This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy.
These raspberry macarons are tangy, sweet, and melt-in-your-mouth amazing! Since my trip to Portland when I tried raspberry Macarons at one of their famous bakeries, I became obsessed with recreating the ones I tried. They were in-sanely good. So I’ve made hundreds of macarons over the past month.
I also knew that we needed to make a video to share the recipe with you because it’s crazy important for you to see what “flowing like lava” really means. I adopted the macaron base and stirring method from Martha Stewart’s March 2014 Living Magazine because it seems to be the most fail proof.
I admit there were several moments of near pulling my hair out over the past few weeks as I tested and retested batch after batch after batch, but I was stubborn as tree sap on my favorite blouse, and let me tell you, it was worth it! Mastering these cookies made me feel like a baking ninja. I’m sharing ALL my secrets to success so hopefully you’ll get it right off the bat! Before you get excited and start, READ THIS:
Watch How to Make Macarons:
Enjoy the show! If you aren’t subscribed to our cooking channel, –><–
How to Make Great Macarons (Tips for Success):
- Read through the recipe first, watch the video, and measure out all of your ingredients before starting.
- Weigh your almond meal and confectioners sugar. When I use store-bought large AA eggs, I don’t weigh the whites or the granulated sugar since it’s an exact 1/4 cup granulated sugar.
- Do not use wax paper. Use parchment or silpat (but let the cookies cool before removing them or they will stick).
- If you store almond meal in the fridge, bring it to room temp. Egg whites must be room temp also.
- Do not overbeat egg whites – they should not be dry and breaking.
- Sift your dry ingredients; very important or your macarons might be hollow.
- When mixing your flour and meringue batter, Do not overmix or undermix: When you pipe the cookies, the peaks should settle down into themselves within 10 seconds.
- Let your cookies rest before baking – this is important to form the feet. Rest anywhere from 30 minutes to 1 hour
- When I bake in 2 batches, my first set always bakes in 15 min and the second one takes 13 min (maybe my oven gets hotter the second go-around?). Keep an eye on it. Cookies should not turn golden in the oven, except ever so slightly underneath.
- Cookies taste best the next day – refrigerate overnight and bring to room temp to serve.
- If you can’t find freeze dried raspberries, they are pretty inexpensive online.
- Deep Breath. YOU CAN DO IT! 🙂
- Watch our easy video tutorial on how to measure correctly
What You’ll Need to Make Raspberry Macarons:
- A digital kitchen scale
- A good food processor
- A spatula
- Parchment paper or silpat to line baking sheets
- Electric hand mixer or stand mixer (I prefer the hand mixer for more control)
- A sieve to sift flour and strain raspberries
- A pastry piping bag with a large round tip (a disposable bag will do and if you’re brave, you can make due with cutting the tip off to make a round 3/8″ tip – I’ve seen it done)
- This little dusting wand from OXO is really fun to use
Here is the Print friendly recipe for how to make macarons:
Raspberry Macarons Recipe (Video Tutorial)
Ingredients
Ingredients for Macarons:
- 70 grams about 2/3 cup almond meal/flour
- 120 grams about 1 cup confectioners (powdered) sugar
- 2 large egg whites, about 65 grams, room temp
- 50 grams exactly 1/4 cup leveled granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup freeze dried raspberries
Ingredients for Raspberry Buttercream:
- 3/4 cup fresh or frozen raspberries
- 3 tbsp granulated sugar
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice
- 6 Tbsp unsalted butter, room temp
Instructions
How to Make Raspberry Macarons: Prep: Line 1 XL or 2 regular baking sheets with parchment paper or silpat.
- In the bowl of a good food processor, combine almond meal and powdered sugar and pulse twice to combine then process for 1 1/2 min. Sift through a sieve into a large bowl, pressing down on clumps with the back of a spoon. You should have about 1/2 to 1 Tbsp of solids left over in the sieve - discard those (If you have alot more, pulse them a few more times in the food processor).
- Place 2 egg whites in a large bowl and beat until foamy. Gradually add 1/4 cup sugar then increase to high speed and beat 2 1/2 min or until stiff glossy peaks form.
