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Mayer Lemon Macarons

Lemon macarons on a black decorative plate on a teal towel.
Going along with the cookie madness everyone’s going through before Christmas, I am adding one more recipe to the “cookie” collection. Even though, it’s difficult to call macarons ‘cookies’ because there’s no flour involved. Light and airy in texture, with creamy, slightly tangy center these Meyer Lemon Macarons are fit for a king!

Meyer Lemon Macarons in a glass bowl.

My local Costco store usually carries Meyer Lemons come winter. They sell them in a big container with about 15-20 lemons. I love the fragrant smell of Meyer lemons, which are native to China and are a hybrid between a lemon and either a mandarin or common orange. They’re still lemony like a lemon, but with a much more fragrant zest that is wonderful added to baked goods as well as a good cup of hot tea.

Running out of things to make with my lemons I turned to my cookbook shelf, found my “Advanced Professional Pastry Chef” book that I bought and started flipping through the pages in hope of finding something that would grab my eye. Amazing book I tell you, if only the recipes were not in catering size portions, you know, the ‘’take 4 pounds of butter and 5 pounds of flour”, kind of portions. I had mercy on you and did the scaling down myself, so you wouldn’t have half a bucket of buttercream and only 2 cups to use.

Other Macaron Recipes:

  • Coffee Macaron – A combination of a creamy coffee flavored white chocolate ganache and a basic macaron shell.
  • Dulce de Leche Macarons –  Italian Macaron Shell recipe and dulce de leche as the filling
  • Raspberry Macarons – Sweet little confections made of almond flour meringue and raspberry filling.

 

Mayer Lemon Macarons

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Light and airy in texture with creamy, slightly tangy center these Meyer Lemon Macarons are fit for a king! They're naturally gluten free and can be customized a million different ways. Make the same macaron shells but add a different cream for other flavors. 

Author: Marina | Let the Baking Begin
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: Italian
Keyword: lemon macarons
Calories: 144 kcal
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 50 minutes
Servings: 30 macarons

Ingredients

For Macaron Shells

Mayer Lemon Buttercream

Instructions

How to make Meyer Lemon Macarons

  1. Preheat oven to 300°F. Line 2 jelly roll sheets with parchment paper or silpat. 

  2. Separate egg whites from egg yolks, being careful not to contaminate the whites with the yolks. Measure out 100 grams of egg whites (about 3 eggs), cover with plastic and let stand at room temperature overnight. OR – microwave for 20 seconds, in 5-second intervals, mixing after each stop.

  3. In a bowl of a food processor, combine 200 grams powdered sugar and 100 grams almond flour or 100 grams peeled & slivered almonds (store bought). Pulse to combine, about 20 seconds. Then pulverize for about 2-3 minutes if started with almond flour or about 4-5 minutes if started with slivered almonds.
  4. Start whipping the egg whites with a pinch of salt. Once foamy, start adding 50 grams of granulated sugar and whip until stiff peaks form. Add the food coloring. Mix to somewhat incorporate.

  5. Add ½ the powdered sugar mixture and with a very quick mixing motions, make about 5-6 swirls with a spoon, to somewhat combine the meringue with the powdered sugar mixture. Add the other ½ of the dry ingredients and carefully fold it in until fully combined. Take care not to overmix. Stop when the batter falls in a thick ribbon and disappears in about 30 seconds.

Pipe and Bake the Meyer Lemon Macaron Shells

  1. Fill the piping bag with batter and pipe out 1 inch circles onto parchment paper. Sprinkle half of the piped circles with dried cherries or cranberries. Slide the first sheet in the oven and bake for 10-12 minutes. Do the same with the second sheet once the first one is done.
  2. Remove from oven and let them cool. Carefully peel off the half cookies by lifting them up, or using a thin knife slide right under each cookie to release it.

Make the Buttercream for Meyer Lemon Macarons

  1. Place 1/2 cup eggs and 1 cup sugar into a bowl of a stand mixer, then set it over a pot with simmering water. Continuously stir with a ship until the temperature reaches 140, or until the sugar is completely dissolved.

  2. Remove the bowl from the heat and whip on high until stiff peaks and the bowl is cool to the touch.
  3. Add 1 Tbsp vanilla extract, lemon zest, and lemon juice and stir to incorporate.

  4. While continuing to whip on high speed, add room temperature butter, 1 tablespoon at a time.
  5. Melt white chocolate in the microwave, by heating it in 10 second intervals and stirring each time. Do not overheat or the chocolate will separate). Heat only until most of the chocolate is melted, then continue stirring to melt the rest of the chocolate. Bring chocolate to room temperature and fold into the buttercream.

