Pistachio Macarons
Hello friends! Today we are making Pistachio Macarons! I will show you how to make the pistachio flour for the pistachio macarons, and the delicious Pistachio Cream Cheese Filling.
Make sure to watch the video on this page or on my YouTube channel, showing you how to make these macarons.
This week I am bringing three French macaron recipes to the blog. The recipe for the Pistachio Macarons is the first one.
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I had a Macaron Marathon this week. I made 7 flavors of macarons:
- Pistachio
- Coffee
- Blueberry (I have 2 different Blueberry Macaron recipes on the blog: with jam filling, or mascarpone filling)
- Pumpkin
- Lemon
- Raspberry
- Funfetti
A total of 364 macaron shells, and 182 assembled macarons.
Most of these were made for a neighbor.
So this week I will bring the recipe for these Pistachio Macarons, then my Coffee Macarons, and finally the Funfetti Macarons.
The Coffee Macarons were used to top my Mocha Cupcakes, as you can see here.
I had the most fun making all of these macarons and can’t wait to show you more pictures in my other posts!
Let’s talk about these Pistachio Macarons.
Ok, so first thing, some people make their pistachio macaron shells with pistachio paste. That’s one route to take. This is a pistachio macaron recipe without pistachio paste. I use pistachio flour instead.
How to make Pistachio Flour
Start with dry roasted pistachios. Very important that they are dry roasted, and not roasted with any oils.
Place one cup of pistachios in a small food processor.
Pulse a few times until the pistachio starts to become ground. Be careful, don’t process to the point that it will start to release oils, and form a paste.
Stop once the mixture is still dry.
It will be very lumpy still, which is ok.
Sift the ground pistachios. And then, place the big pieces that got left out in the food processor, and pulse again to grind them up a bit more. Repeat sifting.
Do this one more time if necessary.
You will obtain a pistachio flour that’s very similar in consistency to the almond flour. I give more instructions bellow with the recipe. Also watch the video to watch me make the flour!
You can use the big pieces that are leftover to make the buttercream for the filling, as you really don’t need the pistachio to be very finely ground for that.
And you can also use the big pieces to to decorate the top of the Pistachio Macarons once you assemble them.
I drizzled some white chocolate over the macarons, and sprinkled some of the pistachio crumbs on top.
For the filling of these Pistachio Macarons, I actually made a Pistachio Cream Cheese Filling.
You’ll see I use a lot of cream cheese frosting in my baked goods, because taste wise is probably one of my favorites, not gonna lie.
And I wish I could eat this Pistachio Cream Cheese Frosting with a spoon. Self-control stops me, thank goodness!
I also want to point out to you the difference on the bottom of my macaron shells. The first picture is from when I first made uploaded this recipe here, 10 months ago. The shells were all uneven, and not smooth. And that is due to using parchment paper to bake my macarons instead of silicon mat.
The bottom picture is the most recent one, and look at the improvement on those bottom shells! What do you think? Do you like baking macarons with parchment paper, or do you prefer silicon mat?
I get asked all the time about tips on how to make macarons. So far, I’ve written several macaron posts and some of them have some important tips that could help you if you want to master how to make French macarons.
I have some video tutorials, and many tips throughout all of my macaron posts that can help you in your macaron baking journey.
Make sure to check out my YouTube channel.
If you want to learn more about making macarons, visit my Macaron School, where I publish everything related to macarons, from troubleshooting guides, to beginner’s guides, and more! Lots of tips, science behind macarons and everything you need to know to help you on your macaron journey.
Here are some more links you might be interested in:
- M&M’s Macarons (with video on how to make different color shells from one batch of macarons)
- Tutorial on the Meringue Stage
- Brownie Macarons
- Balsamic Caramel Strawberry Macarons
- Caramel Popcorn Macarons
- Key Lime Pie Macarons
- Strawberry Lemonade Macarons
To name a few. Go to my Macarons category page to see more macaron recipes and macaron ideas.
