I’ve been really enjoying baking macarons lately. The last recipe I made was for these holiday-themed, Peppermint Macarons. Now, I’ve perfected a heart-shaped macaron that is perfect for the month of love, or as a gift for your sweetheart any time of the year. Wondering how you’re going to pipe macarons into the shape of a heart? I’m including a printable template that you can place underneath parchment paper! This way you’ll get perfectly sized macarons that match up to make beautiful cookie sandwiches. For more Valentine’s Day themed recipes, check out my Roasted Heart Potatoes or make a gorgeous Red Velvet Cake. Add heart-shaped macarons to a beautiful dessert charcuterie board this holiday too!
Why You’ll Love this Macaron Recipe
Key Ingredients
Complete list of ingredients and amounts can be found in the recipe card below.
Almond Flour: For making the perfect macarons, it is important that you use FINE almond flour, and that you sift it very well after measuring. Measure your flour and sugars by weight rather than volume for the best results.Powdered Sugar: This finely milled sugar is sifted in with the almond flour and keeps our macarons nice and light. Egg Whites: You’ll need only the whites from 3 large eggs. You can choose to age your egg whites or not; see my note down below. Allow your egg whites to come to room temperature before mixing.Cream of Tartar: This helps to stabilize the egg mixture. Fresh cream of tartar is important. White Sugar: Yes, there are two types of sugar in this macarons recipe. Both are used differently, and both are important.Food Coloring: To make pink hearts, I used a small amount of red gel food coloring. Pink can be used as well. It’s important to use gel coloring rather than liquid when making macarons.Vanilla Buttercream: Instructions are in the recipe to make a simple buttercream filling using powdered sugar, unsalted butter, whipping cream, and vanilla extract. To Decorate: If desired, white chocolate melts and sprinkles can be used to decorate the macarons.
Macaron Preparation Tips
You’ll want to review these tips before you start making this macaron recipe.
Check Your Oven Temperature. Most ovens are not completely accurate. An Oven thermometer will help you to ensure that you are baking accurately. Measure by Weight: This is the best way to ensure that you are using the right amount of each ingredient for macarons. This cookie recipe is less forgiving than others may be, so knowing how to measure ingredients this way is key. A simple digital kitchen scale is all that’s needed. Age the Egg Whites. This isn’t required, but most find that aging the egg whites used in macarons helps to ensure overall better final results. Your eggs will whip to stiff peaks faster too! This is because aging reduces the amount of water in the eggs. Separate your egg whites 2 – 3 days before making your macarons, pour them in a small container, cover in plastic wrap with a few holes poked through, and place in your refrigerator. The morning you plan to make your macarons pull the egg whites out early to let them reach room temperature.Avoid Oil and Humidity. These two things are the enemy of a perfect macaron. When making macarons, be sure that your bowls and tools are very clean with no oil residue. You’ll also want to check the weather. The humidity of a rainy day will make it very difficult to get good macarons. I usually allow my macarons to rest under the hood fan of the stove so that any moisture is moved away from them. Use Room Temperature Ingredients. Allow the egg whites to come to room temperature. If you store your almond flour in the fridge or freezer, let that come up to room temperature as well.
How to Make Heart Macarons
Before you start, print out 4 copies of the Heart Template for macarons. If you’d like to decorate your heart macarons like I did, melt a cup of white chocolate melts in the microwave. Use a spoon to drizzle the white chocolate in a line across each cookie, and add Valentine’s sprinkles before the chocolate hardens.
How to Make Flavored Macarons
The best way to make flavored macarons is to add flavor to the filling. The buttercream recipe here uses pure vanilla extract, but if you are looking for something a bit less vanilla, you can use other extracts instead. You can also vary the flavor extract in the macaron shells recipe. Try flavoring your heart macarons with one of these:
Strawberry Macarons – Use a strawberry flavor extract, or add strawberry powder (finely crushed freeze-dried strawberries) to the filling. Another great idea is to make Chocolate covered strawberry macarons. Flavor the shells with strawberries and fill them with chocolate frosting. Raspberry Macarons – Similar to strawberry macarons, these can be made by adding raspberry extract or raspberry powder to the batter and/or filling.Rose Flavored Macarons – I love this idea for a romantic valentine’s day macaron! Use rose water essence in place of the vanilla extract in the shells and the filing. Almond Macarons – This is a simple but delicious macaron flavor option. Simply swap out the vanilla extract for half the amount of almond extract.
Helpful Macaron Making Tools
Use this free macaron template to get the perfect size and shape for your heart macarons. It’s easiest to use a stand mixer to beat the egg whites for macarons, but you can also do it with a handheld mixer if you need to. A digital food scale is a must for accurately measuring ingredients.
Try More Macaron Flavors
Chocolate Macarons with Nutella FillingPeppermint Chocolate MacaronsBaby Yoda Macarons
These Heart Macarons are going to be the perfect treat for Valentine’s Day this year! Be sure to pin the recipe so that you can find it again later. © Little Sunny Kitchen