- Add sifted almond mixture and fold with spatula from the bottom of the bowl upward then press the flat side of your spatula firmly through the middle. Repeat until batter flows like lava and thick ribbons form as it flows off the spatula. (35-40 complete strokes).
- Fit a pastry bag with a large (3/8" wide) round tip and transfer batter inside. Pipe 3/4" round cookies onto the lined baking sheet, keeping them 1" apart. Drop the sheets 6" over the counter to release air bubbles about 15-20 times.
- Place freeze dried raspberries in a ziploc bag and crush them with a rolling pin until they are a powder. Use a small sifter or tea ball to dust the tops of the cookies with raspberry powder. Let cookies sit at room temp at least 30 min or until they form a thin film over the top and don't stick to your finger when poked. Meanwhile, complete steps 1 & 2 of the frosting (see below).
- While cookies are resting, Preheat Oven to 300˚F with rack in the center. Bake 15 min. If they didn't all fit on one sheet, bake in two separate batches. Slide parchment paper and cookies onto the counter right away and cool to room temp (15 min). Now you can finish off step 3 of the frosting and pipe frosting generously onto half of your macaroons and sandwich gently with the second cookie shell.
How to Make the Raspberry Buttercream Frosting:
- In a small sauce pan over medium heat, combine 3/4 cup raspberries, 3 Tbsp granulated sugar and 1 Tbsp lemon juice. Heat until bubbling.
- Mash up the raspberries with a spoon then push the mixture through a sieve, pressing on the raspberry seeds to get the most juice out. I got 1/3 cup syrup. Keep the syrup/juice and discard seeds. Let cool to room temp.
- In a medium bowl, beat 6 Tbsp butter until whipped and white (2 min on high), Add in room temp raspberry syrup and beat until whipped and fluffy (2 1/2 to 3 min on high). You can add powdered sugar to taste if a sweeter cream is preferred.
Notes
If you make this recipe, I’d love to see pics of your creations on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter! Hashtag them #natashaskitchen
I love that these raspberry macarons are sweet and sour – I find them irresistible. Do you have a favorite macaron flavor?
The macarons were basically crackers and the frosting tasted like butter overall I’ve seen better but my son Jeffald loved them but he has a weird taste palate so I’m not really sure. My fancy daughter Lucy wouldn’t touch them. Most of your recipes are great but this one just didn’t work.
HI Jayden, do you think they were over-baked? The texture is supposed to be light and delicate and not cracker-like.
Hi, thanks but they were raw and no matter who long they were in for. Also what was buttercream suppose to be like it wasn’t sweet enough.
Can you substitute almond flour for regular flour?
Hi Julie! Almond flour is very important for macarons, at least in this version. I’m not sure what modifications are needed if you use all purpose flour. You may look up a recipe specifically for that method.
Shells worked great but the icing did not come together.
HI Naomi, sometimes a little extra powdered sugar can help. I’ll add that to the recipe card.
If you bake in two batches do I leave the reminder out on the counter or put in the fridge?
I recommend storing the remaining batter in the fridge. You can put the unused batter in an airtight container or cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap to prevent it from drying out.
Hi, can you use an all-purpose flour or a self-rising flour instead of almond flour?
Hi Sherlene. The almond flour is a key here. I do not recommend substituting it, it’s not the same.
I have made many macaroons in the last few years, often as gifts and such so I wouldnt describe myself as a beginner. Overall the recipe seemed solid, but it was flawed. The “buttercream” was not butter cream. It was butter with a very sour syrup- and tasted like it too. I ended up adding about 1 cup of powdered sugar to fix the filling. Sprinkling the freeze dried raspberries on top ended up burning in my oven with the same temperature and such as the recipe, making them look like snickerdoodles. Overall, not the worst but I will be going back to my favorite recipe.
Hi Kerina, I’m sorry to hear it didn’t go as expected. If using very sour berries, it is a good idea to add more sugar. As far as the powder darkening, – that could either be due to too high of heat (make sure you aren’t using convection mode), or having the rack too high in the oven and too close to the burners.
Hi Natasha, I am from India. I am a huge fan and have tried sooo many of your beautiful recipes with great success. Thank you for that 🥰
I tried the macaron recipe today and while I thought everything went right, they all turned out hollow. Don’t know what I did wrong as they seemed to pipe beautifully and even rose in the oven but were hollow. I left them rest for 1.5 hours as they were still wet to the touch. Then finally decided to test a tray. I did that since I read a review from someone here that said we should take the humidity into account too. Could that be the reason for this debacle ? Pls do respond.
