Vegan Macarons Step By Step
, Updated May 17, 2021
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Did you know you can create picture-perfect vegan macarons using aquafaba (the liquid drained from a can of chickpeas) instead of egg whites?
Take a look at my How To Make Perfect Macarons and Chocolate Macarons posts for more macaron tips and troubleshooting.
Post may contain affiliate links. For more information, check my disclosure
In collaboration with Thermapen
Vegan Macarons
I first came across vegan macarons on Pinterest (where else?) and I was instantly intrigued. I mean egg whites and meringue are a pretty fundamental ingredient in macarons, so how on earth could they be vegan? This is where a magical ingredient called aquafaba comes in!
If you have never heard of it – I sure as hell had not – aquafaba is the cooking liquid of beans and other legumes like chickpeas. That’s right, these macarons contain chickpea water… but don’t let that put you off. (Put the chickpeas to great use in my fabulously healthy Vegan Chickpea Salad!).
After I read a little more about aquafaba, I discovered it had entire websites, Facebook groups and forums devoted to it.
I simply HAD to try it, not least because I was so curious as to whether it would work. After all, macarons can be fiddly little beasts without the added dimension of using an unknown ingredient.
My neighbour’s son (the eternally adorable Aiden) is allergic to eggs so she had already tried to bake with aquafaba – with less than successful results.
But that just made me more determined to try making these macarons. A recipe and science experiment all in one – who could resist the challenge?
I did my research and the suggestion was that you could either use the liquid drained from cans of chickpeas or make it yourself.
Take a look at Lazy Cat Kitchen‘s very informative blogpost that’s well worth reading – not to mention the entire blog is simply gorgeous.
I decided to take the lazy route – after all I wasn’t convinced this would work. So I drained the liquid from two cans of organic chickpeas and then reduced it on the stove to just less than half its original volume.
You need 150ml (5fl oz) of aquafaba (or egg whites) in my recipe and two 400g (14oz) cans will provide you with just the right amount after the reduction.
I won’t lie to you – aquafaba doesn’t look, or smell particularly pleasant. My doubts started to take root – I was more than a little worried about wasting expensive ingredients.
Aquafaba is best chilled overnight in the fridge where it takes a similar viscosity to that of egg whites. And it works in exactly the same way as they do – this is actually pretty much the same method as making traditional macarons. The only difference is now I finally have a new ally in the kitchen – my new Thermapen!
I guess that by sharing all these photos I have probably taken all the suspense out of ‘did it work?’… but I was still amazed and incredibly impressed by just how well it worked.
Not only were the macarons picture-perfect, they tasted exactly the same as regular macarons. The shells were a touch drier, perhaps, than traditional macarons, but once they were filled the shells soften and you get the same taste and mouthfeel.
But there are some differences to the method – mostly involving cooking time and oven temperature. The oven temperature has to be lower than traditional macarons – about 120C (250F) as opposed to 150C (300F).
Too hot and the macarons will easily burn, too low and they will be cooked on the outside but completely uncooked in the middle.
Vegan Macarons Tips and Troubleshooting
The macaron shells have need to dry out for at least an hour or longer and they have to cook for longer, between 20-30 minutes.
Do not bake more than one tray at a time – you will end up with unevenly baked macarons if you do – as I learned the hard way.
Vegan Macarons Fillings
I filled mine with avocado chocolate mousse (or ‘ganache’ in this case I guess) and they tasted amazing. Don’t be too heavy-handed with the coconut oil, it may cause it to deep into the shells.
An easier filling would be to make vegan ganache using dairy free dark chocolate chips and coconut cream or soy cream (try Alrpo Soy Single Cream Alternative).
You could use any fillings you like – and flavour the macarons any way you like. Vegan buttercream is another option – take a look at this vegan chocolate cake for the recipe.
Macarons storing tips
- It would be best to store the macarons shells in an airtight container, separated by grease proof paper.
- Once the macarons are filled they will start to soften – this is fine if you eat them within a day or so but would not advise it for much longer.
- Macarons can also be frozen but I haven’t tried this myself since they usually disappear pretty quickly!
USEFUL TOOLS FOR MACARONS PERFECTION
- Digital scales – for best results it is important to weigh the ingredients
- Fine sieve
- Silicone spatula
- Piping bags
- Plain round piping tip (Wilton 1A)
- Silpat Silicon Macaron Mats or similar
- Cookie sheets (without rims)
MORE AQUAFABA RECIPES TO TRY!
- Vegan heart-shaped churros
- Five ingredient chocolate peanut butter mousse
- Vegan Chocolate and Coconut Mousse
Vegan Aquafaba Macarons
Ingredients
- 200 g / 7oz icing powdered sugar
- 200 g / 7oz ground almonds
- 150 g / 5 oz aquafaba see method divided into 2 x 75 g / 2½ oz quantities
- 200 g / 7oz caster sugar
- 50 ml / 1/5 cup water
- ⅛ tsp blue colouring paste or colouring of your choice
Avocado chocolate ‘ganache’
- 2 medium ripe avocados
- 4-5 tbsp agave nectar more if needed
- 1 tbsp coconut oil melted
- ½ tbsp vanilla extract or paste
- 4 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
Instructions
- Drain the liquid from two 400g (14oz) cans of chickpeas into a saucepan. Weigh the pot and make a note of the weight. Simmer over medium-low heat until the liquid is reduced by about half – since you need 150ml (5fl oz) for the recipe it is best to reduce the liquid to just over that. It took about 10-15 minutes for the liquid to reduce, but best check it on a scale periodically as you don’t want to end up with too little! Cool completely, transfer to a jar and chill in the fridge overnight or use immediately.
