Peppermint Macarons

Peppermint Macarons with festive red shells, creamy peppermint buttercream, and a white chocolate candy cane topping are the ultimate Christmas cookies. They’re delicate and melt-in-your-mouth — crisp on the outside and chewy inside.

These Christmas macarons are perfect for holiday gatherings, as part of holiday cookie boxes, or wrapped up as stocking stuffers. These cookies look like they came from a fancy bakery and are seriously worthy of a magazine cover — but you will be pleasantly surprised that making candy cane macarons from scratch at home are actually a lot easier than you think!

Why You'll Love these Peppermint Macarons

• Delicate and chewy texture. Macarons are well-known (and loved!) for the delicate crispness of the outer shells that gives way to a chewy interior. Paired with the melt-in-your-mouth creaminess of the peppermint buttercream, it’s impossible not to love these peppermint macarons.
• Fancy but not difficult. Though the number of steps may look longer than you’re used to for cookies, these candy cane macarons are easier to make than you might think. They look elegant and complicated, but when broken down, the steps are quite simple!
• Festive peppermint flavor. Vibrant red food coloring, peppermint extract, and a white chocolate topping with real crushed candy canes makes these Christmas macarons the ultimate holiday cookie with classic peppermint flavor.
• Quicker than you think. It only takes one hour to create Christmas macarons. You’ll just need to follow nine easy steps to create the shiny, dainty shells, white chocolate candy cane topping, and silky buttercream before assembling these exquisite peppermint macarons.

Ingredient Notes

To make this delicious and festive Peppermint Macaroons, you will need the following ingredients (full measurements in recipe card below):

For the macarons:

• almond flour - you need to use super fine almond flour for macarons. You can actually make your own almond flour at home if you want by finely grinding blanched almonds until you have a grainy powder.
• confectioners' sugar - use your preferred powdered sugar or sugar substitute like powdered cane sugar, coconut sugar, date sugar, stevia, or Swerve.
• egg whites - you can bring these up to room temperature faster by placing the whole egg in a bowl of warm water for a few minutes before cracking and separating them.
• super fine white sugar
• red gel food coloring - if you don’t want red macarons, you can use whatever color you like. Just make sure to use powdered or gel food colouring as liquid coloring will change the consistency of your macarons.

For the macaron tops and peppermint buttercream:

• white chocolate
• crushed peppermint candy canes - carefully smash candy canes in a sealed, flattened Ziploc bag with a rolling pin.
• butter - make sure the butter is room temperature for the best result. Cut it into smaller pieces to soften more quickly.
• confectioners' sugar
• peppermint extract - create different variations of these macarons by switching using other extract flavors.

Baking Tools

To make macarons, you will need the following baking tools and equipment

• measuring cups and spoons or a kitchen scale
• mixing bowl
• piping bag and large ½ inch round tip
• silicone baking mat (or parchment paper)
• large half sheet baking pan
• wire cooling rack

How to Make the Best Peppermint Macarons

1. Prep. Prepare a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat (or if you have enough, prepare 2 baking sheets).
2. Combine dry ingredients. 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.

1. Beat egg whites and sugar. Add egg whites to the bowl of your stand mixer. Using a whip attachment, beat the mixture, starting on low. Once soft peaks have been formed (about 2 minutes), add the sugar and increase the speed to medium. Once medium peaks are achieved, increase the speed to high. Beat on high until stiff peaks have formed, about 2 minutes.

1. Color. Add in the food colouring and beat until just combined.

1. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients. 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.

1. Fold. 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 up and use it to draw several figure 8’s without the stream breaking, it is ready!

1. Pipe macaron shells. Add batter to a piping bag with a medium to large sized round tip (I recommend a large ½-inch top). Pipe 1 to 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.
2. Tap. 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 tooth pick to gently poke them out.
3. Rest. 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.

1. Bake. 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.

Decorating the Macaron Tops

1. Melt chocolate. Melt the white chocolate in a double broiler or in the microwave.

1. Dip macaron tops. Dip the tops of half of the macarons into the melted white chocolate.
2. Add candy canes. Sprinkle with crushed candy canes on top.
3. Chill. Set aside in the fridge to harden.

How to Make Peppermint Buttercream

Add butter to a stand mixer fitted with the whip attachment. Beat on high until butter is doubled in volume, and looks light and fluffy.

Turn the stand mixer to low and slowly add the confectioners sugar. Beat until completely incorporated, then add in the peppermint extract. Beat until well-combined and fully incorporated.

Assembling Macarons

1. Place buttercream into a piping bag fitted with a large ½ inch round tip.
2. Pipe the buttercream onto the bottom half of the macaron shells (undecorated half).
3. Top each bottom half with the decorated macaron tops.
4. Place into the fridge overnight to mature and meld together.

Peppermint Macaron Variations

There a few ways you can customize these Christmas macarons:

• Drizzle in chocolate. Instead of dipping the tops in white chocolate, add a drizzle of melted chocolate on top. Sprinkle some chopped candy canes on the drizzle and let it set. Then shake off any excess candy.
• Omit the chocolate. Omit the chocolate off the macaron tops completely. Instead assemble the macaron sandwich cookies and roll the edges in crushed candy canes.
• Make chocolate peppermint buttercream. Add ¼ cup natural cocoa powder to the buttercream. Add a teaspoon of water at a time if needed to thin out the icing to the right consistency.
• Simplify it. Or just keep it simple without decorating the macaron tops with chocolate and candy canes.

Storing and Freezing Instructions

How to Store

Store macarons in a sealed ziploc bag or airtight container at room temperature for up to a week.

To store in the fridge, Gently transfer macarons into an airtight container in a single layer, being careful not to crack the delicate shells. Refrigerate for up to 6 weeks.

How to Freeze

Allow macarons to sit at room temperature for 24 hours before freezing in a single layer on a parchment paper lined sheet pan until solid (about 1-2 hours). Once completely frozen, carefully stack the peppermint macarons in an airtight container and store in the freezer for up to 3 months. To serve, allow them to thaw overnight in the fridge.

You can also store unassembled macaron shells in this same way. Allow the shells to thaw in the fridge overnight before coating the tops, making the buttercream, and assembling.

More Cookie Recipes

• 50 Best Cookie Recipes
• French Macarons with Vanilla Buttercream
• Chocolate Macarons with Chocolate Buttercream
• Peppermint Snowball Cookies
• Almond Crescent Cookies
• Candy Cane Cookies

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