Strawberry French Macarons
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Naturally colored Strawberry French Macarons are the cutest pastel pink dessert you'll ever see. Learn how to make these adorable petite cookies in this post.
If you love making French macarons as much as I do, be sure to check out some of my other favorites like my Chocolate French Macarons, Green Tea French Macarons, or my Raspberry French Macarons.
Table of Contents
Why You'll Love This Recipe
Pastel Pink Dessert: Today I'm sharing the cutest pastel pink dessert — delicious French Macarons! I think if I had to choose the prettiest and most delicious macs – these Strawberry French Macarons would take the cake. This petite pastel pink dessert are even adorable on top of cakes! If you're looking for a pastel pink dessert for a themed party like a baby shower, wedding, or birthday, these are it!
Naturally Colored: These naturally colored Strawberry French Macarons are colored with a natural food dye made from beets! I made the shells and the filling both pink because they just look so cute and full of spring vibes. Even if you don't color your macarons at all, they will still be delicious. The color is totally optional and is just for looks if you want a pastel pink dessert.
Naturally Gluten Free: Not only are these naturally colored Strawberry French Macarons free of artificial colors, but they are also naturally gluten free. French macarons traditionally do not have gluten, so they are an amazing cookie to bake if you have both gluten and gluten free guests as they are insanely delicious!
Ingredients
Food to Live Organic Almond Flour
Florida Crystals Organic Powdered Sugar
Simply Organic Vanilla Extract
Suncore Foods Organic Pink Dye
Tools Needed
Baking Sheet Half Sheet Pan (use code MIMIBAKES for 10% off my favorite stainless steel sustainable bakeware!)
Parchment Paper (get my favorite nontoxic parchment paper and get 10% off with MIMIBAKES)
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Step by Step Instructions
Step 1
Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.
Step 2
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, add the egg whites, cane sugar, and vanilla extract. Whisk, starting on low to avoid splattering, and slowly in creasing the speed to high, until stiff peaks form.
Step 3
Sift the powdered sugar and almond flour together into the bowl of meringue and add the pink dye. Turn the mixer on low for 10 to 15 rotations until the dry ingredients start to blend into the meringue. Pulse the mixer on medium/high 4 to 5 times to incorporate the batter.
Remove the mixing bowl from the mixer, and gently stir the batter with a spatula just until there are no pockets of egg whites or dry bits of almond flour. Don’t overstir. Transfer the batter to a piping bag fitted with Ateco tip #804.
Step 4
Pipe the macaron batter onto the prepared cookie sheets (30 should fit on each cookie sheet). Holding a cookie sheet firmly in both hands, and making sure the parchment paper doesn’t slide around, bang the cookie sheet on the counter a few times. Rotate the cookie sheet and bang it a few more times. Repeat with the other cookie sheet. This will smooth out the batter and will help form the macarons’ famous “feet.”
Step 5
Let rest for 45 minutes, or until the rounds of batter have formed shells.
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Step 6
Bake for 10 minutes or until the macs look dry and the shells look shiny. Let cool completely on the cookie sheets. (Be sure to check the Notes at the bottom of the recipe if you are baking at high altitude).
Step 7
To make the filling: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the butter, powdered sugar, water, strawberry flavor and pink dye. Mix on low until combined, then speed mixer up to high for 1 minute or until light and fluffy. Transfer to a piping bag with no tip.
Step 8
Turn over every other macaron and pair them together. Pipe a dollop of filling onto each turned over macaron and sandwich together.
Baker's Tips
- Use a scale! I say this with every single recipe, but if you are anti scale – get on board right here and right now! French Macarons are temperamental (to say the least) you don't want to make a mistake measuring. Everyone measures differently, even if you know the right way to measure by cups – let's be real, it's not as accurate as a scale. It will never be as accurate as a scale. And you can get away with this with simple cookies, but with something like this, it's not a good idea. Get a scale, find my favorite scale here.
- When separating your egg whites, do not get any part of the yolk in the egg whites. If you do, set them aside and start over. Yolks are fat, and we don't want any fat in our egg whites so it will whip up into perfect meringue.
- Make sure to whisk your egg whites until stiff peaks form. The egg whites should not droop, should not fall off the whisk, or should not really even move. It will be thick, shiny, and bright white.
- Do not over stir your batter. It should be thick and barely fall off your spatula. If your batter is too runny, your macarons will spread out too much and you will probably not have the iconic feet form correctly, they will most likely be flat and on the sides of the macarons as opposed to underneath, how they should be.
