My easy to follow step-by-step directions will guide you to these pretty lemon macarons with zesty lemon buttercream. A short video is included!
[I get a lot of questions about this white serving dish. I bought this particular one at a local thrift store, but I found similar one on amazon.com.]
Sometimes I feel fortunate that we don’t have any bakeries close by that sells French macarons. I probably would be spending way too much to satisfy my cravings.
Instead, when the craving hits, I bring out my mixer and get to whipping the egg whites. Did you know that you can make these delightful confections yourself way cheaper than $2/each?
Yeah, sounds pretty exciting, but you might have been putting it off because it’s too difficult, or intimidating. Well, fear no more! I’ve made a short video tutorial to show you how I fold my French macaron batter to make perfect little macarons!
In this video, I wanted to show you how the batter consistency changes with each fold. Therefore, I opted not to cut anything out, but instead I simply sped up the folding process in some places. The whole folding process took about 3 minutes.
I hope after watching the video you’ll start whipping those egg whites and sifting the almond flour!
I’m personally not a huge fan of basic buttercream. But I’m totally head over heels about this lemon buttercream. It’s so light and zesty, sour, yet sweet. Absolutely awesome filling for my lemon french macarons.
Oh by the way, french macarons taste way better on 2nd or 3rd days. The flavors from the filling really soak into the shells and the whole thing becomes just absolutely heavenly! And the bonus, it won’t break the bank! It’s always cheaper and better when it’s homemade!
Enjoy!
Lemon French Macarons
Ingredients
For macaron shells:
- 100 gr almond flour
- 100 gr powdered sugar
- 70 gr 1/3 cup egg whites
- ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
- 50 gr sugar
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- ½ teaspoon lemon juice
- Yellow gel food coloring
For lemon buttercream:
- 3 tablespoons 40gr unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup 130gr powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoons heavy cream
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
Helpful Equipment:
- • Pastry bag with Wilton Extra Large Round Tip #1
Instructions
- In medium bowl, sift together almond flour and powdered sugar twice. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl with whisk attachment, beat the egg whites on medium speed until foamy. Add cream of tartar and continue to beat. Slowly add sugar one tablespoon at a time. Increase the speed to medium high and beat until hard peaks. Add lemon zest, lemon juice and yellow food coloring. Beat on medium speed for one more minute. (Watch this meringue video for more information.)
- Sift the almond flour/powdered sugar mixture over the whipped egg whites. Gently fold the mixture running the spatula clockwise from the bottom, up around the sides and cut the batter in half, as shown in the video above. The batter will look very thick at first, but it will get thinner as you fold. Be careful not to over mix it though. Every so often test the batter to see if it reached the right consistency. To test the batter, drop a small amount of the batter and count to ten. If the edges of the ribbon are dissolved within ten seconds, then the batter is ready. I repeat, do NOT mix again. If you still see edges, fold the batter couple more times and test again. I posted a few pictures above to show you how just couple of folding changes the consistency of the batter. This step is so crucial, so please make sure to test often to ensure not to over mix the batter.
- Transfer the batter into a pastry bag with a round tip. (I use this Wilton A1 large plain round tip.)
- Pipe out 1.5-inch rounds about an inch apart on two baking sheets lined with parchment paper.
- Tap the baking sheets firmly on the counter a few times to get rid of any air bubbles. If you don’t release the air bubbles, they will expand during baking and crack the beautiful macarons shells. And who wants cracked macarons, right?
- Let the macarons rest and dry for 15-30 minutes. On a humid day, it might take an hour or so. To see if it’s ready to be baked, lightly touch it. If the batter doesn’t stick to your finger, then it’s ready. Preheat the oven to 300°F (150°C).
- Bake the macarons for 18-20 minutes. To check the doneness, remove one macaron. If the bottom does not stick, they are done.
- Let cool the macarons on baking sheets for at least 15 minutes, and then remove from the baking sheets onto a wire rack to cool completely.
- While macarons are drying, prepare the lemon buttercream. In a mixing bowl with whisk attachment, beat the butter until fluffy. Add powdered sugar, heavy cream, lemon juice, lemon zest and salt and beat until well combined.
- Transfer the buttercream into a pastry bag and fill the macarons. It’s best to serve macarons the next day.
- Store the filled macarons in airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. You can also freeze the filled macarons in airtight container for up to 5 months.
Susan says
Love the buttercream recipe. Normally hate making it cuz it always turns out bad. But loved this, the heavy cream really made it better.
Shinee says
Thanks, Susan, for your feedback!
Rebecca says
Recipe says 100gr powder sugar, but video said 75gr. Which is it?
Shinee says
Hi, Rebecca. So, couple of years ago I updated my base recipe and I simply haven’t updated this one. This lemon macaron recipe is my original recipe which calls for 100g powdered sugar for dry ingredients, and 50g granulated sugar for meringue. And this ratio works just fine. However, my updated recipe calls for 75g of powdered sugar for dry ingredients and 75g of granulated sugar for meringue. And the reason for this is that increasing sugar for meringue helps to create more stable meringue. Hope that makes sense. You can following this recipe as is, or use my updated base recipe and just add lemon juice and zest.
