These peppermint macarons with festive red shells, rich peppermint buttercream, and a white chocolate candy cane garnish are the best Christmas treats. They are chewy on the inside and crisp on the outside, making them delicate and melt-in-your-mouth.
Prepare a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat (or if you have enough, prepare 2 baking sheets).
Using a fine mesh sieve over a large mixing bowl on a scale, sift almond flour until you reach 140 grams. Discard any large pieces of almond flour. Repeat with the confectioners’ sugar. Whisk together the almond flour and confectioners’ sugar until very well-combined. Set aside.
Add egg whites and white sugar to the bowl of your stand mixer, and whisk together. Using a whip attachment, beat the mixture, starting on low. Once soft peaks have been formed, increase the speed to medium. Once medium peaks are achieved, increase the speed to high. Beat on high until stiff peaks have formed. Add in the food colouring and beat until just combined.
Remove the bowl from the stand mixer, and place a sieve over top. Pour the dry mixture into the sieve, then sift the dry ingredients into the meringue.
Use a rubber spatula to fold the dry ingredients into the meringue. Be careful not to overmix and over-deflate the meringue. The mixture is ready to be piped when it ribbons off your spatula. The batter, when lifted with a spatula, should keep flowing off the spatula in ribbon shapes nonstop, without drizzling off too quickly. If it is coming off in large V-shaped chunks it needs to be folded more. Another test is the figure 8 test: If you can lift some batter and use it to draw several figure 8’s without the stream breaking, it is ready!
Add batter to a piping bag with a medium to large-sized round tip (I recommend a large ½-inch top). Pipe 1 - 1 ½-inch small circles of batter onto the prepared baking sheet. Make sure the piping bag is held straight up and perpendicular to the baking sheet.
After you’ve piped all the macarons, gently tap the baking sheet multiple times against the counter to remove any air bubbles from the macarons. If some air bubbles still remain, use a toothpick to gently poke them out.
Preheat oven to 300°F. While the oven is preheating, allow the macarons to sit and form a “skin”. This “skin” should form anywhere from 8 minutes to an hour. You know the macarons are ready to be baked when you can touch them lightly without having the batter stick to your finger. Keep checking them periodically to see if they have formed a skin.
Bake for 15-20 minutes. Check at 15 minutes, and if they are not ready then keep checking every minute. The macarons are ready when the tops are firm and do not move around their base at all. Allow the macarons to cool completely before attempting to remove them from the silicone mat.
Melt the white chocolate in a double broiler or microwave.
Dip the tops of half of the macarons into the melted white chocolate then sprinkle with crushed candy canes. Set aside in the fridge to harden.
Dip the tops of half of the macarons into the melted white chocolate then sprinkle with crushed candy canes. Set aside in the fridge to harden.
Place buttercream into a piping bag fitted with a large ½ inch round tip.
Pipe the buttercream onto the bottom half of the macaron shells (undecorated half).
Top each bottom half with the decorated macaron tops.
Place into the fridge overnight to mature and meld together.
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat (or if you have enough, prepare 2 baking sheets).
Using a fine mesh sieve over a large mixing bowl on a scale, sift almond flour until you reach 140 grams. Discard any large pieces of almond flour. Repeat with the confectioners’ sugar. Whisk together the almond flour and confectioners’ sugar until very well-combined. Set aside.
Add egg whites and white sugar to the bowl of your stand mixer, and whisk together. Using a whip attachment, beat the mixture, starting on low. Once soft peaks have been formed, increase the speed to medium. Once medium peaks are achieved, increase the speed to high. Beat on high until stiff peaks have formed. Add in the food colouring and beat until just combined.
Remove the bowl from the stand mixer, and place a sieve over top. Pour the dry mixture into the sieve, then sift the dry ingredients into the meringue.
Use a rubber spatula to fold the dry ingredients into the meringue. Be careful not to overmix and over-deflate the meringue. The mixture is ready to be piped when it ribbons off your spatula. The batter, when lifted with a spatula, should keep flowing off the spatula in ribbon shapes nonstop, without drizzling off too quickly. If it is coming off in large V-shaped chunks it needs to be folded more. Another test is the figure 8 test: If you can lift some batter and use it to draw several figure 8’s without the stream breaking, it is ready!
Add batter to a piping bag with a medium to large-sized round tip (I recommend a large ½-inch top). Pipe 1 - 1 ½-inch small circles of batter onto the prepared baking sheet. Make sure the piping bag is held straight up and perpendicular to the baking sheet.
After you’ve piped all the macarons, gently tap the baking sheet multiple times against the counter to remove any air bubbles from the macarons. If some air bubbles still remain, use a toothpick to gently poke them out.
Preheat oven to 300°F. While the oven is preheating, allow the macarons to sit and form a “skin”. This “skin” should form anywhere from 8 minutes to an hour. You know the macarons are ready to be baked when you can touch them lightly without having the batter stick to your finger. Keep checking them periodically to see if they have formed a skin.
Bake for 15-20 minutes. Check at 15 minutes, and if they are not ready then keep checking every minute. The macarons are ready when the tops are firm and do not move around their base at all. Allow the macarons to cool completely before attempting to remove them from the silicone mat.
Melt the white chocolate in a double broiler or microwave.
Dip the tops of half of the macarons into the melted white chocolate then sprinkle with crushed candy canes. Set aside in the fridge to harden.
Dip the tops of half of the macarons into the melted white chocolate then sprinkle with crushed candy canes. Set aside in the fridge to harden.
Place buttercream into a piping bag fitted with a large ½ inch round tip.
Pipe the buttercream onto the bottom half of the macaron shells (undecorated half).
Top each bottom half with the decorated macaron tops.
Place into the fridge overnight to mature and meld together.
Notes
Looking for more Christmas recipes? We’ve compiled them for you! Check this out: Best Christmas Desserts