Assembly

  1. Pair macarons by size. Make two rows, one with the top side up, with with the bottom side up.
  2. Fill pastry bag with buttercream and pipe a dollop of buttercream on the cookie that’s bottom side up. Cover with the other one and press for the filling to come closer to the edges.
  3. Place in a closed container and leave for 24 hours.

Recipe Notes

Tips for SUCCESS:

  1. How to make your own almond flour: Use a food processor to process whole unroasted almonds until fine flour forms. Stop and scrape the bottom every minute or so. 
  2. If you do not have a blender, sift the confectioners sugar and the almond flour together through a sieve several times. 
  3. When mixing the meringue and the almond/powdered sugar mixture, take care not to overmix. It is better to not mix enough then to overmix the batter. Fold the egg whites and the almond mixture until a thick ribbon that looks like lava forms. The batter running off the spatula should disappear in about 30 seconds.
  4. It is better to overbake, then not bake enough. Underbaked macarons form a hollow inside. If you overbake the macarons and they are hard when cooled, just fill them with a filling that has a higher moisture content, and leave to mature for a little longer. The moisture in the filling will make the macarons perfectly soft and no one will know that they were once hard. 
  5. The macarons must mature in the fridge before consumption. They follow a bell-shaped curve when it comes to the perfect flavor. The macarons will peak at about 24 hours and slowly go down after that. 
  6. For longer storage of macarons: wrap each macaron in plastic wrap several times to prevent loss of moisture and drying out. Then, store in an airtight container in the freezer for up to a month. To thaw: remove from the freezer and allow to come thaw in the fridge. 
Nutrition Facts
Mayer Lemon Macarons
Amount Per Serving
Calories 144 Calories from Fat 72
% Daily Value*
Fat 8g12%
Saturated Fat 4g25%
Cholesterol 16mg5%
Sodium 14mg1%
Potassium 21mg1%
Carbohydrates 16g5%
Sugar 16g18%
Protein 1g2%
Vitamin A 185IU4%
Vitamin C 1mg1%
Calcium 13mg1%
Iron 0.1mg1%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

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Marina | Let the Baking Begin

Welcome to Let the Baking Begin! I'm Marina and my love and passion for eating only the most delicious foods drive me to share that love here on Let the Baking Begin (since 2009). With over 20 years of experience in the kitchen, you know the recipes are tested and retested until perfect. I'm so happy to have you here. Enjoy! Read more...

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  • Becky

    I love your Macaron Recipes I’m working my way through them. I started with the basic then the raspberry and chocolate truffle. All came out perfect!! I love lemon so couldn’t wait to try this one but my butter cream came out way to loose. I’m not sure what I did wrong. I’m going to try again but any tips?

    · Reply
    • Hi Becky,
      Thank you so much for your feedback! It’s so awesome to hear that you’re trying so many of them! Which one is your favorite, so far?

      I can think of a couple reasons why the cream might come out loose.
      1. The butter might be too soft before you start whipping it. If you take the butter out of the fridge and leave it out for about 3 hours, it will be about perfect consistency to whip in buttercreams.
      2. Once you add the butter into whipped egg whites, continue whipping until the mixture thickens. It will thin at first, then it might even curdle/separate, but as you continue whipping it WILL come together.

      · Reply
  • These are so beautiful! I love buying macarons, but am a little intimidated by the baking process! 🙂 Your instructions are concise. I may experiment with these soon! 🙂

    · Reply
  • Anna@eatwithtaste.com

    You are a pro at macaroons!!! I noticed you made so many different kinds On the blog I am definitely going to try yours out 🙂 and these macaroons look so perfect!!!! :)))

    · Reply
    • Oh thanks Anna! I have definitely made my way through the macaron experimenting road))

      · Reply
  • Marina

    Definetly on my to do list! Thank you and Merry Christmas to you!

    · Reply
    • Let me know when you make it, how it went 🙂

      · Reply
  • Julia | JuliasAlbum.com

    Gorgeous macarons! They have such nice beige color and the white cream in the middle – pretty! Pinned!

    · Reply
    • Thank you!

      Haha, I was going for yellow, but I guess beige is OK too))

      · Reply
  • Tanya

    Hi, do you let your macarons rest (dry) before you bake them?

    · Reply
    • I do not let them dry before putting them in the oven, unless it’s the second batch so they just sit out waiting to be baked. There’s no difference between the ones that sit out and dry and the ones that are baked right away, even though a lot of people will tell you that there is. Just experiment on your own and you will see 🙂

      · Reply
  • Vera

    I love Mayer lemons! Thanks for sharing.

    · Reply
    • Thanks for stopping by 🙂

      · Reply

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