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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:
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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?
I have tried to make these twice and after piping my circles expand so much. I am doing something wrong?
Hi Jessica, I’m more than happy to troubleshoot. I have not had that experience in the past was anything altered in the recipe?
Natasha, this is such a great recipe! But I had a real problem…. I baked them for between 15-17 minutes at 300 degrees. Any less and they didn’t lift from the parchment and broke open. I don’t know if that’s what did it–cooking a bit longer till they lifted more easily–but they are crunchy inside, not chewy. They are not hollow/crunchy but fill the cookie…They taste great but they are more like ginger snaps…I’ve heard of hollow cookies but never crunchy centers. Any idea what I did wrong? Thanks so much! I’m not giving up but four batches has me weary…. : – ( and sad a little.. Trish
P.S. Natasha, I didn’t use your recipe in making these….one that’s so close to yours though. I used 1 3/4 cup confectioners sugar, 3 egg whites, 1 cup almond flour, 1/4 cup sugar–a little more than yours calls for all around. I macronaged for about 5 minutes till it flowed like lava…I’m dying to try yours but feel very antsy about baking time now….also, I’m out of almond flour!!
P.P.S. I feel that I may have just plain old overcooked them, to have the centers hardened like honeycomb….but if I took them out sooner the bottoms didn’t lift off the parchment…..aye aye….
Hi Patricia, macarons are so finicky that measurements need to be precise. I can’t vouch for the recipe you tried because I haven’t made them but be sure to follow the exact steps. For example, it took me about 5 tests when developing macarons initially to figure out that using a sieve to sift was critical. I thought I could skip that step and wondered why my cookies didn’t work out. The process and the exact measurements are really important so be sure to weigh things out with a digital kitchen scale. I hope that helps! Usually, if the bottoms don’t lift, it means they were underbaked.
Thanks, Natasha, for this advice. I see now the need for a digital food scale might be the difference-maker. Am going to look into that and get some more almond flour and try, try again. Once more, so many thanks for your oh-so-prompt reply. And this time I use YOUR recipe!!
Great recipe! Thank you so much! I doubled the batch and baked two sheets at a time in a convection oven. 14 minutes at 280 was about perfect if anyone wants to go that route. Filled half with your raspberry buttercream (yum! Love it!) and half with orange-lemon buttercream.
I’m so happy to hear that! Thank you for sharing your great review!
So delicious! Loved the buttercream. However, I did have one problem — the raspberry dust on the top turned brown. Any thoughts on why?
Hi Lacey, I think it has to do mostly with variances in oven temperatures. Browned tops indicate too high of heat. I would suggest decreasing the temperature by about 10-15 degrees and testing it that way. I hope that helps!
Natasha, question: you write in recipe 120g of icing sugar is about 1 cup, but it’s wrong. 1 cup is 220g in dry ingredients. Interesting that you nailed it for 70g of almond flour (it’s 2/3 cup indeed). Same with egg whites weight – is it 2 egg whites or is it 65g? because one large egg white is about 40g, which would make 2 egg whites weigh 80g, not 65g. So I am a bit confused. 🙂 Could you please confirm the recipe in cups for me – for almond flour and egg whites? Thanks a lot!
Hi Lee, the best way to measure this out is by weight measurements with a food scale. I weighed each ingredient and wrote specifically how much they weighed in grams so you can have the same success.
Thank you, Natasha, I guess I mis-measured the ingredients myself! I will promptly be using cups and tbsp as you recommended, and then will see how it goes.
I omitted the step with freeze dried raspberries and made the buttercream with butter and raspberry jam and it turned out delicious! I love the texture of these shells, super good recipe!! Thank you for explaining everything so well
Hi Natalie, Thank you so much for sharing that with us. That sounds delicious!
Can you please please please make a pistachio macaron recipe?
These are incredible but I’ve gotten several requests for pistachio flavor.
Hi Vera, thank you for the suggestion. If I come up with something great next time I am making macarons, I will be sure to share it!
The texture of the cookie was PERFECT and I absolutely love the lemon in the buttercream.
The dried freeze sprinkle did however burn in the oven a little and therefore change to a not so pretty color. The cookie was bakes perfectly so I don’t know how to work around that. I think that baking less would make an under cooked shell. Any suggestions?
Hi Vera, not all ovens are created equal and it sounds like yours might run a little hot. Also, be sure you are using the conventional oven setting, not convection. I would suggest turning the heat down slightly and seeing if that helps. Maybe at 275˚F
Thank you! I will try that and hope it works out better.
Staying in temp housing and I really want to make these but there is no food processor here. Will it completely not turn out without it? I was so excited that I bought a scale and a hand mixer despite already having those in storage. I really don’t want to buy a food processor too
Hi Vera, it really is important to mill the flour with sugar for the cookies to form properly. Do you have a strong blender? That might do the job.
Sadly no. I guess I will wait until I get all my kitchen stuff back with my food processor and all.
I made these a few days ago. I’ve tried making macarons many times, but I’m this recipe has given me the best result yet. They were the PERFECT consistency: a little chewy, with feet, and no hollow cookies. I was worried when I first tried the icing (although my bf and I deviated from the recipe a little) because it didn’t seem sweet enough at first, but the sweetness of the cookie goes extremely well with the buttercream. Will definitely use this recipe again!
I’m so happy to hear that! Thank you for sharing your great review, Sienna!
Your buttercream recipe above does NOT show any powdered sugar as an ingredient. Is that correct? I believe that could be a reason so many are having trouble with it
Hi D, that is correct. There is sugar in the raspberry syrup and we were aiming for a lightly sweet and more tangy cream for the macarons since the macaron shells are sweet. We love that sweet and tangy combination. You can add more powdered sugar if you want the cream sweeter.
