Nut Free Macarons

Shared by our good friend Kristin! Follow her on IG @unamourpatisserie and everything macaron related at www.unamourpatisserie.com

100 grams white granulated sugar
100 grams egg whites
90 grams Namaste Perfect Flour Blend or Namaste Organic Perfect Flour Blend
90 grams powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
gel food coloring

*One of the best tips I can give is to weigh all ingredients on a digital scale for precision - macarons are not forgiving.

PREP:

  • Measure/weigh out all ingredients prior to start including the prep of your piping bag (I use a #12 piping tip for round macarons) and line your baking tray with either a silicone baking mat or parchment paper. *unlike regular macarons there is no need to sift powdered sugar and Namaste Perfect Flour Blend.
  • Preheat oven to 290 degrees. The temperature will vary from oven to oven, typically whatever temperature you use to bake your regular macarons will also work for your Nut Free Macarons.

MERINGUE:

  • Using a whisk attachment, start mixing the egg whites and cream of tartar on low speed for about a minute then increase speed to medium until your egg whites become frothy and white.
  • At this point add in the vanilla and gradually add in your granulated sugar.
  • Once all sugar has been incorporated increase the mixing speed to medium-high until you reach stiff peaks.
  • Stop mixing occasionally to check peaks.
  • When stiff peaks have been achieved your meringue should be glossy and fluffy white, the peaks should stand straight up, and you should be able to feel tension when you try to stir the whisk in the meringue.
  • Be very careful not to over whip your meringue. Overwhipped meringue can cause many issues later on in the bake.

MACARONAGE:

  • This is where your meringue turns into macaron batter. Add half (just eyeball) your powdered sugar and Namaste Perfect Flour Blend to your meringue and fold in for about 5 turns.
  • Add in the rest of the powdered sugar and Namaste Perfect Flour Blend and keep folding until the batter falls off your spatula in ribbons, or as some say “it flows off the spatula like lava”.
  • If you are adding color to your macarons you will want to add any GEL FOOD COLORING to your batter once you have incorporated all your dry ingredients into the meringue and prior to “lava”.
  • Macaronage is typically the point where you make or break your macarons.
  • Making Nut Free Macarons doesn’t deviated too far from the traditional Macaron bake outside of ingredients, but you will notice the macaronage process happens a little quicker and your batter is a little stickier than traditional macarons, and that’s ok!

PIPE:

  • When the macaron batter has reached the correct consistency and falls off the spatula without breaking or you can make a figure 8 into the batter without breaking the flow then you are ready to transfer the batter to the piping bag and you can begin to pipe your macarons.
  • To get a nice perfect round macaron I would suggest downloading a round macaron template or purchase a silicon mat with the template already incorporated into the mat.
  • Holding the coupler or the tip of the piping bag with one hand and the other hand holding the end of the piping bag, apply a small amount of pressure to help the flow of batter.
  • Pipe your batter directly over each circle. Do not pipe at an angle or you risk lopsided macarons. The piping bag should remain straight above where you intend to pipe.
  • To cut the flow of batter in between each macaron, stop applying pressure to the piping bag and do a quick circular motion on top to cut the flow, then move to the next circle.
  • Once all batter has been piped, tap your tray on a flat counter 4-5 times to bring any air bubbles to the surface, turn your tray 180 degrees and tap an additional 4-5 times.
  • Use a toothpick or scribe to pop any air bubbles and to smooth out any imperfections. You want your macaron batter to have a smooth top.

REST:

  • Resting macarons is an important step in the macaron baking process.
  • Resting allows for a skin to form on the outside of the macarons. Think of the skin as a protective shell that allows the macaron to bake upwards to create those perfect macaron feet instead of baking outwards giving ruffled feet.
  • You should be able to touch the top of the shell once the skin has formed without any batter coming off on your finger, at which point they are ready.
  • If you using a lot of gel food coloring in your macarons for a deeper color the resting time may be longer than usual (remember adding gel is creating a more liquified batter needing longer drying time)

BAKE:

  • Prior to baking remove any templates from under your parchment paper or silicon mat.
  • To create even air flow while baking for gorgeous macaron feet, I suggest transferring your silicon mat to the back side of your baking tray. (flip a baking tray over and slide the mat onto the back side) This way there are no rims around your mat to restrict airflow.
  • Another good tip for achieving macaron feet is to start your bake on two trays. Slide another baking tray under the current baking tray with the piped macarons. This will help in the initial 4 minutes of baking to avoid any cracked shells.
  • Bake for 4 minutes (using a timer) and then remove the bottom tray and rotate the tray with macarons by one turn. (I HIGHLY suggest getting a nice pair of baking gloves to use on the first turn when removing that 2nd tray to avoid any burns, it takes a bit of finesse to remove the bottom tray without removing the top tray and not hitting your arm on the oven or oven door - I learned this the hard way)
  • All bakers are not alike and each have their own methods. I rotate my tray 4 times during baking to ensure an even bake and to avoid any lopsided macarons. My baking tray will get a full 360 degree turn in the oven during the 20 minute bake. My turns happen at 4 minutes (remove secondary tray as above), 6 minutes, 5 minutes, and last turn 5 minutes.
  • A few additional things to consider… each baker is different, and each oven is different. Macarons are one of the most finicky confections to try and bake. You may need multiple attempts to get nice shells. You may need to adjust your oven temperature depending on color of macaron (I lower by 5 degrees on white macarons). What works for one baker may not work for another. If you are interested in baking macarons long term keep a journal of your first bakes and make little tweaks each time to try and course correct.
  • You will know the macarons are done baking when you touch them and they don’t jiggle on the mat or are soft on the top, if they feel jiggly or soft, keep baking until they don’t.

COOL:

  • Remove the tray from the oven and let cool, bake 2nd tray the same as above.
  • Let cool for minimum of 30 minutes before removing from mat or parchment.
  • The cooling process helps them create a shiny, smooth and sturdy back.
  • If your macarons stick to the back that means they were underbaked and you should consider increasing your temperature next time by 5 degrees or adjusting your bake time by an extra minute.
  • Your macarons should have a smooth top, smooth bottom and nice feet.
  • Macarons should be completely cooled prior to filling.

I am happy to assist with any troubleshooting questions just send me a direct message on Instagram @unamourpatisserie or email: unamourpatisserie@gmail.com

Namaste Foods products used in this recipe