Carton Egg Whites Macarons
Hello friends! Today we will make Carton Egg Whites Macarons, they are made with 100% carton egg whites. These macarons have spring colors and are filled with a vanilla Russian Buttercream.
Also make sure to watch the video on this page or on YouTube, showing you exactly how to make this recipe for Carton Egg Whites Macarons.
One of the questions I get a lot is: can I make macarons with carton egg whites?
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So I decided to begin experimenting.
This was my first experiment with carton egg whites macarons, I’ve done a couple more ever since, and will post about them later.
For this first time I decided to use 100% carton egg whites, without any cream of tartar, powdered egg whites, or additional fresh eggs.
On my next experiments I will show you the method with the addition of those elements: cream of tartar, egg white powder, and a combination of fresh eggs with carton egg whites.
But for today, let’s talk about this method of 100% Carton Egg Whites Macarons.
Tips on how to make Carton Egg Whites Macarons
I used 100% pasteurized carton egg whites, and I used a store brand from my local store.
- You will notice the egg whites from the carton are much more liquidy than fresh egg whites.
- Do everything as you would with the regular macaron recipe with the Swiss method.
- The only difference will be in the whipping time. It took me longer to reach stiff peaks, but I suspect I over whipped slightly because it’s a bit harder to spot when the meringue is done whipping if you are used to fresh egg whites meringue.
- Overall the meringue will seem softer. The peaks will be longer than they would be if made with fresh egg whites.
- Another thing to note is that macaronage time might be faster, since the meringue is naturally softer.
It takes a bit of practice and a learning curve, as with all macaron making, to find the sweet spot with the meringue and the macaronage.
Adding cream of tartar or egg white powder, or even doing a combination of carton egg whites and fresh egg whites will help produce a more stable and stronger meringue.
Benefits of using carton egg whites to make macarons
- Less yolk waste. Let’s face it, I make a lot of macarons, and I can’t use up all the yolks, as much as I try. So sometimes they end up being tossed. I strive to waste less in general, which is why the carton egg whites method is so compelling to me.
- Carton egg whites are practical and convenient, you don’t have to spend time cracking eggs and separating the yolks from the whites.
And the only “downside” if you can even call it that, is the fact that you’ll have to experiment and play around with the method a bit to find out what works best, and what the meringue should look like and the batter once the macaronage is done.
If you want to learn everything about macarons check out Macaron School, you can find my favorite macaron tools, troubleshooting guides, beginner’s tips, the science behind the meringue, and much more there!
And here are a few macaron recipes you may also enjoy:
- Passionfruit Macarons
- Strawberry Macarons
- Dragonfruit Macarons
- Mint Macarons
- Watermelon Macarons
- Honey Macarons
- Vanilla Bean Macarons
- Strawberry Rhubarb Macarons
- Carrot Cake Macarons
- Coconut Macarons
And yes, all of these recipes can be made with carton egg whites, just have in mind the tips above!
Thank you so much for reading!
Carton Egg Whites Macarons
These macarons are made with carton egg whites, filled with a Russian Buttercream! I made this as my first experiment with carton egg whites!
Ingredients
Macaron Shells
- 100 grams carton egg whites (or fresh)
- 100 grams granulated sugar
- 105 grams almond flour
- 105 grams powdered sugar
- Food coloring if using I used pink, purple, and peach
Russian Buttercream
- 10 tbsp unsalted butter 141 grams
- 2/3 cup sweetened condensed milk 198 grams
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste or extract
Instructions
Macaron Shells
- Before you start, get all of the ingredients ready. Prepare a large piping bag, fitted with a large round tip, I use a 1/2” diameter tip. Set aside.
- Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mat.
- Measure out all of the ingredients.
- Sift the powdered sugar and almond flour together. Set it aside.
- Place a bowl over a pan with barely simmering water, add the sugar and egg whites to the bowl. Whisk the mixture until frothy and the sugar is completely melted. It will take a couple of minutes. You can test by touching the mixture between your fingers, and if you feel any sugar granules just keep whisking the mixture over the water bath.
- Make sure the bottom of the bowl isn’t touching the simmering water because you don’t want the whites to cook.
- Also, don’t overheat the sugar syrup, this may cause issues down the line, such as wrinkly macarons.
- Transfer the syrup to the bowl of a stand mixer.
- With the whisk attachment, start whisking mixture on low for about 30 seconds, then gradually start increasing speed to medium. Whisk on medium for one to two minutes, until the mixture is white and starting to become fluffy. Raise the speed to medium-high and whisk for a few minutes until stiff peaks are formed. Best way to check this is to keep your eye on the whites. Once they get glossy and you start seeing streaks formed by the whisk, it might be time to stop.
- Whisk until stiff peaks have formed. When you pull your whip up, the peak should be stiff and shooting straight up, with possibly a slight bend at the top, but not bending down to the side.
- With the carton egg whites might take a bit longer than regular egg whites to achieve the stiff peaks. And even when stiff peaks form, they might look a bit softer than they would if made with fresh whites.
