These mint macarons are here to impress! Light and crisp, with a satisfying chew in the middle, these delightful little cookies are filled with minty chocolate ganache. Or you’d prefer a boozy filling, I also included minty Baileys ganache!
Also, in this macaron recipe, we’ll talk in depth about how to pair and fill macaron shells, how to mature and store them properly. Keep reading…
Table of Contents
What’s your favorite thing to do when you’re stressed? For me, it’s baking. But definitely not macarons!
- Chocolate brownies, sure.
- Indulgent chewy cookies, yes!!
But never ever french macarons!
Because if those finicky macarons come out less than perfect, it’ll just make a bad day worse! You know what I mean, right?
Anyhow, I still love baking macarons. Because it brings SO much joy when you pull out a tray full of perfectly round and smooth macarons with beautiful feet. Pure bliss!
If you’ve ever baked macarons, you know what I mean, right?
But if you’re new to baking macarons, I highly recommend starting with my basic macaron recipe.
How to make mint macarons:
- Make the meringue – make sure to whip your meringue until stiff peaks and it balls up inside your whisk.
- Sift the dry ingredients to aerate and remove large chunks.
- Mix meringue with dry ingredients until perfect consistency – runny enough to draw a figure eight.
- Pipe 1.5-inch circles on 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and bake.
How to fill macarons:
Before you fill macarons, we need to pair them. This basically means we’ll find equal size macarons and put them together.
When ready to fill, place one shell upside down and other pair next to them, as pictured below. Pipe a dollop of ganache filling on bottom shell and place the other shell on top. Gently press to distribute the filling evenly. Voila, your mint macarons are ready!
Well, almost. Let’s talk about maturing…
What does maturing macarons mean?
Many macaron recipes direct you to fill the macarons and store in the fridge for at least 24 hours to mature. But what does that mean?
Maturing macarons basically means letting the filled macarons rest in the fridge to allow the filling seep into the shells, softening and flavoring it. This’s especially important if the macaron shells have no flavoring.
That’s being said, I have no problem devouring a few macarons right away, with and without filling!!
To mature filled macarons, place them in an airtight container and place it in the fridge for up to 24 hours.
Bring the macarons to room temperature for 30 minutes before serving.
How to store macarons:
Once the macarons matured in the fridge for 24 hours, you can either keep them in the fridge or you can also freeze them!
- Refrigerate in an airtight container for 3-5 days, depending on the filling.
- Freeze in airtight container for up to 1 month.
You can also freeze unfilled macarons shells in airtight container for up to 3 months.
Mint French Macarons with Minty White Chocolate Ganache Filling
Ingredients
For macaron shells:
- 100 g fine almond flour Note 1
- 65 g powdered sugar Note 2
- 70 g egg whites Note 3
- 75 g fine granulated sugar Note 4
- ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar Note 5
- ¼ teaspoon peppermint extract
- 1 drop green gel food coloring
Filling #1 – Mint White Chocolate Ganache:
- 8 oz white chocolate chips
- ½ cup (120 ml) heavy whipping cream
- ¼ teaspoon peppermint extract
Filling #2 – Minty Baileys Ganache:
- 8 oz white chocolate chips
- ¼ cup (60 ml) heavy whipping cream
- ¼ cup (60 ml) Mint Baileys
- ¼ teaspoon peppermint extract
Instructions
To make macaron shells:
- Preheat the oven to 300°F (150°C). Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper, or teflon sheet, or silicone mat.
- To prepare dry ingredients, sift together almond flour and powdered sugar twice. (Note: If you have up to 2 tablespoons of chunky dry ingredients left in the sifter, you don't have to replace it. Simply discard those chunky bits.)
- To make meringue, in a clean mixing bowl with a whisk attachment, combine egg whites, granulated sugar, cream of tartar and salt and beat the mixture on medium speed until soft peaks form. (I set it to speed 4 on my KitchenAid stand mixer. It takes 30-40 minutes to whip the meringue, but it's well worth it for nice and full shells.)