It looks like that the Raspberry Filling recipe is not complete. Its too liquid after combining with the butter. I had to ad more than a cup of confectioners sugar and freezy dried raspberries to accomplish desired consistency.
Hi, I wonder if you possibly had more than 1/3 cup of raspberry syrup or maybe just needed a little longer beating. Also, be sure to beat it in with an electric mixer and it does take a few minutes and initially seems like it won’t come together but it will. You can add more powdered sugar doesn’t hurt to add sweetness or thicken it up even further but using these proportions, it should form the right consistency.
I followed your recipe to make my raspberry filling. It was my first time making buttercream filling ever lol. At first my butter and syrup did not cooperate. The butter looked separated to me. I touched the mixing bowl and it actually cold. I guess my mixing bowl was stainless steel and the coldness made the butter condense. I did a little search on Google and I decided to get a bowl of hot water and keep my mixing bowl in there until room temperature when touch. After that I mix it and everything when creamy and smooth. I may have to add a little more sugar next time since the filling is a little sour and not sweet enough for me. Thanks for the recipe.
You’re welcome! I’m so happy you enjoyed it, Han!
This was amazing, thank you so much for sharing!
My buttercream didn’t quite whip up and separated while I whipped. Do you have any recommendations? Maybe I didn’t whip the butter enough prior to adding syrup, or maybe the syrup wasn’t cooked enough?
Also, though the cookies were delicious is there s way to make them with less sugar without throwing off the rise of the cookies?
Hi Linda, I would suggest reading through all of the tips for success listed above which answers most frequently asked questions for macarons. Also, check out our other macarons recipe which has a video as well and see if maybe something was missed in the process.
Thanks but none of the tips specifically mentioned information on the whipped buttercream. Also there was no mention of reducing the confectionars sugar in the almond flour to make this less sweet but how it would affect the cookies.
Hi! I love your macaron recipe, I use it all of the time for all of my flavors. Quick question, I want to make chocolate Macarons but every recipe I’ve tried is a bust, how could I turn your recipe into a chocolate one? Maybe just add a couple tablespoons of coco powder to the mix? Thank you!
Hi Bri! That is a great question! My husband has been telling me the same thing that I need to make one with chocolate. If you experiment or find a mix that works for you I would love to know how you liked that!
Hi:)
I tried making them, adding 1 tbsp of coco powder. They tasted amazing however the top looked like the top of an actual brownie ( it was glossy and thin) and the bottom was stuck on the parchment paper. Would you happen to know why? Thank you!
Hi Bri, without experimenting or being there I wish I could say but I cannot advise. Did you add the coco in addition to the original ingredients or did you sub?
Hi:) I added it in addition to the original ingredients.
Awesome recipe! This was my first time making Macarons and they turned out lovely on the first try! Perfect shell with a chewy soft inside!
I did find the filling to be a bit too buttery for my taste.. perhaps I made it wrong but I did add a bit a powedered sugar to stiffen it up however I didn’t want to add too much as I love the tartness of it.
I’m so happy you enjoyed that, CJ! Thank you for that great review!
I was thinking of making the macarons for my christmas cookies, but how can they be stored? do they need to be refridgerated or can they stay at room temp for days?
Hi Mary, typically, these can be frozen in an airtight container up to 3 months or refrigerated for about a week, just bring them to room temperature to serve. They would be ok at room temperature for a couple of days, but I would refrigerate if keeping longer than that.
When you say refrigerate, do you mean with the filling or just the cookie shell itself? If i make just the shells ahead of time and keep them in an airtight container, can they be stored in room temp or they have to be refrigerated?
Hi Yuliya, I refrigerate the cookie with the cream in it. You can keep the shell itself at room temperature.
I’m trying to find different tart fillings for macaroons, so glad I found this…will definitely try. Can I substitute raspberries for lemons or other tart fruits? How about fruit powders? Thanks!
Those may work Joy! I have seen so many different versions and fillings! I’d love to know how you like this recipe experimenting with different fillings!
I was wondering the same thing. I would love to try these with blackberries instead. Please let us know.
These are soooo goooood. I love them so much!!! Thank you. But I do have a quick question I need some advise with .. how do make the bottom of the macaroon be solid (the cream is between that part of macaroon shell)
I’m not sure what you are asking Rachel. Two shells are put together with cream in the middle.
Hi Natasha I just made these I got nice feet on them but they didn’t turn out in color the raspberries turned a little darker color and the cookie didn’t come out white what might be the problem? 😕
Hi Alena, that can happen if your oven runs too hot, or if you are using a convection oven. If you see it discoloring, reduce the heat by 15 degrees. Also, make sure to bake in the center of the oven and not too close to the heating elements in the oven.
Thank you so much I tried that and it worked!! I love your recipes 😊👍
I’m so happy to hear that, Alena!
Hi Natasha,
Thanks for such a wonderful recipe 🙂
I did have 1 question though… is 6 tbsp about 85g?
Hi, yes that is correct.
Hi, I’m Enrique from México and i prepare the macarons and there are prety and delicious that is a good idea that you post in your blog and YouTube other fillings recipes for macarons like Pistachio, tiramisu, coconut, piña colada, mango, chocolate, coffee, strawberry, orange, lemon and other fillings that i don’t mentioned for macarons followers like me because the macarons are the King of pastries. Kindle regards from México
Hi Enrique! Thank you for sharing that with us! We sure love our macarons also.