Cranberry White Chocolate Macarons are delightful cookies made with a cranberry filling and white chocolate Swiss meringue buttercream. It's the perfect holiday cookie!
When the holidays arrive, the baking season is in full swing. It always seems as though I'm baking cookies nonstop by the dozens. And among my favorite cookies to bake are French macarons. These delicate meringue-based cookie sandwiches can be flavored in almost any way you can imagine. They can be filled with swiss meringue buttercream, lemon cream, butterscotch ganache, or anything else you desire.
For these macarons, I've flavored them with holiday favorites. They begin with a vanilla cookie and are filled with your favorite cranberry sauce and a piping of homemade white chocolate Swiss meringue buttercream. It's a cookie that you will love to serve this holiday season.
Before you begin
Take out the following baking equipment.
Digital kitchen scale
1.5″ (3.5 cm) round cookie cutter
Parchment paper or macaron silicone baking mat
1 baking sheet pan
Sifter
1 medium bowl
Stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment
1 silicone spatula
2 pastry bags
1 round pastry tip
Scissors
Allow your egg whites to come to room temperature.
Read the recipe through from start to finish.
Understanding ingredients
Almond flour absorbs the most amount of moisture compared to any nut flour. Therefore it is the nut four of choice for macarons. The dryer the almond flour, the more it will absorb the moisture from the batter. For an added step, You can let your almond flour air dry for a couple of days before making the macarons. Doing this will ensure the flour is dry and will absorb a greater amount of moisture. For macaron recipes, select almond flour made from skinned almonds. Additionally, the finer the flour, the more water it can absorb. If you have coarse almond flour, you can put it in a food processor with the powdered sugar and blend for 10 seconds.
Egg whites are an essential ingredient for making macarons. The protein holds together the air bubbles created during the mixing process to maintain the cookies’ structure. An additional step, but not a necessary step, is aging the egg whites before making macarons. Doing this allows some of the water to evaporate, resulting in stronger egg whites that can hold more air. For the aging process, store the egg whites in a loosely covered bowl on the counter overnight in a dry, cool room.
For the Swiss meringue buttercream, use a good quality white chocolate that has a higher percentage of cocoa butter, at least 25%. Avoid using chocolate chips or candy melts.
The Macaronage Stage
Macaronage is the stage at which the batter is mixed until it's smooth, shiny, and flowing. When you first begin this process, the almond sugar mixture is added to the stiff meringue and folded in, which will look rough but, with patience, transforms into the perfect consistency.
During this process, you will want to deflate some of the batter's air bubbles by using the spatula to scrape the batter against the bowl in a circular motion. Turn the bowl as you do this to ensure you spread the batter around the entire bowl.
The amount you fold your batter is dependant on many factors, including temperature, humidity, and force by which you fold.
Ideal consistency for macaron batter
During the hand mixing process, always test the consistency of the batter often to prevent overmixing. Once the batter flows like honey or has a lave-like consistency, it’s ready to pipe the mixture. You should be able to slowly trace a figure 8 with the batter without it breaking. At this point, stop mixing your batter.
What is the ideal macaron texture?
A French macaron should ideally have a delicate light texture. The exteriors will be crisp and airy, and the interior will be slightly chewy.
Troubleshooting macarons
The macaron shells have hollow interiors. This issue results from over whipping the egg whites. It’s important to mix the meringue just until the white clings to the bowl and a small, stiff mass of meringue begins to clump in the middle of the mixer. Also, overbaking your macarons can cause hollow interiors. Check that your oven temperature is correct and take your macarons out of the oven sooner if necessary.
The macarons cracked in the oven. Not allowing enough time for the macaron shells to dry out before baking could cause them to crack in the oven. On more humid days, the drying process could take longer. If the macarons are piped too wide, this could also cause them to crack in the oven. To prevent this second issue, make sure to pipe macarons no larger than 3.5 cm (1.5″).
The macaron feet are too tall. Macaron feet that rise quickly and become tall can happen from an oven temperature that is too hot or overwhipping the meringue. It is better to bake macarons at a lower temperature for a longer period than a higher temperature for a shorter period. Also, careful not to overwhip the egg whites. Stop whipping them once you achieve stiff peaks.
Cranberry filling
You can use your favorite store-bought cranberry sauce or make your own for the center filling of these macarons.
To make your own, bring one 12 ounce bag of fresh cranberries, 220 g (1 cup sugar), and 60 g (1/4 cup) water to a boil over medium-high heat. Boil for 5 minutes until the cranberries are bursty and are a syrupy mixture. Allow the berries to cool and then place them into a food processor and blend until smooth. You will have leftover cranberry filling to enjoy.
Tips and takeaways
- Do not skip the step of sifting together the almond flour with the powdered sugar. Any large clumps will be visible on the surface of your macarons. It's best to sift the ingredients together twice. As an extra step, place the mixture into a food processor and pulse together a few times.
