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Sweet, tangy, and bright, you’ll love how delicious these Lemon Macarons are. They’re soft and chewy on the inside, and perfectly crisp on the outside! A zesty and vibrant twist on the classic French macaron, you’ll love this lemon macaron recipe! They’re so zesty and full of bright citrus flavor.
Don’t be intimidated with making homemade macarons. This post has super easy step by step instructions to walk you through how to make these delicious lemon macarons at home. Even if you’ve never made a macaron before, you’ll be able to make these delicious treats.
Want more delicious lemon flavored desserts? Try my Lemon French Madeleines Cakes or my Lemon Bars Recipe.
Why You’ll Love These Chocolate Macarons
- They’re so tasty. You’ll love the citrus flavor of these lemon macarons. They’re bright, lemony, tangy, and super tasty. One of the best macaron recipes to date!
- It’s budget friendly. No need to spend a ton of money on store-bought macarons when you can make them at home!
- They’re freezer friendly. You can freeze the shells for later! Make a batch ahead of time if you have a party or special occasion.
What You’ll Need to Make the Homemade Macarons
For the French macaron shells
- Powdered sugar
- Almond flour
- Egg whites
- Sugar
- Yellow food coloring
Lemon Filling for Macarons
- Sugar
- Lemon juice — fresh squeezed
- Egg
- Egg yolk
- Butter — unsalted
- Heavy whipping cream
How to Make Homemade Lemon Macarons
How to Make Shells
- Prepare the baking sheet: Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.
- Combine the dry ingredients: Use a food processor to pulse the powdered sugar, almond flour until fully combined and rid of lumps. Sift the combined ingredients into a large bowl.
- Make the meringue: Beat the egg whites on low speed until they start to get foamy. Slowly add the granulated sugar and increase the speed. Beat the mixture until stiff peaks form. Add in the food coloring and whisk to combine.
- Combine the wet and dry ingredients: Add the meringue into the dry ingredients and use a silicone spatula to gently fold the two together.
- Pipe the shells: Transfer the mixture to a piping bag fitted with a piping tip. Pipe about 1-inch disks onto the prepared baking sheet.
- Remove any air bubbles: Firmly tap the baking sheet 5 or 6 times on the counter to bring any air bubbles to the surface and then use a toothpick to pop any remaining bubbles.
- Let the shells rest before baking: Let the macarons rest for at least 1 hour. Preheat your oven to 325°. Place the baking sheet on the center rack of the oven and bake for 15 minutes, rotate the pan every 5 minutes to ensure even baking and coloring.
- Let cool: Remove the macarons from the oven and allow to cool completely on the baking sheet. Gently peel each cooled macaron off of the mat and match up with a similarly sized cookie.
How to Make Lemon Filling for Macarons
- Combine the batter: In a medium heat-proof bowl whisk together the sugar, lemon juice, egg, and egg yolk.
- Make the lemon curd: Place the bowl over a small saucepan of simmering water and add the cubed butter. Let the mixture cook over low heat for about 15 minutes, whisking occasionally. The lemon curd is ready when it hits 180 degrees (F) or is a very thick consistency.
- Chill the lemon curd: Remove the curd from the heat and cover the surface of the curd with plastic wrap. Place the curd in the fridge until fully cooled.
- Whip the cream: In a medium bowl use a hand mixer to whip the heavy cream to stiff peaks. Be sure not to over whip.
- Pipe the macarons: When the curd is cooled gently fold the curd into the whipped cream until fully combined. Transfer the whipped lemon curd to a piping bag and pipe your desired amount onto the inside of a macaron shell. Sandwich another macaron shell on top.
Why Don’t My Macarons Have Feet?
One common issue with making macarons is that sometimes they don’t have feet. But not to worry, the macaron shells taste just as tasty even without feet. What causes the feet-less macaron shells is if you over-mix your batter, your lemon macarons may not rise properly. When you overmix, the macarons shell will spread too and not form any feet.
Another important step is letting the shells sit before baking. You should be able to gently run your finger over the surface of the macarons without any getting on your finger by the time they’re ready to be baked. This step makes it so the air in the batter has to escape from the bottom edge of the shells and form feet while in the oven. While I suggest resting for an hour, the time it takes for the shells to “dry” will vary depending on the temperature of your kitchen.
FAQs
I suggest you use freshly squeezed lemon juice. Bottled lemon juice does not taste as fresh and sometimes has a bitter aftertaste to it.
