Gluten Free Vanilla Lemon Curd Macarons
 
Prep time
Cook time
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These Gluten Free Lemon Curd Macarons are soft, pillowy bites of heaven; light and airy vanilla macarons sandwiched with a fresh lemon curd and a lemon zest buttercream. A taste of spring!
Author:
Recipe type: Dessert
Serves: 25 cookies
Ingredients
  • For the cookies:
  • 1 cup almond flour (4 oz.)
  • 1¾ cups powdered sugar (7 oz.)
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 4 egg whites (4 oz. or ½ cup)
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla
  • ½ cup granulated sugar (3.5 oz.)
  • ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
  • For the frosting:
  • 3 tablespoons butter, room temperature
  • 2 oz. cream cheese, softened
  • ¼ teaspoon vanilla
  • pinch of salt
  • ½ teaspoon lemon zest
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 1¼ cups powdered sugar
  • For the filling:
  • ⅓ cup prepared lemon curd (recipe from The Food Charlatan, https://thefoodcharlatan.com/the-best-lemon-curd-recipe/)
Directions
  1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
  2. Begin making cookies. In a medium sized mixing bowl, add almond flour, powdered sugar, and salt. Stir to incorporate. Using a mesh strainer over another mixing bowl, sift dry mixture to remove any larger pieces of almond flour, stirring and pushing against strainer with a rubber spatula. Repeat two or three more times to make sure you remove any larger granules. Set aside.
  3. In a large mixing bowl, add egg whites, and vanilla. Beat until just foamy. Add sugar about a tablespoon at a time, beating constantly on medium speed. Once mixture begins to thicken, add cream of tartar. Increase speed to high and beat for 5-6 minutes until soft glossy peaks, that can hold their shape, form at the end of the beater. There should be no dripping.
  4. Spoon about ⅓ of the flour mixture into egg mixture. Gently fold flour into egg mixture until just combined. Add another ⅓ of flour and fold until just combined. Add remaining flour mixture and fold until just combined. The batter should be smooth and shiny and have a slight flow to it.
  5. Attach a medium sized round piping tip to a piping bag. Fill bag ¾ way full with batter. Squeeze 1½" round about 1" apart on parchment paper lined cookie sheets. Lift the pans about a foot above the counter and drop vigorously a few times to remove any air pockets in the batter.
  6. Let pans sit on counter for 30 minutes until the cookies have created a shell and are no longer sticky to the touch.
  7. Bake cookies for 7 minutes at 325 degrees. Open oven door to release any steam. Shut oven door and bake for an additional 7 minutes. Remove from oven and gently slide parchment paper with cookies onto a cooling rack. Allow to completely cool before removing from parchment paper.
  8. While cookies are cooling, begin making frosting. In a small mixing bowl, beat butter and cream cheese until smooth. Add pinch of salt and ¾ cup powdered sugar. Beat until smooth. Add vanilla, lemon zest, and lemon juice. Beat until smooth. Add remaining ½ cup of powdered sugar and beat until smooth. Add more powdered sugar, lemon juice, or milk to achieve desired consistency.
  9. Turn half of the cooled cookies over. Spoon frosting into a piping bag with a medium sized round tip. Once cookies are completely cooled, pipe a circle of frosting about a centimeter away from the edges of the turned over cookies. Fill the center of the frosted circle with lemon curd. Top them with remaining cookies and gently push and twist to secure cookies together.
  10. Store leftover cookies in an airtight container in fridge for up to 1 week, or in freezer for up to 3 months.
Notes
For a real treat, melt down some white chocolate wafers and dip about a third of each sandwiched macaron in the white chocolate. Lay on wax paper and sprinkle with chopped pistachios. Chill in the fridge until the chocolate has set. I'm telling you, this is life changing in the macaron arena.
Recipe by Breezy Bakes at https://www.breezybakes.com/gluten-free-lemon-curd-macarons-recipe/