- When the meringue reaches soft peaks, add peppermint extract and a few drops of green gel food coloring.
- Continue beating the meringue at the same medium speed until hard peaks form. Visual cues: Meringue should ball up inside the whisk, and when you lift the whisk, the meringue should hold a pointy end and have sharp ribs.
- To make batter, sift almond flour mixture into the meringue. Using a silicone spatula, fold the dry ingredients into the meringue until fully incorporated. Then continue to fold the batter until it’s runny enough to draw a figure eight. To test, take a small amount of batter and drop it into the bowl. If the small peaks dissolve into the batter on its own in about 10 seconds, the batter is ready. If not, fold couple more times and test again. Be careful not to over-fold the batter. (TIP: Making french macarons is all about the technique. This is one of the most crucial step. Let me try to describe the folding motion as best as I can: run the spatula clockwise from the bottom, up around the sides and cut the batter in half. If you’re beginner macaron-baker, I suggest to count every fold. It takes roughly about 50 folds to reach the proper consistency. After 50 folds, start testing the batter, and continue testing after every couple folds.)
- To pipe macaron shells, transfer the batter into a pastry bag, fitted with a round tip. (I use this Wilton 2A tip.)
- Hold the pastry bag at straight 90° angle and pipe about 1.5-inch rounds about an inch apart on prepared baking sheets. (TIP 2: Download my free macaron template. Simply pipe the batter to fill inner circle.)
- Tap the baking sheets firmly on the counter (or slap the bottom of the baking sheet with one of your hands) a few times to get rid of any air bubbles. You can also use a toothpick to burst some large air bubbles. This step ensures smooth tops.
- Let the macarons rest on the counter for 15 minutes before baking.
- To bake, bake the macarons for 15-18 minutes, one baking sheet at a time, on the middle rack. It’ll take longer for larger macarons. To test for doneness, touch a macaron lightly and try to move it. If it slides and wobbles, bake a minute or so longer. The cooked macarons should be firm to touch and the base shouldn’t move.
- Cool the macarons complete and then remove the shells from the baking surface. (TIP: Don't remove the shells while warm, you may risk breaking the shells, or the bottom might get stuck to the baking surface.)
To make the filling:
- Bring heavy cream to a simmer, not a boil. (If you're making filling #2, heat the cream and Baileys together.)
- Pour the hot cream over the white chocolate chips and let stand for 2 minutes. Then mix until smooth with a rubber spatula.
- Using an immersion blender, blend the mixture until silky smooth, which means the mixture is emulsified. Cover with a plastic wrap, making sure it touches the surface of the ganache. Chill the ganache in the fridge until nice and thick, about 1 hour.
- Transfer the buttercream into a pastry bag with round tip.
To assemble macarons:
- Pair the macaron shells by size and arrange them on a wire rack. Line them up so that bottom shells are upside down.
- Pipe a dollop of filling on bottom shells. Place the top shell over the filling and press lightly so the filling spreads till the edges.
- Refrigerate the filled macarons in an airtight container for at least 24 hours to mature, which allows the filling to soften and flavor the shells.
- To serve, bring the macarons out about 30 minutes prior to serving.
Tips & Notes
Nutrition
This mint macarons recipe was originally published on April 7th, 2014, and last updated on March 2, 2020.
Dear,
I made this amazing macarons last week, and it was an extreme HIT! i loved the way they turned out. They were the best patch so far! I wish i can send a picture to see the results! thanks!
I was wondering if i could use the same recipe but with different extract rather than mint. Is that possible? I mean, can i switch the mint extract with other extract and use the same measurements for the remaining ingredients?
Hiba, I’m so happy to hear that the macarons turned out great. You can send me the photo via e-mail, it’s sweetandsavorybyshinee@ gmail.com. And yeah, you can use any other extract for different flavors. Just swap the extract flavor and nothing else. If you wish you can also use other fillings, like jam, ganache, etc. 🙂 I also have different macaron recipes on my site, like this lemon macarons.