Audrey says
I’ve made your recipe twice now with the second time much improved after making notes of where I went wrong. I too had to adjust mixer speeds due to my weaker Kitchenaid mixer. The shells came out smooth and with feet! My only issue is that they don’t seem to have height. Could this be my piping skills (which I’m new at) or is there something else I could do?
Kim says
Thank you for the recipe and all the descriptive ways of explaining how things should look (“sharp edges” for the eggs” or the figure 8 for the batter). I had success with your recipe! They only adjustments I had make for this first batch was to beat at a higher level. My kitchenaid delux 5 edition will not whisk 2 egg whites well, the whisk doesn’t reach the bottom perfectly enough. I had to go to 4, then 6 and finally 8 to get a “sharp merengue”. Also, I had to mix a lot more that I thought, more likely 60-70 folds to get the right consistency. At least now I know what I’m looking for!
I tapped the pan underneath like you do in videos, and popped any tiny bubbles I could see. Finally I think letting them sit for 1 hour was the key to my previous failures. Thank you again!
Shinee says
Hi, Kim! I’m so happy my recipe worked for you and my style of explaining was helpful!! Thank you so much for sharing your experience!! And I agree, every mixer is different, I just learned it myself recently when I got another KitchenAid stand mixer (smaller model), which is way less powerful than my KA Artisan mixer.
Zoe says
I have tried a few macaron recipes without success until I found this one. This recipe gives me the best results. I am at 7200 feet and reduced sugar from 50g to 40g, and the macarons turned out almost perfect (a few hollow shells while 90% of them are fine, so I am not sure what happened). If you are at high altitude, I suggest giving this recipe a try.
Shinee says
Woohoo, so happy to read your comment, Zoe. Thank you for sharing your feedback and experience with baking at high altitude! Super helpful!
Sophia says
I have made these twice now and each time they have turned out like blobs and I’ve made other macaron recipes and have gotten feet and a smooth shell top but not with this recipe. Gave it a three because they still taste good.
Shinee says
Hi, Sophia. Thank you for your comment. My biggest advice when it comes to macarons is to stick to the recipe that works for you! From there you can make small adjustments to add flavoring. So many things affect macarons, from your oven to climate, and it’s gold if you have found the recipe that works for your environment.
Violet says
..my goodness, your technique is absolutely amazing!!
I am planning on baking macarons..tomorrow!
the raspberry recipe, my freeze dried raspberry powder just arrived!
Shinee says
Yay, so excited for you!! Glad you found my recipe helpful.
Kamal says
I made these for the first time ever. My shells look super glossy…as if there is butter on top..any idea why? They taste yummy..I like the tangy and the sweet combination.
Shinee says
Hi, Kamal. So happy you loved the flavor. I’m not sure why the shells were glossy. Were they soft and wrinkly too? Or just crisp, smooth and glossy?
Lee says
Hi there, the recipe says 100g powdered sugar, and the method says to sift the powdered sugar with the almond flour. A further step says to add the sugar to the egg whites for the meringue? It isn’t clear how much needs to be added to either? Can you please advise?
Shinee says
Hi, Lee. The recipe calls for 2 kinds of sugar: powdered sugar and regular sugar. Powdered sugar is mixed with almond flour, and regular sugar is for meringue.
Natalie says
Every time I have made these the tops crack all over, but not like air bubble. They look like they have psoriasis. What am I doing wrong?
Shinee says
Hi, Natalie. Do they have soft wrinkly shells? If so, it’s an indication of excess moisture. If you’re in humid climate, I suggest trying it without lemon juice and only add lemon zest.
Cindy Liles says
Where can I purchase the template mat that has the cross-hair in the middle? Wonderful video! Thank you!
Shinee says
Hi, Cindy. So glad you found my video helpful. Do you mean the silicone mat with the template? If so, this is the one.
Victoria Randle says
Hey there I would like to know what is the quantity amount for this recipe. How many macaroons does this make?
Shinee says
Hi, Victoria. Thank you for your question. Sorry, it wasn’t available right away. This recipe makes about 20-25 filled macarons, or 40-50 shells, depending on the size.
Savannah says
i’ve used other recipes before and i didn’t like this one. the shells aren’t as crinkly as they should be and the insides are more “cookie”-like. i made lemon curd for the filling instead of buttercream because the shells weren’t very lemony, so i wanted more tart lemon flavor. some of the shells also rose and cracked a little in the oven.
Shinee says
Hi, Savannah. Bummer that my recipe didn’t work out for you, but I’m glad you’ve had success with other recipes. I’d suggest stick with those. And as for filling, my lemon buttercream is nice and zesty and adds plenty lemon flavor. But I love adding lemon curd in the middle too! Thank you so much for trying my recipe and for sharing your feedback.