- Pipe your macarons evenly, I know this can be challenging. But, they all need to be the same size so they bake properly and you don't have ones that are burned or not done. I like to count to 2 while piping, that's all it should take to pipe the size of macaron you need.
- Make sure you bang your cookie sheets. This is super important to remove air bubbles and smooth out the tops. It also helps create the iconic feet.
- Resting time is super important – as important as weighing ingredients. Because if you don't let the macarons rest for the right amount of time (even if you made them perfectly) they will not come out. So it's important to find the resting time that is right for you and your climate. This can vary. I say to start with 45 minutes because it should take at least that long. It can definitely take longer, so do not be afraid to let them sit longer if need be. You need to make sure the shell (or skin) has formed on top. What does that mean? It means the top is perfectly smooth, and I mean perfectly smooth. There shouldn't be any moisture or any wetness to the feel of the macaron. Your finger should be able to glide right over the top. Let them sit for as long as they need. If you live in a dry climate (like here in Mammoth Lakes) it should be right around 45 minutes or maybe 1 hour. If you live in a more humid climate, it will definitely take longer. If it's raining or snowing outside, that creates humidity in the air – it will take longer on these days. These are also very bad days to bake French Macarons as it is much more difficult for them, so try not to bake them on these days.
- Bake them for the time it says, but if they are not done then don't be afraid to bake just a little longer. These cookies are so small so they shouldn't take much longer. But if yours are bigger, they will take longer. If you did not get the exact number of macarons and got less, then they are bigger so they will take longer. Everyone's oven is also a little different, so make sure to check they are done. They will look dry and set on the tops and the feet will look dry when they are done.
- Make sure to find a strawberry extract that you like the flavor of. There are so many brands out there that make flavors and extracts, and not all of them are good even if they are made with organic ingredients! Flavors and extracts are so controversial because different people have different definitions of what flavors should taste like. The coconut extract I like, may not be the one that you like because we have different nostalgic ideas of what coconut should taste like. So, whenever recipes call for flavors and extracts make sure you're using one you like. My favorite strawberry extract can be found here.
- When filling them, be sure to pick up each macaron and sandwich them together very carefully. Don't smash them on top of one another like you might a typical sandwich cookies. These are so fragile and can break so easily.
- Eat them all the same day you bake them! I have no storage tips for you as they should not be stored.
FAQ's
No, if you don't need a pastel pink dessert, feel free to leave the coloring out! They will still be just as delicious.
You don't! As stated in my tips above, I really do not believe French macarons can be stored and saved. They are a bake and enjoy the same day kind of treat! So, enjoy them and share with friends!
Craving More?
Strawberry French Macarons
Ingredients
Macs
- 102 grams egg whites
- 71 grams cane sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 198 grams powdered sugar
- 113 grams almond flour
- ½ teaspoon Suncore Foods Pink Dye
Filling
- 85 grams salted butter (softened)
- 170 grams powdered sugar (sifted)
- 1 to 2 teaspoons water
- ⅛ teaspoon strawberry extract
- pinch of Suncore Foods Pink Dye
Instructions
- Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, add the egg whites, cane sugar, and vanilla extract. Whisk, starting on low to avoid splattering, and slowly in creasing the speed to high, until stiff peaks form.
- Sift the powdered sugar and almond flour together into the bowl of meringue and add the pink dye. Turn the mixer on low for 10 to 15 rotations until the dry ingredients start to blend into the meringue. Pulse the mixer on medium/high 4 to 5 times to incorporate the batter.
- Remove the mixing bowl from the mixer, and gently stir the batter with a spatula just until there are no pockets of egg whites or dry bits of almond flour. Don’t overstir. Transfer the batter to a piping bag fitted with Ateco tip #804.
- Pipe the macaron batter onto the prepared cookie sheets (30 should fit on each cookie sheet).
- Holding a cookie sheet firmly in both hands, and making sure the parchment paper doesn’t slide around, bang the cookie sheet on the counter a few times. Rotate the cookie sheet and bang it a few more times. Repeat with the other cookie sheet. This will smooth out the batter and will help form the macarons’ famous “feet.”
- Let rest for 45 minutes, or until the rounds of batter have formed shells.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Bake for 10 minutes or until the macs look dry and the shells look shiny. Let cool completely on the cookie sheets.
- To make the filling: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the butter, powdered sugar, water, strawberry extract, and pink dye. Mix on low until combined, then speed mixer up to high for 1 minute or until light and fluffy. Transfer to a piping bag with no tip.
- Turn over every other macaron and pair them together. Pipe a dollop of filling onto each turned over macaron and sandwich together.
- Serve or eat immediately!
Notes
Nutrition
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