- Pour the sifted powdered sugar and almond flour into the stiff meringue.
- I made the batter into 3 different colors to make it fun. You can just make one color if you want to, but here are the instructions to make the multicolor shells from the same batch.
- Start folding gently forming a letter J with a spatula.
- As soon as you see no more dry ingredients in the meringue, stop stirring. Divide the batter between three different bowls (or however many bowls as you’d like).
- Work with one bowl at a time, leaving the other ones covered meanwhile.
- To the first batter I added a touch of pink food coloring. Fold the batter until the perfect consistency is achieved.
- How to know when to stop folding the batter: It’s time to stop folding when the batter is glossy and has a thick and flowing consistency. There are several ways to test this.
- First, pick up some batter with the spatula and try to draw a figure 8 with the batter that is dripping off the spatula. If you can form several 8 figures without the batter breaking up, that’s one indication that it might be ready.
- There’s another test you can do. I call it the Teaspoon test.
- Grab a teaspoon of batter and spoon onto the parchment paper or silicon mat. Wait a minute to see how it behaves.
- If the batter stays stiff, forming a point and doesn’t spread out, fold a little bit more, about 3 folds. Test again.
- Once the batter spreads out a bit and starts to look glossy and smooth on top, on the parchment paper or silicone mat, it’s ready.
- You don’t want your batter to be too runny either. So be careful not to over mix. It’s always best to under mix and test several times until the proper consistency has been achieved.
- When you hold the spatula with batter on top of the bowl and the batter falls off the spatula slowly but effortlessly the batter is ready. The batter will keep flowing off the spatula non-stop, but not too quickly.
- Transfer the batter to the piping bag. Seal the top with a bag tie so the batter doesn’t dry out.
- I did notice that the macarons made with the carton egg whites require way less macaronage time, so this is something to have in mind because you don’t want the batter to be over mixed.
- Now, it’s time to work with the second batter. To this batter I added a bit of purple food coloring, then fold until the perfect consistency is achieved, like I’ve explained above.
- Transfer the batter to another piping bag fitted with a round tip. Secure the top with a bag tie. Set aside.
- Now time to work with the final batter, I added a little bit of peach food coloring, but the amount was so small that the color was very faint. And I didn’t want to add anymore food coloring because the batter was already done being folded. If I continued to add food coloring and fold to incorporate it, that would make the batter over mixed.
- Transfer the batter to a piping bag fitted with a round tip and secure the top with a bag tie.
- Place the piping bag directly 90 degrees over the center of each macaron template. Apply gentle pressure and carefully pipe for about 3 to 5 seconds, and then quickly pull the bag up twisting slightly.
- Once you’ve piped as many circles as you could, bang the trays against the counter a few times each.
- Use a toothpick to pop any air bubbles in the surface of the shells.
- Let the trays sit for a while so the shells will dry out a little bit. I usually leave about 20-40 minutes, depending on how humid the day is. You’ll know they’re ready when you gently touch the surface of a macaron and it seems dry.
- Pre-heat the oven to 300ºF.
- Bake one tray at a time.
- Bake for 5 minutes, rotate tray.
- I bake each tray for about 15 to 20 minutes.
- When baked, the macarons will have a deeper color and formed feet. If you try to move a macaron, it shouldn’t feel jiggly. If the macaron is still jiggly, keep baking.
- Remove from the oven and bake the other tray.
- Let the macarons cool down before proceeding with the filling.
- You can also place a piece of foil or parchment paper halfway through baking to prevent the macarons from browning too much for the pastel colors.
Russian Buttercream
- Make sure the butter is at the appropriate consistency, which should be at room temperature. The butter should have a nice shape, not be too soft, but not cold either. It’s ideal if the butter is from 68 to 72ºF.
- Beat the butter with an electric mixer, at medium-high speed, for 5 minutes.
- Add the sweetened condensed milk in. Beat with the mixer on medium speed until the frosting becomes creamy and thick.
- It might take a while for the buttercream to come together and become thick, specially if the butter was on the soft side, or if the kitchen is too warm.
- In that case, you can place the bowl in the fridge for 5 to 10 minutes and then try to whip the buttercream again to see if it comes together.
- At the end, add vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract and mix to combine.
To assemble
- Place the Russian Buttercream in a piping bag and pipe a bit of frosting on each bottom shell. Then top with another shell.
- Let the macarons mature overnight before serving.
Storage
- These macarons can be stored in the fridge for up to 5 days, and in the freezer for up to 1 month.
Notes
Carton Egg Whites: The meringue might have to be whipped longer than it would with regular fresh whites. Also, have in mind that the meringue will seem to be a bit softer than usual, that’s the nature of the carton egg white meringue, you may have to do a few trials before learning the perfect meringue consistency. And it may also differ from one brand to another. And yes, you can still use fresh whites with this recipe, it is the same recipe and same ratios.
Vinegar: Before starting make sure to wipe down the bowls, whisks, silicone mats and everything you are going to use with vinegar, to avoid any grease particles of coming into contact with the meringue and batter.
