Honey Macarons
These Honey Macarons are filled with a delicious honey buttercream and are perfect for spring! They're decorated with an easy royal icing design and look like the cutest little bees.
Servings: 18 macarons
Calories: 130kcal
Equipment
- Kitchen scale
- Strainer
- Whisk
- Stand mixer
- Spatula
- One 16 inch pastry bag
- Three 8 inch pastry bags
- Round piping tip (I used the Ateco 10)
- Two silicone mats
- Two half sheet pans
- Oven thermometer
- One small bowl (to mix royal icing)
Ingredients
- 90 grams powdered sugar
- 80 grams almond flour
- 70 grams egg whites (room temperature)
- 70 grams granulated sugar
- 2 grams egg white powder (optional)
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 3 drops yellow gel food coloring
Honey buttercream
- ¼ cup salted butter (½ stick)
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1½ tbsp honey
Royal icing decoration
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- ½ tsp meringue powder
- ½ tsp water (room temperature)
- 2 drops black gel food coloring
- candy eyes
Instructions
Prepare dry ingredients
- Sift powdered sugar and almond flour using a whisk to break down any clumps. Set aside.
- Line sheet pans with the silicone mats.
- Insert the piping tip into the 16 inch pastry bag.
Make the meringue
- Whisk the egg whites on medium speed (speed 4) until you see small bubbles (this can take as little as 15 seconds sometimes).
- Slowly add 3 tbsp of granulated sugar, 1 tbsp at a time, waiting about 10 seconds between each tbsp.
- Whisk until you start to see tracks in the meringue.
- Increase speed to 6 and continue slowly adding the remainder of the granulated sugar, 1 tbsp at a time, until you’ve added all the sugar.
- Once you have soft peaks, stop the mixer, scrape the sides and add the vanilla extract and the yellow gel food coloring.
- Whisk for about 5 more minutes, or until you have stiff peaks.
Combine ingredients
- Add in the powdered sugar and almond flour mixture in three parts, 1/3 at a time, folding each part until fully combined.
- Once the meringue and dry ingredients are fully combined, stop folding.
- Now you need to deflate some of the air in the batter by taking the spatula and smearing the batter on the sides of the bowl two or three times, and then folding once or twice.
- Repeat the process of smearing some of the batter on the side of the bowl and folding until the batter looks smooth and glossy and runs down the spatula slowly in ribbons.
- You can test the consistency by lifting the spatula and letting the batter run down. If it falls in ribbons and sinks back into itself within 30 seconds, the batter is ready.
- Transfer the batter to the 16 inch pastry bag.
Pipe the macarons
- Take the pastry bag and, holding the bag at a 90° angle, pipe the shells in 3/4 inch circles.
- Tap the tray against the counter a few times to pop any air bubbles. I usually tap about 7-8 times.
- Let the macarons rest until they form a skin and are no longer sticky.
- While the macarons are resting, preheat the oven to 315°F.
- Bake the macarons for 14-16 minutes.
- Macarons are ready when they no longer shift if you touch the tops.
- Let the macaron shells cool for at least 30 minutes before decorating.
Make the royal icing
- In a small bowl, combine the powdered sugar, meringue powder, and a few drops of water and stir with a spoon.
- Continue stirring adding a few more drops of water if necessary.
- Check the consistency by lifting the spoon and counting how many seconds it takes for the icing to sink back into itself. If it takes around 20 seconds, it's ready.
- Take about ½ tbsp of the white royal icing, and transfer it to an 8 inch piping bag and set aside. This will be the icing for the wings.
- Add 2 drops of black gel color to the bowl and mix well until fully combined.
- Transfer the black royal icing to another 8 inch piping bag, and cut a very small opening at the tip.
Decorate the macarons
- Outline and fill in the head of the bee with the black royal icing and add the eyes before the icing starts to dry. Add a few more lines on the body. Decorate all the shells with the black royal icing first and allow to dry for at least 20 minutes.
- Once the black lines on the body of the bee are dry, take the piping bag with the white royal icing, cut a very small opening at the tip, and add the wing decoration.
- Let the royal icing continue to dry for about an hour before filling the macarons.
Honey buttercream
- In a medium bowl, using the stand mixer, whisk the butter until smooth.
- Add half of the powdered sugar and whisk until fully combined.
- Add the remaining powdered sugar and whisk until combined.
- Add the honey and mix until creamy and smooth.
Assemble the macarons
- Fill an 8 inch pastry bag with the buttercream and cut a ½ inch opening at the tip of the bag.
- Pipe the buttercream in the center of the bottom shells.
- Top the filled macaron shells with the decorated shells and refrigerate for at least 24 hours so that the macarons can mature.
- When ready to eat, remove the macarons from the refrigerator and let them come to room temperature at least 20 to 30 minutes before eating.
Notes
All ovens are different so temperature and baking times should only be used as a guide
Mixing bowl should be clean and grease free
Weigh all ingredients in grams for accuracy
Use room temperature egg whites (to bring eggs to room temperature quickly, put them in a bowl filled with hot water for about 5 minutes)
Sift the almond flour and powdered sugar together because almond flour is moist and doesn't sift well alone
Mix the egg white powder and the granulated sugar before adding to the egg whites to fully dissolve the egg white powder
Whisk the meringue until you have stiff peaks
Let macarons dry before baking so they don't crack
*Calories reflected are for macaron shells only
Nutrition
Serving: 1 macaron | Calories: 130kcal