If you have any macaron questions, don’t hesitate to reach out to me over email, or on instagram, over dm, which is probably the best way to reach me.
And if you make any of my macarons, don’t forget to tag me also on social media!
Making macarons can be challenging, but don’t let that stop you. If you really want to master them, all you have to do is to keep on baking. Try to research as much as you can about how to make French macarons, and try to put the tips you learn in practice, and you’ll end up finding what works best for you, your kitchen, and the climate you’re in.
Another thing you need to know about these Pistachio Macarons, is that they are my favorite! They were the first macarons I ever attempted too. Because I just love pistachios so much! What’s your favorite macaron flavor?
I hope you have a great day. Big thanks for reading!!
Pistachio Macarons
Ingredients
Pistachio Macaron Shells
- 100 grams egg whites
- 100 grams granulated sugar
- 72 grams almond flour
- 28 grams pistachio flour* see notes
- 90 grams powdered sugar
- A few drops of green food coloring
Pistachio Cream Cheese Filling
- 56 grams cream cheese softened
- 28 grams butter softened
- 125 grams powdered sugar sifted
- 28 grams pistachio flour* see notes
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
To assemble
- 28 grams ground pistachio* read notes
- 56 grams white chocolate melted and slightly cooled
Instructions
Pistachio 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 1/4” diameter tip. Set aside.
- Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mat.
- Measure out all of the ingredients.
- Sift the powdered sugar, almond flour, and pistachio flour together. Set it aside.
- Place a bowl over a pan with barely simmering water, making sure the bottom of the bowl isn't touching the water. Add the sugar and egg whites to the bowl.
- Whisk the sugar and the egg whites 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.
- 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 high, or 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.
- Pour the sifted powdered sugar, almond flour, and pistachio flour into the stiff meringue.
- Add the food coloring at this point, if using. I added a drop of green gel food coloring.
- Start folding gently forming a letter J with a spatula.
- 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 overmix. It’s always best to undermix 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.
- Place the piping bag directly 90 degrees over the center of each macaron template. Apply gentle pressure and carefully pipe for about 3 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. This will release air bubbles that are in the batter and prevent your macaron shells from cracking.
- 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.
- Bake for 5 more minutes. Rotate again.
- 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.
Pistachio Cream Cheese Filling
- Beat the butter and cream cheese at medium speed for about 1 minute.
- With the mixer off, add sifted powdered sugar, mix on low to combine. Add pistachio flour and vanilla. Cream for another minute or so until creamy and fluffy.
- Put the filling in a piping bag.
To assemble
- Pipe about 1 teaspoon of filling on top of each bottom shell. Place another shell on top.
- I melted white chocolate and put it in a piping bag, cut a very small hole at the end and drizzled the white chocolate over the macaron shells, and then topped them with ground pistachios.
Storage
- Store macarons in the fridge, in an air tight container for up to 5 days, and in the freezer for about 1 month.
My sister and I started baking macarons during quarantine. After numerous attempts from many different recipes, we stumbled on this pistachio recipe! The YouTube video and the blog was detailed and precise! The pistachio macarons turned out so beautiful! Thank you for sharing your recipes!
thank you Ann! That’s nice to hear!!
I love your work! And I love your pistachio macarons!
Thank you so much for sharing your creations!
Thank you so much Ellen!!! 🙂
Hi these look beautiful! Can’t wait to try making them. I just have one question. How would the quantities for the shells change if I wanted to use pistachio paste instead of the pistachio flour?
Sorry I have no idea about this measurement! I have only made it with pistachio paste using the Italian method years and years ago.
Hi, will I be able to taste the Pistachio flavor in the shell? Thinking of a different filling but want the Pistachio flavor in the macaron shell.
Yes you can taste the pistachio in the shells. Maybe you can experiment with an even higher amount of pistachio flour, and decrease the amount of almond flour. Some recipes call for pistachio paste also, I don’t know if that would make it taste even more like pistachio, but it’s worth a try.
