Earl Grey Macarons

French Macarons are round, delicate, often brightly colored sandwich cookies. They are typically filled with a ganache, buttercream, or jam. The meringue cookies have a wonderfully chewy interior texture and a crisp shell. Well made macaron cookies should be perfectly round with a ruffled "skirt" along the edge where it has risen in the oven. Our macarons will be flavored with earl grey tea and filled with a honey buttercream.

Prep Time

20 mins

Resting Time

60 mins

Cook Time

15 mins

Total Time

95 mins


Yield

30 macarons


Src: Kitchen 335

Ingredients

Gluten Free

For Macarons:

  • 3 large egg whites (110 g) at room temperature
  • 1/4 cup white sugar (50 g)
  • 2 cups powdered sugar (200 g)
  • 1 cup almond flour (110 g)
  • 4 Earl Grey tea satchets

For Buttercream:

  • 4 tbsp unsalted butter (56 g) softened
  • 1 tablespoon honey (20 g)
  • 1 cup powdered sugar (113 g)
  • 1 tbsp heavy cream or milk (20 g)
Tips For Success
  1. If possible, make your macarons on a less humid day. You will need to rest the macarons for longer and they might not turn out as well on a humid day.
  2. Don’t over-mix the batter. You only need to macaronage until you can make a figure 8 with the batter. If you over-mix the macarons will spread too much.
  3. Wipe the bowl down with vinegar before adding the egg whites to whip. Even a speck of leftover dish soap or fat (egg yolk, butter, etc.) will inhibit the egg whites from whipping up properly.
  4. Let the macarons rest before eating. Macarons are best when they have matured for 12 or so hours. So after you fill the macarons, let them rest overnight for the best flavor.

Instructions

For Macarons:

  1. Line a cookie sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper.
  2. Cut open the tea sachets and pour the tea leaves into a food processor. Pulse the food processor a few times until the larger tea leaves are broken up.
  3. Add the powdered sugar and almond flour and pulse until fully combined and rid of lumps. Sift the dry ingredients into a large bowl. If you don’t have a food processor you can just sift the ingredients together.
  4. In a medium bowl, prepare the french meringue. Beat the egg whites on low speed until they get frothy. If desired, Add one drop of food coloring at this point. Increase the speed and slowly add the sugar. Beat until stiff peaks form.
  5. Add the french meringue into the dry ingredients and begin to gently fold with a silicone spatula. This process is called macaronage. You will know the batter is ready when the ingredients are fully combined and not streaky. You should be able to hold the spatula above the bowl and draw a figure 8 smoothly without the batter breaking off. Transfer the batter to a piping bag fitted with a piping tip. Pipe 1-inch disks onto the prepared cookie sheet.
  1. Firmly tap the cookie sheet onto the counter 3 or 4 times to bring any air bubbles to the surface. Use a toothpick to pop any remaining air bubbles.
  2. Let the macarons rest for an hour. There needs to be a dry layer on the top. You should be able to run your finger over the top without any transferring to your finger.
  3. Preheat the oven to 280 degrees (F). This is the temperature that I have found works well for my oven, but you may need to play around with the temperature.
  4. Place the macarons on the middle rack of the oven and bake for 5 minutes, rotate the cookie sheet, bake for another 5 minutes, and rotate the cookie sheet again, bake for 5 minutes. 15 minutes in total.
  5. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely. They should peel off the mat easily.
  6. When the macarons are cooled peel them off of the mat and match each shell to another that is the same size.

For Buttercream:

  1. In a medium bowl with a hand mixer, beat the butter until it is very soft and creamy.
  2. Add the honey and half of the powdered sugar. Beat until fully combined
  3. Add the rest of the powdered sugar. Beat on medium speed for 5-6 minutes.
  4. If the buttercream is too thick add the heavy cream or milk, 1 tablespoon at a time until it reaches the desired consistency.

Assembly:

  1. Transfer the American buttercream frosting to a piping bag fitted with a piping tip.
  2. Pipe your desired amount of frosting on the inside of one macaron shell. Place another macaron shell on top.
  3. Repeat with remaining macarons.

Storing:

If you wish to keep them more than a day before serving, freeze them. They will keep well for about two weeks. Just pull them out of the freezer about an hour before you are ready to serve them and they will thaw out perfectly.