 100 g egg whites (about 3 egg whites)
- 100 g pure cane sugar
- 105 g almond flour
- 105 g powdered sugar
- 1 pinch pink himalayan sea salt
- 1 vanilla bean
Optional White Chocolate Ganache Filling
- ½ cup white chocolate chips
- ¼ cup heavy cream
- 1 pinch pink himalayan sea salt
Instructions
- Line your baking sheet with either your templated silicone baking mat or parchment paper. Prepare your piping bag with a 12 (Wilton's) tip set into a pint glass for easy filling.
- Add 1-inch of water to your small saucepan, and bring it to a simmer. Set your small mixing bowl over it, and in that, mix together the egg whites and cane sugar until the sugar dissolves.
- Once the sugar is dissolved, but before the mixture becomes warm to the touch, move the mixture to the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Add in a pinch of salt. Whisk on medium until the mixture thickens, and then whisk on high until stiff peaks are formed.
- Add in the caviar of one vanilla bean and whisk until fully incorporated.
- Sift the almond flour and powdered sugar twice to aerate and remove large clumps. If you have more than 1 tablespoon of grit in the sieve, replace it with an equal weight of almond flour.
- Fold one-third of the dry mixture into your meringue until incorporated. Repeat with the second third, and again with the last third. Continue mixing the batter until it flows lava-like from your rubber spatula.
- Move the batter to your piping bag. Pipe 1" circles onto your lined baking sheet, preferably using a macaron template (fill the smaller circle). Tap the pan against the counter firmly, then rotate 90º to tap on the second side. Repeat with the other two sides. Then, pop any remaining bubbles with a toothpick.
- Allow the macarons to dry for 20-40 minutes or until you can touch the top without it sticking to your finger.
- Bake at 295ºF for 7 minutes. Rotate the pan 180º and bake another 8 minutes.
- Check the feet to make sure they are no longer glossy or wet looking. If they are, give them another 2 minutes.
- When they're ready to come out of the oven, allow them to cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet before transferring the liner to your cooling rack for 5 minutes. At this point, move the macarons onto the cooling rack.
- For the ganache, simmer 1 inch of water in a small saucepan and set a small heatproof bowl in it. In the bowl, stir the white chocolate chips and heavy cream until the chips are almost all the way melted. Remove from heat and continue stirring until smooth. Sprinkle in salt and stir to incorporate. Chill in the fridge until set.
- Transfer your ganache to a piping bag with the decorative tip of your choice, and pipe the ganache onto half of the macaron shells. Sandwich with the remaining shells to finish.
- Chill your macarons for 24 in the fridge before eating, or store in the freezer for up to 6 months.
