These Vegan Lemon Blueberry Macarons are made with aquafaba. The filling is a Vegan Lemon Buttercream and Blueberry Jam in the center.
Course Dessert
Cuisine American, French, vegan
Keyword macarons, vegan
Prep Time 1 hourhour
Cook Time 40 minutesminutes
0 minutesminutes
Total Time 1 hourhour40 minutesminutes
Servings 20macarons
Calories 115kcal
Author Camila Hurst
Ingredients
Vegan Macaron Shells
110gramsalmond flour
110gramspowdered sugar
75gramsaquafaba*
1/4teaspooncream of tartar
66gramsgranulated sugar
Food coloringI used purple and yellow
Vegan Lemon Buttercream
4tbspvegan butter56 grams, 2 oz
1cuppowdered sugar sifted125 grams, 4.4 oz
2tbsplemon zestfrom 2 lemons
1tbsplemon juice
Blueberry Jam
1cupblueberries
2tbspsweetenersugar or maple syrup
1tbsplemon juice
2tspcornstarch
2tspwater
Instructions
Vegan Macaron Shells
Gather all of the ingredients before starting to make the macarons. Measure out the almond flour, powdered sugar, aquafaba, cream of tartar, and granulated sugar.
Line two baking sheets with silicone mats or parchment paper.
And fit a large piping bag with a round tip. Also set aside two piping bags if you plan on doing the two different color shells.
Sift the almond flour and the powdered sugar together. Set aside.
Place the aquafaba in the bowl of a mixer.
Start whipping on low speed and add the cream of tartar.
Whip for about 30 seconds, until the aquafaba starts getting white and thick.
Raise the speed to medium and continue to whip for another minute or so, until you are able to see streaks left by the whisk on the aquafaba.
At this point, raise the speed to high, or medium-high, and start to add the granulated sugar, slowly, a bit at a time. I like to add it in three different additions, to give the sugar a chance to incorporate with the aquafaba.
Continue to whip until the meringue achieves stiff peaks.
The whole whipping, from beginning to end, should last about 10 to 15 minutes. It might take more or less time depending on your mixer, and on your aquafaba.
The peaks should be shooting straight up.
Add the sifted dry ingredients to the whipped aquafaba. Start folding with a spatula slowly.
Fold just until you see no more dry ingredients. At this point split the batter between two different bowls. Cover one bowl with a towel so it doesn’t dry out. And set it aside.
Work with one batter at a time. We are going to dye the first batter yellow.
Add yellow food coloring and fold the batter forming a letter J with the spatula.
Fold until the batter is flowing slightly. You don’t want the batter to be flowing continuously off the spatula. When it comes to vegan macarons, the folding time is very very brief. You are basically just looking to incorporate the dry ingredients with the meringue. Please watch the video to see what the consistency should look like. If you grab a spatula full of batter and hold it over the bowl, it should still be separating in chunks, and not flowing continuously on a ribbon. Do not get to the ribbons stage! If you get to the ribbon stage, the macaron feet will spread out in the oven.Transfer the batter to the piping bag.
Transfer the yellow batter to a piping bag, and set it aside.
Now do the same thing with the other batter. I used purple food coloring and a touch of blue.
Fold it until it has the proper consistency. Transfer to the other piping bag.
Now snip the ends of both yellow and purple batter piping bags.
Place both piping bags inside the large piping bag with the large round piping tip. (Watch the video on this page or on Youtube to see how this is done)
Place the piping bag directly 90 degrees over the center of each circle template on the baking sheet.
Pipe 1 1/2” circles, applying equal pressure on all sides of the piping bag, so both colors get dispensed somewhat evenly.
Slam the trays against the counter to release air bubbles.
Use a toothpick to pop any remaining bubbles.
Let the trays rest for 20-40 minutes until the shells are dry. Test this by touching a macaron gently with your finger. Depending on humidity levels and weather, it might take longer or less time for the macarons to dry.
Pre-heat the oven to 285ºF.
Bake each tray separately, one tray at a time.
Bake for a total of 20 minutes, or until the macarons are easily coming off the silicon mat.
Remember to rotate the tray every 5 minutes, to ensure even baking.
Baking time might vary depending on your oven, consistency of the batter, oven temperature.
Let the macarons cool down before filling.
Vegan Lemon Buttercream
Whip the butter on medium for about 1 minute, until creamy. I like to use vegan butter straight from the fridge, so it doesn’t get runny and melty.
Add the powdered sugar, lemon zest, and lemon juice to the bowl, and mix on low until combined. Raise the speed and cream for another minute.
If you notice the buttercream is too stiff or dry, add a bit of non-dairy milk, or water, 1 teaspoon at a time.
If the buttercream is too runny, maybe the butter got too soft, or you need more powdered sugar. Add more sifted powdered sugar and cream until you achieve the proper consistency.
Blueberry Jam
You can use store-bought jam, and you will need 1/4 cup. Otherwise, follow this easy recipe below.
Place the blueberries, sweetener, and lemon juice in a small saucepan and cook over medium heat for about 10 minutes, until the blueberries are softened and syrupy.
Dissolve the cornstarch in the water, add it to the blueberries, and cook, stirring for 1 to 2 minutes, until thick.
Remove to a bowl and let it cool in the fridge thoroughly before using to fill the macarons.
To assemble
Pipe a ring of buttercream around the edges of each bottom shell. Fill the middle with a little bit of jam. Top with another shell.
Make sure to let macarons mature in the fridge for 24-48 hours before serving. They will have a much better consistency and flavor.
To store
Keep macarons in the fridge for up to 7 days.
Notes
Aquafaba is the water you obtain from cooking chickpeas (or other legumes). The aquafaba I use is water drained from a chickpea can. Some people use the juice from other beans also, and some people like to boil their own dry chickpeas to obtain the aquafaba, and you can do that, but make sure to study what are the best ratios water:chickpeas so your aquafaba is concentrated enoughAquafaba: I used to reduce the aquafaba before. But I don’t reduce it anymore, and not only it works perfectly, but also it’s way less work.Macaronage: Do not let the batter reach ribbon stage. If it reaches ribbon stage it will be over mixed, the batter is supposed to be thick. Watch my videos on YouTube to see what it should look like.Thick batter: If the batter is too thick while mixing, add a teaspoon of aquafaba as you mix, until you obtain the perfect consistency.Oven thermometer: Please make sure to have an oven thermometer! I receive a lot of troubleshooting questions and the great majority are issues caused due to not having an oven thermometer. Read this post for more detailed information about how important this is.Oven temperature: Please experiment with your own oven temperature. Temperatures will vary depending on your oven and technique. It’s important to experiment and see what works best for your own oven. In my old oven I used to bake this same recipe at 310ºF. However, with my new oven, I bake it at 285ºF. This comes to show that the temperature will vary greatly depending on your own oven. Please experiment and find out what works best for you.Tray rotation: some bakers don’t need to rotate their trays when baking macarons. If your oven bakes evenly and doesn’t have any hot spots, you might be able to skip the tray rotation.Troubleshooting: if your macarons are exploding, flattening out, with the feet spreading to the sides, that can mean a few things:1- hot oven (make sure to have oven thermometer and experiment with the optimal oven temperature for your oven).2- over mixed batter. It's really easy to over mix vegan macaron batter. Mix it just until it starts to flow. Watch the videos on my youtube channel for reference.3- under whipped meringue: make sure the meringue has really stiff peaks. It can take some time. Just be patient.Jam: If you don’t want to make the homemade blueberry jam, you can use store-bought, and you will need about 1/4 cup blueberry jam.