Each Macarron is 220 Cal ?
It will depend on how big you pipe them, the amount of frosting you fill them with, if you top them with white chocolate or not, etc… This is a baseline, of how many calories my macarons had, with the sprinkled pistachios on top, the drizzle of white chocolate, and the amount of frosting I filled each with.
Hi! These look absolutely amazing! I’m wondering if you will still get the pistachio flavour by just using the filling but having a normal almond flour shell. What do you think?
Yes! For sure you will get pistachio flavor!
I followed the pistachio cream cheese filling, i just dont understand why its not that stiff and its quite runny so i dont think thats gonna be a good and stable filling for my macarons. I have made cream cheese twice with strawberry jam and one with this but sadly even if how i love the taste its ending up eating my shells especially after days of storage.
Add more powdered sugar to adjust the consistency.
Depending on the brand of cream cheese you were using, or if it was too soft, this may happen. It just needs more powdered sugar to make it stiffer.
They haven’t finished cooling yet, but this is the first time I’ve made macarons and they have feet! I’m so excited I did them right. Thank you for this wonderful recipe!
Thank you so much this makes me so happy to hear!!
Can I make these with pistachio paste or making the pistachio flour better for consistency?
I would recommend using the pistachio flour. Some recipes use the paste, check bromas recipe, she does use paste I believe
First of all, let me just say what a good teacher you are. My son-in-law loves macarons so I wanted to accept the challenge for him. I read many sites and watch many videos, but yours is different because it explains what you learned. The videos though are OUTSTANDING! I attempted Nutella – but I didn’t fold long enough and the batter was too thick (I love how you say that that step may take many tries. – thank you for that encouragement – seriously, what you say there is don’t give up) The second batch I made were pistaschio – out of this world. I will continue to practice – cuz the outcome is YUMMY.
Awe omg thank you so much! I appreciate that! And that is exactly my message! Don’t give up! It has taken me many tries and practice to get them right 100% of the time!
Hi Camila
thank you SO MUCH for sharing this recipe! Your detailed instructions are excellent and very important to follow, especially if this is the first time anyone’s making macarons. Mine came out beautifully! This was my first ever attempt at macarons. I just wanted to add that I used hand-mixer for everything, so there is no need to use a stand-up mixer if anyone’s curious (I’ve heard that you can only make macarons using a stand-up mixer, otherwise it won’t work). Thank you again for your guidance!
Thank you so much Petra! I am so happy to hear that! 🙂
Hi Camila!
When I was processing my pistachios they turned into a paste what could I do to make them back. They haven’t directly turned into a paste but they cannot be sifted.
So, I am not sure if it would work to use it in this recipe. Maybe you could try to do what Broma does in her recipe and add it to the meringue anyway https://bromabakery.com/white-chocolate-pistachio-macarons/ check out her recipe to see how she uses pistachio paste in the shells.
Oh my goodness this recipe was AMAZING and I swear my family of 7 ate it within 10 minutes no joke! This was my first time making it and I was so scared but it ended up working out well. So thank you so much! Can’t wait to try your other macaron recipes ☺️☺️👍🏼
I am so happy!! thank you so much!!! That’s awesome!
I followed the directions and came out with great looking and great tastings macarons . 5/5 Amazing!
Awesome thank you so much!!
Excited to try these… first time macaron maker! Tough to find the dry roasted pistachios right now, so it may take me some time to get started. Do you use salted or unsalted?
Thank you!
I’ve used salted before. But prefer unsalted 🙂
Hi
I made these and followed exact instructions but I got cracked, hollow Macarons with no feet. Not sure what went wrong…. :’(
cracked shells can be due to under whipping the meringue, high oven temperatures. make sure you have an oven thermometer, and keep practicing, making macarons is a skill that can take a long time to master.