Photo by Kairi Asselstine
Article by Kairi Asselstine
With the holiday season finally here, you might be wondering what recipes you can make for yourself, family, or friends. These macarons are the best way to go! With a gingerbread macaron, you just can’t go wrong. As macarons are traditionally gluten free, a gingerbread flavored macaron cookie paired with a similarly flavored buttercream is a treat that everyone can enjoy!
There are optional steps included in this recipe, such as the use of cocoa powder, which won’t affect the recipe if not used in any major ways. Macarons are a tough treat to make, but, when done properly, you’ll be so proud of the delicious treats you’ve spent your time making.
To start, make sure you measure out all your ingredients. You’ll need:
- ¾ cups almond flour
- ¾ cups powdered sugar for the macaron shells and another 1 ⅓ cups for the buttercream filling
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 3-5 large egg whites (you don’t need the yolks)
- ½ tsp ginger powder
- ½ tsp nutmeg
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- ¼ allspice
- 1 ½ tsp molasses
- 4 tsp unsalted butter
- 1-2 tsp milk
- food coloring
- a little less than 1 teaspoon of egg white powder/meringue powder along with equal amounts of cocoa powder if you want (meringue powder and cocoa powder are optional, I didn’t use them.
Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and prepare a large piping bag with a Wilton 12 tip. Preheat your oven to 310°F for about an hour. Once all the ingredients have been measured out, you’ll want to start by sifting 105 grams, ¾ cups, of the powdered sugar and the same amount of almond flour then sifting in ¼ tsp of ginger powder, nutmeg, allspice, and cinnamon, then setting it aside. While you’re sifting those ingredients, you can put a pot of water on the stove and boil it until it is barely simmering. If you are using egg powder, then you need to follow these next few steps, but if not, then you can skip boiling the pot of water and move on to the next steps.
If you are using egg white powder, add and whisk the egg white powder and granulated sugar together in a bowl so they don’t clump, making sure that bowl is heat-resistant or microwave safe since you’ll be putting the bowl on top of the simmering pot. Make sure the bowl is not touching the water since you don’t want to cook the egg whites. Once the bowl is on top, add the egg whites and whisk them together until it becomes a sugar syrup. The best way to check if the sugar is completely dissolved is to put a little between your fingers and check to see if there are any sugar granules left. You also want to be careful about overcooking the syrup since you aren’t looking for a specific temperature but just for the sugar to be completely dissolved.
Transfer the syrup to the bowl of a stand mixer. Using a whisk attachment, whisk on low (or the setting 2 on a Kitchenaid) for about 30 seconds, gradually increasing the speed to medium (or around 4-5 of the Kitchenaid). Whisk on medium for about 2 minutes or until the mixture starts turning white and glossy, then raise the speed to medium-high (around 7 on a Kitchenaid) until stiff peaks are formed.
If you don’t use the egg white powder, do not boil water to create a double boiler. Instead, you should whip the egg whites and granulated sugar together into a meringue with stiff peaks. The peaks should be able to stand straight up when the whisk is taken out of it, preferably with a slight curl on the end. You don’t want to overwhip the meringue because it will cause issues like hollow macarons.
Add the sifted dry ingredients into the meringue and gently fold them together, folding in the general shape of a “J” or a “C.” You can add the food coloring at this point if you’re using it. I used an orange gel coloring, but you can use yellow and brown to make more of a gingerbread color. Once the ingredients are incorporated, you should get all the air out of the batter by pressing it against the side of the bowl. It’s time to stop folding the batter when it’s glossy and has a thick, flowy consistency. You should test this by picking up the batter with the spatula and drawing a figure 8 several times; if the figure 8’s don’t break apart, then the batter should be ready, but if it’s falling apart, you should fold it a bit more. Be careful not to overmix the batter. It’s always better to undermix and keep trying than overmix and have to start all over.
Transfer the batter into the piping bag with the Wilton 12 tip. Pipe the batter for about 3-5 seconds onto the parchment paper before pulling away and slightly twisting to create small, circular shapes. Once you’ve made as many circles as you can on the pan without them touching, lightly tap the pan on a table or your hand and use a toothpick to pop any air bubbles that come up to the surface.
If you’re following the resting method, which is the recommended step of letting the shells rest before baking, leave them out on the baking sheet for about 20-40 minutes. You’ll know if they’re done based on whether or not they’re dry when you gently tap the surface. If you don’t want to let them rest, you can just put them in the oven as soon as you’re done piping them out, though they may not come out properly if they haven’t rested and may have the wrong texture or deflate. The deflation looks like the picture with this article, since I did not do the resting method. Learn from my mistake!
You should only bake one tray at a time and bake each tray for about 15-20 minutes. The macaron will become darker in color when baked, and it should not be jiggly when you move it. If it is still jiggly, bake for another 5 or so minutes. Once they’re done baking, let them cool for about 20 minutes while you make the buttercream, and adjust the cooling time if needed.
To make the buttercream, add the butter to the bowl of an electric mixer and cream the butter for about a minute and then turn the mixer off and add the remaining powdered sugar. On a low speed, combine the butter and powdered sugar. Once combined, turn the mixer to medium speed and mix for another 2 minutes or until fluffy. Once fluffy, add your vanilla extract, molasses, ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
Make sure your buttercream isn’t too stiff or too runny. If it’s too runny, add more powdered sugar until it becomes a firm but creamy and smooth consistency. If it’s too stiff, add the milk and mix until it reaches a stiff but smooth consistency.
Place the buttercream into a piping bag then carefully pipe it onto half of the macaron shells that should have cooled by now. Place the other half of the shells without frosting on top of the ones that do. You can drizzle white chocolate on top of the macarons once they’re assembled and sprinkle holiday sprinkles to add festive decorations, but that step is entirely optional. An alternative could be dipping them halfway into melted chocolate or using colorful sugar sprinkles.
Some steps, like the spices, are also a point of taste. It might be too much or not enough ginger, nutmeg, or cinnamon for your tastes, and you can add more or less depending on personal preference. With that, hopefully you enjoy this delicious gingerbread macaron recipe! Make sure to follow the instructions carefully if you plan on making these, as macarons can be very finicky and difficult to get right. Hopefully you enjoy this recipe and have a happy holiday season!
