Gingerbread Macarons

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These gingerbread macarons are so fun and festive! They're spiced macaron shells with a gingerbread buttercream filling, loaded with flavor!

Prep Time40

Cook Time14

Drying Time1

Total Time1 54

Course: Christmas, Dessert, Holidays

Cuisine: French

Servings: Cookie Sandwiches

Calories: 225kcal

Author: Britney

Equipment

Stand Mixer
Baking Sheet
Silicone Macaron Baking Sheet
Piping Bags

Ingredients

Gingerbread Macarons

140 grams Egg Whites
120 grams Sugar
140 grams Almond Flour
240 gramas Powdered Sugar
1 tsp Ground Ginger
½ tsp Ground Cinnamon
¼ tsp Allspice
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
½ tsp Cream of Tartar

Gingerbread Buttercream Filling

¾ cup Butter
3 ½ cups Powdered Sugar
2 tbsps Honey
2 tsp Ground Ginger
1 tsp Cinnamon
½ tsp Allspice
¼ tsp Ground Cloves
2 tbsps Heavy Cream

Instructions

Begin by adding almond flour and powdered sugar to a food processor and blending for about 20-30 seconds. Then sift the mixture into a large bowl. Sift at least two times to remove any large granules. Then add ginger, cinnamon, and allspice. Mix together.
Add egg whites to a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and begin beating the egg white on low speed, gradually increasing to medium speed. As the egg whites begin to become foamy, add the cream of tartar and mix until fully incorporated.
Slowly, begin adding the granulated sugar and begin to increase the speed to medium-high. Once all sugar is added, beat until stiff peaks form. Once stiff peaks have been reached, add vanilla extract (if you'd like to add brown gel food coloring, add now - this is optional, I didn't add any to mine but it does add a nice gingerbread man color).
Add half of the almond flour mixture and begin to fold into the meringue to form the macaron batter. I recommend using a rubber spatula for best results. Once the almond flour is fully incorporated, add the remainder of the dry ingredients and continue folding together.
Fold together until the batter has a lava-like consistency. When lifting your spatula, you should be able pull the spatula out of the batter and form long ribbons of batter that can draw a "figure 8" without breaking. This is how you know it's time to stop mixing and you're ready to move to the next step.
Transfer batter to a large piping bag or a ziploc bag with a large round piping tip (I used 1a Piping Tip by Wilton). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or a macaron silicone mat.
Pipe each shell until it's about the size of a quarter and then tap the baking sheet to ensure that all of the air bubbles escape the macaron shells and any larger particles fall to the bottom. If any air bubbles come to the surface, pop them gently with a toothpick.
Let the piped macarons "dry" on a flat surface in the prepared baking sheets for about one hour, until a skin forms. You will know that the skin is formed when if you touch the cookies gently, none of the batter sticks to your fingers.
Bake the macarons at 300 degrees F for 14-15 minutes. You will know that they are done when you can touch them and they do not move. Allow them to cool completely on the baking sheet (at least 40 minutes undisturbed).
While the macarons are resting, make the gingerbread buttercream filling. Add room temperature to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat on medium speed. Then add powdered sugar, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, clove, nutmeg, vanilla extract, and a pinch of salt. Mix together and add heavy cream one tablespoon at a time.
Match macarons of a similar size together then use a spoon or piping bag to add the buttercream filling to the bottom macaron. Place a second macaron on top to make the cookie sandwich.
Optional: if decorating the top of the macarons, I drizzled a little melted chocolate and garnished with a few festive christmas sprinkles.

Notes

You'll want to use a kitchen scale for this recipe! It's imperative that the ingredient measurements are precise.
Check your oven temperature to make sure it's accurate. Unfortunately, not all home ovens have accurate temperature readings. You can do so by using an oven thermometer. If your oven temperature is too hot, the macarons will be burn - too cool and they won't rise properly. This is important for not only this recipe, but it can affect all others as well. It's worth a test!
If you don't have a pastry bag, you can use a ziploc bag instead.

Nutrition