This Lemon Poppy Seed Macaron Recipe is made with French macaron shells that are filled with a refreshing lemon buttercream.
Gather and measure all of your ingredients for the lemon poppy seed macarons before starting.
Special Equipment Needed:
- Kitchen Scale
- Stand or Handheld Mixer
- Silicone Baking Mat
- Half Baking Sheet – Aluminum
- Piping Bags
- Sifter
Tips and Tricks
Making the Meringue – The key to successful macarons is a strong base! The base is meringue. To start, you’ll whisk egg whites until they become frothy then, add in cream of tartar while whisking. Follow that by gradually adding in granulated sugar while whisking on high speed. I like to add in gel food coloring when my meringue has medium peaks. Continue whisking until you have reached STIFF peaks. Some people like using aged egg whites or adding egg white powder. I find using regular egg whites works just fine :).
Macaronage – You’ll want sift half of the dry ingredients in to begin with. Then fold gently until it is mostly incorporated. Then sift in the remaining dry ingredients and continue folding until you’ve reached a consistency where you can make a figure 8 with the batter and it does not break. You’ll want to check frequently as it is very easy to over or under mix the macaron shells.
Preparing Baking Sheet and Piping Bag – If your baking sheet has sides I recommend flipping it upside down. This way the heat gets distributed evenly and your macaron shell feet will be equal. You can use parchment paper to line the baking sheet but I prefer silicone! Whenever I use parchment paper, it gets wrinkly while the shells are resting. You can fit the piping bag with a round tip to ensure perfectly round shells OR you can cut a straight line across the bag about 1.25 inches up from the tip (where the black line is in photo 8.)
Piping Shells & Filling – When piping the shells hold the bag perpendicular to the baking sheet and do NOT lift the bag while piping. I pipe 1 inch shells. You can obviously make them smaller or bigger but, your baking times would need adjusted.
Explore more macaron recipes here!
Lemon Poppy Seed Macaron Recipe
Macaron Shells
Lemon Buttercream
Instructions
Macaron Shells
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Sift almond flour, powdered sugar, and poppy seeds into a bowl and set it aside. Measure the granulated sugar and also set that aside.
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Then, in a large bowl add egg whites. Whisk until the egg whites start to foam and add in the cream of tartar. Continue whisking while gradually adding the granulated sugar. Whisk on high speed until you've reached medium peaks. Add in the yellow GEL food coloring. Resume whisking until stiff peaks. This is the meringue.
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Sift half of the already sifted ingredients into the meringue. Gently fold together until mostly incorporated. Then sift in the remaining dry ingredients. Fold together until you've reached a "lava" consistency.
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Prepare a baking sheet by flipping it upside down and placing a silicone mat down.
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Fit a piping bag with a round tip. Then fill the bag with the batter and pipe the shells by holding the bag perpendicular to the pan. Pipe until the shells are 1 inch in diaper. Do NOT lift the bag of batter while piping the shells. Once all of the macaron shells are piped, pick up the baking sheet and drop it on the counter 3-4 times. This will pop any air bubbles that may be in the batter.
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Let the shells rest for 45 minutes. Preheat your oven to 315 degrees Fahrenheit when there is 15 minutes left on the timer. Bake for 15 minutes.
Every oven is different, so your time/temp may vary, but this is the temperature and time that works every time for me! -
Once the shells have been baked and cooled down to room temperature, remove them from the silicone baking mat and pair them up with their "twin."
Lemon Buttercream
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Beat the butter until creamy - about 1 minute. Then add the powdered sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, and vanilla extract. Beat for 2 minutes. Fill a piping bag with the buttercream.
Assembly
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Pipe the lemon buttercream onto the bottom macaron shells. Then top that with the top shells and slightly squish together. Store macarons in an airtight container in the refrigerator overnight to mature. DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP. Maturing is crucial. Enjoy!