- Sift the ground almonds and icing sugar into a large bowl. Pour half the aquafaba into the bowl and mix together vigorously until the mixture forms a paste.
- Put the caster sugar and water in a saucepan. Put the rest of the aquafaba in the bowl of your stand mixer.
- Bring the sugar to the boil and have your Thermapen handy. When the sugar temperature reaches 110C / 230F start whisking the aquafaba on high speed. Keep checking the sugar with the Thermapen – once it reaches 117 C /242F pour it carefully down the side of your mixing bowl while still whisking on medium speed.
- Increase the speed to highest setting and continue whisking for 8-10 minutes till the mixing bowl is cool. You will have a very glossy ‘meringue’ (unlike egg whites my aquafaba meringue never formed firm peaks both times I made this recipe – this didn’t seem to have any adverse effects on the macarons however). Add the colouring paste and mix it in until you have the right colour – best start with a tiny amount and increase if needed.
- Add the almond paste to the meringue bowl and mix it together until it’s well combined. Don’t be afraid to be quite forceful when mixing it and make sure you scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl. The consistency of the batter is very important – it needs to flow smoothly and when dropped back into the bowl it should spread slowly.
- Line 4 heavy trays with baking parchment – secure the paper by dotting a bit of macaron batter on each of the tray corners.
- Put the batter into a piping bag with a 1 cm / ½-inch plain round nozzle. Pipe small rounds of batter onto the baking parchment, spaced slightly apart as the macarons will spread when cooking. Use a template if you want absolute uniformity or draw circles using a cookie cutter.
- Carefully but forcefully knock the trays against your worktop to release any air bubbles. I found the vegan macarons actually were more uniform and had fewer imperfections than the regular kind.
- Leave them to dry out for an hour or longer until the tops are touch dry. Humidity and temperature can wreak havoc with this drying time so test them after 30 minutes just to be sure.
- Preheat the oven to 120C / 250F. Once the shells are touch dry, bake the trays one at a time for 25-30 minutes, checking them after 20. If your oven tends to have hot spots, rotate the tray halfway through the baking time.
- The macarons are ready when they have a smooth, dry top and are firm to the touch. Leave them to cool down completely before carefully lifting off the baking paper.
- At this point you can transfer them to a cooling rack and leave them overnight, covered with a clean tea towel. Or store them in the fridge.
- Place all the ingredients for the filling in a blender or food processor and blitz until completely smooth. Test for sweetness, transfer to a pipping bag filled with a small round tip and chill until needed.
- Pair the macaron shells by size. Carefully pipe the filling around the edge of the shells and then fill the inside. Sandwich together and either serve immediately, or chill in the fridge overnight. This will make the shells softer and give the macarons the right mouthfeel.
Notes
- You need to reduce and chill the aquafaba before using. Start this recipe a day in advance so it has a chance to cool and thicken.
- For best results process the ground almonds and icing sugar together in a food processor and then sift into a bowl. Discard anything that doesn’t pass through the sieve and make sure you weigh the ingredients after you sift them.
Macaroons
It’s Macarons 🙂
hi!
My macarons looked top notch while drying, but once baked they were flat pancakes with the feet all molten over the baking tray. I let the macarons dry for an hour and they were dry to touch. Do you have any advice? It looks like the whole mixture just melted and did not rise.
Greetings, Caroline
Hi Caroline – that’s a bit odd that they looked ok while drying but melted in the oven. I have to admit that aquafaba can be unpredictable which is no excuse but it’s hard to determine what else could have gone wrong if the oven temperature was correct.
Do you use low sodium canned chickpeas? I would think that the amount of salt in the liquid would make a difference.
My daughter is vegan and I would like to surprise her with these.
Yes and if you can find. There’s also brands of aquafaba in the uk although I haven’t tested them
I’ve done this and I love the taste although I’m struggling in getting them out of the parchement paper as they break easily and I didnt manage to get the appearance you have on yours. I have followed your recipe very carefully. Any advice please?
Thank you
Have they cooled down? Sometimes a mist of water on the (hot) baking sheet under the parchment helps them to release
Can you please specify that you use 2 different bowls? Like after sifting the ground almonds and icing sugar in a large bowl, then say in another bowl … instead of standing mixer at the end? I just tried these and the instructions were so unclear I added them all together before whisking. I just spent 2 hours (having to ground the almonds then sift them by hand) only to through away the expensive ingredients. I made this recipe about a month ago and I have no idea how they turned out next to perfect, they were amazing when they worked, but please specify that you used 2 bowls and not just a large bowl and standing mixer (I got super confused because I don’t have a stand mixer, only large mixing bowls and a hand mixer)
Thanks for your feedback Ashlyn, I will make a note in the recipe
Your recipes are really delicious and healthy. I try to make it for my family in the every weekend and they love to eat so much. Thank you so much for your creative sharing.