Raspberry White Chocolate Macarons
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
Step into fancy with these beautiful Raspberry White Chocolate Macarons. They are bursting with raspberry flavor and are naturally gluten free!
Author:
Recipe type: Dessert
Serves: 18-24 assembled cookies
Ingredients
  • For the macarons:
  • 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons superfine almond flour* (see notes)
  • 1⅔ cups powdered sugar
  • ⅓ cup freeze dried raspberries or 1 teaspoon raspberry puree* (see notes)
  • ⅛ teaspoon salt
  • 3 large egg whites, room temperature
  • ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar (optional but recommended)
  • ¼ cup granulated sugar
  • ⅛ teaspoon pink or red gel food coloring (optional)
  • For the filling:
  • 5 tablespoons butter
  • 1⅓ cups powdered sugar
  • pinch of salt
  • 1 tablespoon reserved raspberry puree or 1 tablespoon freeze dried raspberry powder, sifted* (see notes)
  • 1 tablespoon heavy whipping cream
  • For decorating:
  • 4 oz. high quality white chocolate baking bar or 1 cup white chocolate melting wafers (I prefer Ghirardelli)
  • ½ teaspoon shortening or oil (omit if you are using melting wafers)
  • crushed pistachios
Directions
  1. If not using freeze dried raspberries, begin making raspberry puree for cookies and filling. If using freeze dried raspberries, move on to next step of preparing baking pans. Rinse berries and add them to a blender. Blend until smooth. Strain mixture with a fine mesh strainer over a small saucepan to remove seeds. Add lemon juice and stir. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat to simmer and cook for about 10 mins until mixture becomes like a thick gravy, stirring occasionally, but frequently toward the end to avoid burning. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Mixture should cool to the consistency of jam. Set aside.
  2. Prepare baking pans by using two aluminum baking sheets covered with silpat mats. Set aside.
  3. In a blender, combine almond flour, powdered sugar, ⅓ cup freeze dried raspberries (if not using puree) and salt. Pulse until a find powder forms. Sift over a medium sized bowl to remove any larger pieces of almonds and raspberry seeds in the flour. You may need to stir and gently push the spatula against the mesh strainer/sifter toward the end to get the majority of the fine flour through. Discard pieces left in mesh strainer. Set aside.
  4. In a large metal or glass bowl, add egg whites. Whisk on low speed until frothy. Add cream of tartar. Add ¼ cup granulated sugar slowly, while continuing to whisk. Once sugar is incorporated, increase speed to high and whip just until stiff peaks form. When you remove the whisks, the peaks should stand straight up. This should not take more than 6 mins from beginning of beating egg whites until the end. Do not over beat.
  5. Add 1 teaspoon of cooled raspberry puree (if not using freeze dried raspberries) and food coloring (optional) to bowl with eggs. Whisk on low speed just until color is even. Add egg white mixture to almond flour mixture. Using a large spatula, fold egg whites into almond mixture using gentle strokes. Fold mixture together until lumps are smooth and mixture resembles consistency of lava (think center of molten lava cake: still thick but smooth and airy, not sandy or gritty looking). This should take about 65-80 strokes.
  6. Add mixture to piping bag fitted with large round tip (size 10 or 12) and pipe 1" circles of batter straight down, slightly swirling as you lift, about 1" apart on first baking sheet covered with silpat mat. After piping first baking sheet, firmly bang pan on counter to remove air bubbles and allow mixture to slightly spread out and flatten. Repeat with second baking sheet.
  7. Let pans sit on counter for 30 minutes until shells are no longer sticky to the touch.
  8. About 5 mins before shells are ready to bake, preheat oven to 275 degrees. Bake cookies for 18-24 mins until lightly browning at bottom of feet and shells feel set to the touch. They should be stiff and remove easily from parchment paper. If still sticking, bake a little longer. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely on cooling rack. Bake one pan at a time and begin with the pan you piped first.
  9. To make filling, beat together butter and 1 cup powdered sugar until light and fluffy. Add a pinch of salt, raspberry puree or sifted freeze dried raspberry powder (crush up raspberries in a bag and sift out seeds to make 1 tablespoon), and whipping cream. Beat until incorporated. Add remaining ⅓ cup sugar and beat to combine. Increase speed to high and beat for about 2 minutes until light and fluffy. Add more sugar if needed for a thicker filling. Add more cream if you want your filling thinner.
  10. To assemble macarons, turn upside down and match up similar sized shells. Pipe frosting inside one of the shells and sandwich with the other. Continue until all shells are filled.
  11. To make white chocolate coating, break white chocolate bar into pieces in a microwave safe glass dish or pour in melting wafers. Heat at 50% power for 1 minute. Stir for at least one minute until smooth. If there are still lumps, return to microwave for 15 second increments at 50% power, stirring in between. Add shortening or oil if using a baking bar and stir until smooth.
  12. Dip one edge of assembled macarons in white chocolate mixture and shake off excess. Do this quickly so the warm chocolate doesn't melt the buttercream. Lay cookies back on silpat mat and sprinkle with crushed pistachios. Refrigerate until white chocolate coating hardens, about 20-30 mins.
  13. To store macarons, lay flat in an airtight container layered with parchment paper in fridge for up to 1 week or in freezer for up to 3 months. Serve at room temperature.
  14. Macarons are best after sitting a day in the fridge and then sitting out at room temperature before serving.
Recipe by Breezy Bakes at https://www.breezybakes.com/raspberry-white-chocolate-macarons/