- Careful not to include any yolk into your egg whites (or any grease for that matter in your bowl). Any oil will prevent your egg whites from turning into a fluffy and stable meringue.
- If you want to color your macarons, add gel food coloring to your meringue when it's at the soft peak stage.
- Refrigerating macarons will actually enhance the texture of the cookies. Store in an airtight container. When ready to eat, remove desired macarons from the container and allow to sit at room temperature for 15 minutes.
- You will have some buttercream leftover. You can store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks or freeze for up to 3 months. Before using, bring to room temperature and re-whip with a mixer.
Love macarons? Try these other recipes...
Make sure to tag me @thesweetoccasion on Instagram and leave me a review below if you make these Cranberry White Chocolate Macarons. I’d love to see your creations and read your feedback. And if you would like to make this recipe later, be sure to pin this recipe using the button on any of these images. Let’s make every occasion a sweet occasion!
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Cranberry White Chocolate Macarons
- Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
- Yield: 34 macarons 1x
Description
Cranberry White Chocolate Macarons are delightful cookies made with a cranberry filling and white chocolate Swiss meringue buttercream. It's the perfect holiday cookie!
Ingredients
For the macaron shells
- 150 g almond flour
- 150 g powdered sugar
- 110 g egg whites, at room temperature
- 100 g sugar
- 4 g (1 teaspoon) pure vanilla extract
For the white chocolate Swiss meringue buttercream
- 60 g egg whites
- 115 g granulated sugar
- 226 g unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 4 g (1 teaspoon) pure vanilla extract
- 113 g (4 oz) white chocolate, melted and cooled
For the cranberry filling
- (1/3 cup) your favorite cranberry sauce
Instructions
For the macaron shells
- Adjust the oven rack to the center position and preheat the oven to 300°F/150°C. Using a 1.5″ (3.5 cm) round cookie cutter, draw circles for your macarons on a piece of parchment paper allowing for 1″ (2.5 cm) between each circle. Flip the parchment paper traced side down and line the baking sheet pan. Set aside.
- Sift together the almond flour and powdered sugar into a medium bowl.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whisk the egg whites on medium speed until foamy. Slowly add the sugar and increase the mixer speed to high. Add the vanilla when you have achieved soft peaks. Whip the meringue until stiff peaks form.
- Remove the bowl from the mixer and fold half of the almond mixture into the meringue until combined (do not stir). It’s ok to deflate some of the meringue at this stage but not all of it.
- Add the remaining almond mixture to the meringue and carefully fold together. Deflate some more air in the batter by using the spatula to scrape the batter against the bowl in a circular motion. Turn the bowl as you do this to ensure you spread the batter around the entire bowl.
- Test the mixture for consistency often. The batter should flow like honey when you lift the spatula from the bowl. You should be able to slowly trace a figure 8 with the batter without it breaking.
- Fit a pastry bag with a round tip. Holding the piping bag at a 90˚ angle to your baking sheet pan, pipe batter on each traced circle. Squeeze the piping bag to fill each circle and then stop squeezing and give a little flick of the wrist to help prevent the batter from forming a point.
- Carefully bang the baking sheet pan on your counter a few times to eliminate any air bubbles and any points on top. This will help your macarons spread out a bit.
- Allow the macarons to sit at room temperature for about 20-40 minutes, or until a skin forms on the outside (you should be able to gently touch the macarons without your finger sticking).
- Bake for 15-20 minutes. Each macaron should have a foot that should bake without browning. To check for doneness, test the feet as they should not budge when you push on them (they should be stable).
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the hot sheet pan for 10 minutes. Peel each macaron off the parchment paper and allow to cool to room temperature on a wire rack.
For the white chocolate Swiss meringue buttercream
- Put the sugar and egg whites in a mixer bowl and whisk together. Make a double boiler by placing the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water (ensuring the bowl does not touch the water). Whisk constantly until the sugar is completely dissolved and the mixture feels hot to the touch, about 4-5 minutes. You should not feel any sugar granules when rubbing the mixture between your fingertips.
- Transfer the bowl to the stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Whip the mixture on medium-high until the bottom of the bowl no longer feels warm and the meringue is thick and glossy.
- With the mixer on medium, add the softened butter half a stick at a time. Continue to whip until the mixture is smooth. Mix in vanilla and cooled melted white chocolate until completely incorporated.
- Fill a pastry bag with the prepared swiss meringue buttercream. Cut the tip off the pastry bag and pipe ring of buttercream onto half the macarons.
- Fill another pastry bag with the cranberry sauce and pipe into the center ring of buttercream. Top with the remaining macaron shells and gently press together. Enjoy!
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Category: Cookies
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