Ahh… The refreshing tart taste of lemon! I made a large batch of lemon macarons for family and friends, and everyone loved them. Compared to the strawberry matcha macarons recipe that I’ve already shared, this lemon macaron recipe is a little less intimidating for the beginner macaron baker.
First of all, I love anything citrus. I think I’ll eventually change up this recipe to become a Citrus Blend Macaron recipe, with hints of grapefruit, lime, and orange. But for now, let’s just go with a simple lemon macaron recipe. Lemon is a very powerful fruit so you won’t need a lot of it for this recipe.
Ingredients:
Macaron shells
- 1 cup icing sugar
- 3/4 cup ground almonds
- 2 large egg whites
- 3 1/2 tbsp granulated sugar
- lemon zest from one large lemon
- 3 to 4 drops yellow food coloring
Lemon icing
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1/8 tsp vanilla extract
- 3/4 icing sugar
- 1 1/2 to 2 tsp lemon juice
Directions:
Macaron shells
- Line two medium baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a food processor, process ground almonds and icing sugar for about a minute. Scrape along the inside of the food processor in between to ensure that there aren’t any large clumps and that the two ingredients are mixed well.
- In a medium bowl, sift the almond mixture.
- In a small bowl (be sure to use a bowl that’s not too shallow), whisk the egg whites with a handmixer on medium-low speed for about a minute until light and fluffy.
- Increase the speed to medium-high and continue to whisk the egg whites until medium-stiff for about 2 minutes. (If you turn the bowl upside-down, the egg whites don’t slide out.)
- Gradually add granulated sugar to the egg whites while continuing to whisk on medium-high speed for another 2 minutes.
- Gradually fold the egg mixture into the almond mixture, adding only about 1/3 of the egg mixture at a time.
- Add lemon zest and fold.
- Add yellow food coloring and fold again. (I use liquid food coloring, but most people recommend gel or powder-based food coloring. You should use whatever you’re comfortable with.)
- Transfer the batter into a piping bag. (Or if you’re frugal like me, you can use a medium sandwich bag instead and just cut a tiny corner of the bag to pipe.)
- Pipe batter onto baking sheets. Try to pipe small rounds that are just under 1 inch wide and at least 1/2 inch apart.
- Preheat oven to 325°F. Let the batter sit at room temperature for about 15 to 20 minutes.
- Turn the oven down to 300°F and put the baking sheets into the oven for 7 minutes.
- Rotate the baking sheets and bake for 8 minutes.
- Remove the baking sheets from the oven and allow the macaron shells to cool.
Lemon icing (adapted from here)
- In a small bowl, cream the icing sugar and butter. (I use a single whisk attachment on my handmixer and whisk on low speed.)
- Whisk in vanilla extract.
- Whisk in lemon juice.
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Sandwich just a small dab of icing between two macaron shells – you can pipe the filling or just gently spread the filling with a spatula.
Enjoy!
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