Vegan Vanilla Macarons with Sprinkles
Ingredients
Vegan Macaron Shells
- 75 grams aquafaba (water from a chickpea can)
- 110 grams almond flour
- 110 grams powdered sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 66 grams granulated sugar
Vegan Vanilla Buttercream
- 2 tablespoons vegan butter 1 oz, 28 grams
- 2 tablespoons shortening 1 oz, 28 grams**
- 1 1/2 cup powdered sugar sifted (6.61 oz, 187.5 grams)
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
Vegan Macaron Shells
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Gather all of the ingredients before starting to make macarons. Measure out all ingredients. Line two baking sheets with silicon mats. And fit a large piping bag with a large round tip, I use a 0.5" diameter. You want everything ready to go when you need it.
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Sift the almond flour and powdered sugar together. Set aside.
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Place the aquafaba and cream of tartar in the bowl of a mixer.
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Start whipping on low speed for about 2 minutes, until it starts to get white and thick.
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At this point, raise speed to high, start to add granulated sugar, slowly, a bit at a time.
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Continue to whip until the aquafaba achieves stiff peaks.
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The whole whipping, from beginning to end, should last about 10 minutes. It can last more or less time depending on what mixer you are using, and what speed.
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Add the sifted dry ingredients to whipped aquafaba. Start folding with a spatula slowly.
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Add food coloring at this point, if using any.
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Fold forming a letter J with the spatula.
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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.
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Transfer the batter to the piping bag.
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Pipe 1 1/2” circles on a baking sheet lined with silicon mat. I usually use 2 sheets. This will depend on how big you pipe your macarons.
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Bang the trays against the counter to release air bubbles.
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Use a toothpick to pop any remaining bubbles.
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If using sprinkles, make sure to sprinkle them before the macaron shells dry. Sprinkle them on half of the sprinkles, as you will want the other half to be used as the bottom of the macaron sandwich.
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Let the trays rest for 30-45 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 your macarons to dry.
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Pre-heat oven to 285ºF.
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Bake one tray at a time.
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Bake for a total of 20 minutes, or until the macarons are easily coming off the silicon mat.
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Remember to rotate the tray every 5 minutes, to ensure even baking.
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Baking time might vary depending on your oven.
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Let macarons cool down before filling.
Vegan Vanilla Buttercream
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Place the butter and shortening in the bowl of an electric mixer.
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Whip on medium for about 1 minute, until fluffy and combined.
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Add the powdered sugar and mix on low until combined. Raise speed and cream for another minute.
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Add vanilla.
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If you notice the buttercream is too stiff or dry, add a bit of non-dairy milk, or water, 1 teaspoon at a time.
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If the buttercream is too runny, maybe the butter is too hot. If the butter is room temperature, then maybe you need to add more powdered sugar to the buttercream.
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I divided my buttercream into 4 bowls and colored 3 of the bowls with blue, purple, and pink food coloring.
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Then, I laid a piece of plastic on the counter, and made one strip of each different color buttercream lengthwise on the plastic. Rolled the plastic onto a log, and inserted it in a piping bag fitted with my tip of choice.
To assemble
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Pipe a dollop of buttercream on each bottom shell. Top with a shell with sprinkles.
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Make sure to let macarons mature in the fridge for 24-48 hours before serving. They will have a much better consistency and flavor.
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Let macarons sit at room temperature for 10 minutes before enjoying.
To store
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Keep the macarons in the fridge for up to 7 days, or in the freezer for up to 2 months.
Recipe 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 enough
Aquafaba: 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: If you are acquainted with making regular (egg white) macarons, one of the clues about knowing when the batter is ready to be piped, is when you can grab some batter with the spatula and start drawing a figure 8, if the batter doesn’t break up as you draw a few figure 8 shapes, that means the batter should be ready. However, I am learning with vegan macarons that it’s optimal to stop folding the batter right before it reaches this stage. Please watch my videos on youtube, as you can see in the videos what the batter should look like.
If the batter reaches the ribbon stage it's over folded and the macaron feet will spread out in the oven. Don't let the batter reach the ribbon stage.
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.
Buttercream: You can use a combo of butter and shortening, like I am doing here, or use all butter, or all shortening, replacing the amount of one with the other.