Thanks and looking forward to your response.
Rgds Shiraz
Hi Shiraz! It could be due to overmixing the egg whites. Also, be sure to sift the almond flour through a fine-mesh sifter to remove any larger pieces. For the longest time, I had hollow centers and it was due to skipping that step.
Hi! I’m interested in adding the freeze-dried raspberry to the batter instead of on top of it. Would you suggest I remove 50 grams of confectioner sugar and replace it with the freeze-dried raspberry bits?
Hi Lindsey! I have not tested that so I can’t say for sure if adjustments are needed. Sorry I cant be more help.
Hi Natasha, my oven is a convection oven and I was wondering if yours is gas or convection. What is the temperature I will set?
Hi Sylvia. This recipe is written for a conventional oven not a convection/fan oven. I’m sorry I do not have instructions for that. It bakes a lot faster so you’ll likely need to experiment with it and turn down the temp. I would see if you can find a recipe online that references a convection oven for macarons to get an idea of how to adjust.
Hi! Is there any way I could replace the freeze dried raspberries with something else that’s still raspberry tasting? I’m just not sure I will be able to find that where I live.
Hi Natasha! You can just omit the freeze dried raspberries and have plain macaron shells. The buttercream will have good raspberry flavor.
I absolutely love this recipe! I made this for my husband and coworkers, and they loved it! I want to try strawberries and cream for my next batch. Do you think it’ll be good if I swapped the raspberry ingredients (freeze drives and fresh,) for strawberry ingredients?
Hi Ty! I’m so glad to hear that. That should be fine. Let us know how they are.
Hi Natasha!
Great video, very helpful. I found that my batter wasn’t as thick as yours so my shells spread more and were thin. I’m afraid of overmixing but what difference will that make? I probably did around 50 strokes.
Hi Micki! The consistency of the batter is very important for the outcome. Over-mixing can cause them to spread too much and they’ll come out flat and hollow.
Firstly, a kitchen scale is not required. Although it may take some trial and error, the correct amount of each ingredient can be determined without the purchase of a scale.
Secondly, I have been making macarons (pronounced mak-ah-rohns – it was mispronounced during the video) consistently for around 14 months and have never once used a food processor. While it is convenient, and quick, is sifter works just as well as long as the little almond chunks are removed. The video also showed the finished macarons being lifted off the parchment paper looking quite a bit under-cooked. No part of the macaron should stick to the paper.
Furthermore, it is important to note in all macaron recipes that humidity can affect how long the macarons will take to set before baking. Yesterday, the humidity in my area was at 100% and the macarons took closer to an hour and a half to set.
Lastly, I had major issues will the “buttercream”. First off, the two ingredients that make buttercream, buttercream are butter and powdered sugar. The recipe listed completely replaced powdered sugar raspberry syrup. However, despite my doubts, I attempted the recipe. Unfortunately, after minutes of aggressive beating, the frosting never actually came together, and it was certainly not buttercream. I ended up adding powdered sugar in a desperate attempt to save everything I had already used.
The recipe just seemed quite unknowledgeable
HI Audrey, It sounds like you are confident making macarons and familiar with the correct texture – I would still recommend a scale and sifter for someone who isn’t familiar or is new to making these.
Hey Natasha,
Can i use a stand mixer to whip the egg whites? If so at what speed do you recommend?
Thx
Yes a stand mixer will work. Just control the speed while you’re whipping it.
Best recipe. My question is why is a hollow in the shells? It doesn’t really bother but I don’t see it on your macarons.
Several reasons could cause that. Under whipped or over whipped meringue is a common cause, or not sifting the almond flour well. See my “tips for success” mentioned above.
I got flat ones, but not too flat. Other than that, they tasted soooo goood. Everything else came out great. The taste, the texture, everything! I know what I did wrong and will remedy that and try again. I never thought I could ever make a macaron.
thanks so much for the instruction and making it so easy!! delicious.
Hi Jeff! I’m so glad you tried the recipe! I hope you’ll have better results next attempt!