Food coloring: Make sure to use gel food coloring, not liquid. I love Americolor. If you are a beginner macaron baker, I recommend going easy on the food coloring, as it can alter your batter a lot, and it can take extra mixing time, specially if you continue to add the food coloring as you do the macaronage.
Scale: Please use a scale when measuring the ingredients for accuracy.
Macaron amount: it will vary greatly depending on how big you pipe the shells, and on how runny or thick the batter is.
Baking time/temperature: Baking time and temperature will vary according to your own oven. I recommend experimenting with your oven to find out the best time, temperature, position of the baking tray.
Oven thermometer: Make sure to have an oven thermometer to bake macarons. It’s one of the most important things about making macarons. Home ovens aren’t accurate at all at telling the temperature, and even a slight 5 degree difference can make or break your whole batch.
Tray rotation: Lots of bakers don’t have to rotate the trays 180 degrees in the oven every 5 minutes, but I do have to with my oven, or I will get lopsided macarons. Please adjust this according to your oven.
Macaron Tools: Please visit this post to check out all the tools I use to make macarons.
Butter for the Russian Buttercream: make sure the butter used to make the frosting isn’t too warm, or soft, or the frosting simply won’t come together. If after whipping for a while the frosting still isn’t coming together, you can stick the bowl in the fridge for 10 minutes or so and then try to whip it again.
Ficaram maravilhosos!!!!!
These do sounds good! This recipe is a keeper! Thanks!
Thank you!
I love this <3 I learned using these cartons.
Hi Camilla. Have you posted any other carton recipes? Ie with the powdered egg and cream of tartar?
If not yet, I can’t wait til you do 😊
Suas receitas são maravilhosas. Tudo bem explicado nhos, passo a passo. Adoro!!
I am new to the macaron world and having a blast! I got tired of wasting egg yolks and began experimenting as well. I use 1 real egg white and the rest boxed. I use the Swiss meringue technique and add cream of tarter to start the meringue. It’s still a lot of trial and error – had a bad batch of batter last night! I underwhipped the meringue. But when they turn out they are beautiful! My question is can we double the recipe? I want to be able to pipe a few trays at one time. I’ve never seen anyone post anything more than one batch recipes.
absolutely you can double the recipe, I do it all the time. I mention it on my youtube channel all the time 🙂
Hi!
I’ve made these before with a different recipe and had the same issue with that one and this one! Everything is fine until I pipe them and then they turn into a messy blob on the parchment. I am confident I didn’t overmix them because I checked very diligently until I got the figure 8 you mentioned. The only difference is my kitchen is a little warmer now that it’s summer since the last time I made them. Could this be why? They still taste amazing just don’t look very good!
theres a very wide range that you can get the figure 8, which is why I add so many other ways to check if the batter is ready. a warm kitchen wouldnt make the macarons become a messy blob, it definitely has to do with the technique, either under whipped meringue, or over mixed batter.
Hello Camilla, first thank you for everything 😀
I all ready buy you book, because in Belgium is everything difficult to know.
I would really like to know where do you buy your trails, because its really neater then what i have here.
I’m thankfull that i found you on the internet 😉
Greets from a sunny Belgium
Carole
Hi Carole, I get my trays on amazon! 🙂 thank you so much for getting the book!
This recipe saved my macaron making! So easy to follow and remember, thank you! It also doubles and triples well, No issues!
I started out with the French method. It was sooo hard for me. I came across your ig and book and O-M-G I’ve made 3 batches back to back and they all came out soooo gooooodd. I love and live by your book and tips! I have ALWAYS used carton egg whites and could not, for the life of me, figure out why my meringue would take so long and still be soft. Now I know and I’m shook! Thank you!!
Doing the swiss method with carton egg whites will definitely help make a more stable meringue than french so youre in good hands!! thank you!! 🙂
Hi! If we wanted to use cream of tarter, how much should we put in for this recipe?
1/4 tsp
I’ve tried doing carton egg whites before, and figured I would give it another shot, however I am having a hard time knowing how long the merengue should take to whip up. I usually give up after beating for 30 mins. It’s never gotten past a soupy consistency. I must be doing something wrong or not whipping long enough? Never had a problem with regular egg whites.
probably not whipping long enough.
This is my first time making macarons and I’m so thrilled with how they turned out! My friends are impressed too :’) and the buttercream in the center is incredible — buttery flavor and not too sweet. I used regular butter and sweetened condensed oat milk. I can’t wait to make another batch! Thanks for the detailed instructions!
That’s amazing to hear!!!
Hi Camila,
I made these macarons today with carton eggwhites and followed your recipe exactly and the first tray came out perfect. My second tray ( same batch-just rested 12 more minutes while the first tray baked) came out with wrinkled tops. the cookies with the wrinkled tops were on a darker tray. do you think this made a difference?
thanks!
the darker tray absolutely makes a difference. They absorb more heat, so they get hotter than aluminum trays.
Thanks so much for the reply and for the wonderful recipe. I hope i continue to have good results with it!