Hi. Thanks for sharing. Your recipe is amazing. When you bake your macaroons, which oven rack do you use? Upper or lower rack?
My macaroons turned out to be yelowish top n bottom of macaroons, even though I followed the temperature n time in your recipe n the macaroons are still soft inside. Could you please tell what I did wrong? Thanks again.
I bake mine on the middle rack. For browning issue, I would suggest to put the second rack above the one with macarons and place an empty sheet, or a foil to prevent further browning. Oven temperatures vary up to 50°F, it might be a good idea to check it with oven thermometer. Hope this helps.
Do they get soggy if you leave em for a few days? … Or storage wise do the freeze well or what not?
Hi, Lena. No, they don’t get soggy, as long as you keep them in the fridge. I’d recommend keeping them in the fridge for up 5 days. The flavors from the filling will infuse the shells, and it actually gets even tastier in couple days. You can freeze unfilled macarons shells for up to 2 months.
Hey! Thanks for sharing… Gonna try my first macaroons ever this weekend! Does your recipe make 15 or 30 macaroons in total? Does it mean 30 halfs that then make 15 …… Cheers!
Hi, Nora. This recipe will make total of 30 macarons (60 cookie shells).
Hey, I was wondering if you have a pistachio recipe, too?
Hi, Sandy. I’m actually working on pistachio recipe right now. Hoping to share it in December. 🙂
Okay! Thank You for responding. 🙂 I’ll be looking forward to it! My sister loves the pistachio one too so I can share this with her.
Sounds great, Sandy. If you haven’t already, subscribe to my weekly newsletter to make sure you get the recipe when it’ll be published. 🙂
Okay! I just did. Thank You, again.
Sure thing. Thank you, Sandy!
how much is 3/4 cup of almond flour and 1 cup of powedered sugar in grams???
Hi, Mateo! 3/4 cup of almond flour is 80gr, and 1 cup of powdered sugar is 125gr. Thanks for asking, I updated the recipe with these info.
Thank you so much! Another question, do you have this same recipe but bigger? If not, thank you anyway!
Bigger, you mean for more macarons? I think you can double the recipe, but I’ve never done that before. Sorry.
Ok, thanks.
Just trying out your recipe tonight! they are currently sitting there waiting for the oven 🙂 so far so good! Is it possible to update your recipe to say when to add food coloring for the macaroon and then when to add the mint for the icing? – this is for the instructions only – they are in the photos but it means scrolling back. Otherwise thank you so much for adding an easy and wonderful recipe!! 🙂
Hey there! I’m so excited for your first macaron experience! Hope it turned out great! I will definitely make the change in the recipe per your suggestion. Thank you so much for your feedback. Enjoy your macarons and stop by again. 🙂
They turned out amazing, I’ve spent today making more!! – changed the mint to raspberry extract, and real raspberries in the icing… totally hooked to this recipe now! thank you 🙂
You’re welcome! I’m happy that your first macarons turned out great! Isn’t it such a great feeling of accomplishment? Raspberry macarons sound divine! I bet you will love my lemon macarons as well. Check it out here.
Thanks for sharing! It is a good recipe. But I’m so confuse to the filling,that is white chocolate or white chocolate chips??
Sorry I confused you, Wan. I used white chocolate chips. Since I put my measurements in cups, I probably should have specified it. (Recipe is updated now.) You can also use white chocolate bar though, but just need to break it into small pieces. Thank you for stopping by and your comment.
Wow- these look amazing! I’ve never made macarons because I think they look intimidating. But seeing these in mint flavor, something i love, I’m not thinking about making this recipe. Thanks for sharing!
Kenton, thank you for stopping by! Definitely make these macarons. They are awesome, and not too difficult. Good luck and let me know how they turned out. 🙂
Ямар их хөдөлмөр вэ. Happy spring to you as well!
Thank you, Badamaa! 🙂