You can get mats with circles printed on them to pipe the shells perfectly circular. You can also place a printed template under your parchment paper to follow, just be sure to remove the paper before baking. Also, when you are piping the shells, hold the piping bag straight down and not angled.
Your lemon macarons might crack if you under-mix your batter. When you under-mix your batter it causes too much air in your batter. The extra air ends up bursting during the baking process, cracking the shells.
You can! You can put sprinkles on top of them before resting the shells before baking if you’d like. Nonpareils sprinkles are best for macarons. You can also add some lemon zest on top of the shells before you rest them for some extra zesty flavor!
Place leftover lemon macarons in an airtight container before storing in the fridge. Enjoy the macarons within the week. They’ll soften over time so enjoy them as soon as possible!
If freezing macarons, let them “mature” in the fridge for 24-48 hours and then transfer them to a freezer airtight container and freeze for up to a month. When ready to use the shells, thaw macarons a few hours in advance before piping with the filling.
Macarons are delicate and you don’t want any lumps in your batter. Sifting the dry ingredients is a crucial step.
More Desserts To Try
- Strawberry Jam Linzer Cookies
- Cheesecake Brownie Fudge Bars
- Chocolate Chip Cheesecake
- Coconut Cheesecake Bars
- Strawberry Macarons
- Red Velvet Macaron
I hope you enjoy all the recipes I share with you, including this delicious Lemon Macarons recipe. I hope you try it, enjoy it, rate it and share it with your friends and family!
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Lemon Macarons
Ingredients
For Shells:
- 1 ⅔ cup powdered sugar
- 1 cup almond flour
- 3 large egg whites
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 drop yellow food coloring
For Filling:
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar, plus 1 tablespoon
- ¼ cup lemon juice, fresh squeezed
- 1 large egg
- 1 large egg yolk
- 6 tbsps. unsalted butter, cubed
- ¼ cup heavy whipping cream, cold
Instructions
For Shells:
- Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.
- Use a food processor to pulse the powdered sugar, almond flour until fully combined and rid of lumps. Sift the combined ingredients into a large bowl. If you do not have a food processor you can just sift the ingredients together. Set aside
- In a medium bowl, beat the egg whites on low speed until they start to get foamy. Slowly add the granulated sugar and increase the speed. Beat the mixture until stiff peaks form.
- Add the meringue into the dry ingredients and use a silicone spatula to gently fold the two together. The batter should be fully combined and not streaky. The batter is ready when it falls off of the spatula in a thick ribbon. It should not be too runny.
- Transfer the mixture to a piping bag fitted with a piping tip. Pipe about 1-inch disks onto the prepared baking sheet.
- Firmly tap the baking sheet 5 or 6 times on the counter to bring any air bubbles to the surface. Use a toothpick to pop any remaining bubbles.
- Let the macarons rest for at least 1 hour. You should be able to gently run your finger over the surface of the macarons without any getting on your finger.
- Preheat your oven to 325°. Place the baking sheet on the center rack of the oven and bake for 15 minutes, rotate the pan every 5 minutes to ensure even baking and coloring.
- Remove the macarons from the oven and allow to cool completely on the baking sheet.
- Gently peel each cooled macaron off of the mat and match up with a similarly sized cookie.
For Filling:
- In a medium heat-proof bowl whisk together the sugar, lemon juice, egg, and egg yolk.
- Place the bowl over a small saucepan of simmering water and add the cubed butter.
- Let the mixture cook over low heat for about 15 minutes, whisking occasionally.
- The lemon curd is ready when it hits 180 degrees (F) or is a very thick consistency.
- Remove the curd from the heat and cover the surface of the curd with plastic wrap. Place the curd in the fridge until fully cooled.
- In a medium bowl use a hand mixer to whip the heavy cream to stiff peaks. Be sure not to overwhip.
- When the curd is cooled gently fold the curd into the whipped cream until fully combined.
- Transfer the whipped lemon curd to a piping bag and pipe your desired amount onto the inside of a macaron shell. Sandwich another macaron shell on top.
Notes
- You can get mats with circles printed on them to pipe the shells evenly. You can also place a template under your parchment paper to follow, just be sure to remove the template before baking.
- Be sure to pipe the shells straight down and not angled.
- Be sure not to over mix the batter for the shells.
- Always sift your dry ingredients.
- It could take more than an hour for your shells to form a skin as it depends on the temperature of your kitchen.
