Vegan Macarons Step By Step

Take a look at my How To Make Perfect Macarons and Chocolate Macarons posts for more macaron tips and troubleshooting.

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In collaboration with Thermapen

Vegan Macarons

I first came across vegan macarons on Pinterest (where else?) and I was instantly intrigued. I mean egg whites and meringue are a pretty fundamental ingredient in macarons, so how on earth could they be vegan? This is where a magical ingredient called aquafaba comes in!

If you have never heard of it – I sure as hell had not – aquafaba is the cooking liquid of beans and other legumes like chickpeas. That’s right, these macarons contain chickpea water… but don’t let that put you off. (Put the chickpeas to great use in my fabulously healthy Vegan Chickpea Salad!).

After I read a little more about aquafaba, I discovered it had entire websites, Facebook groups and forums devoted to it.

I simply HAD to try it, not least because I was so curious as to whether it would work. After all, macarons can be fiddly little beasts without the added dimension of using an unknown ingredient.

My neighbour’s son (the eternally adorable Aiden) is allergic to eggs so she had already tried to bake with aquafaba – with less than successful results.

But that just made me more determined to try making these macarons. A recipe and science experiment all in one – who could resist the challenge?

I did my research and the suggestion was that you could either use the liquid drained from cans of chickpeas or make it yourself.

Take a look at Lazy Cat Kitchen‘svery informative blogpost that’s well worth reading – not to mention the entire blog is simply gorgeous.

I decided to take the lazy route – after all I wasn’t convinced this would work. So I drained the liquid from two cans of organic chickpeas and then reduced it on the stove to just less than half its original volume.

You need 150ml (5fl oz) of aquafaba (or egg whites) in my recipe and two 400g (14oz) cans will provide you with just the right amount after the reduction.

I won’t lie to you – aquafaba doesn’t look, or smell particularly pleasant. My doubts started to take root – I was more than a little worried about wasting expensive ingredients.

Aquafaba is best chilled overnight in the fridge where it takes a similar viscosity to that of egg whites. And it works in exactly the same way as they do – this is actually pretty much the same method as making traditional macarons. The only difference is now I finally have a new ally in the kitchen – my new Thermapen!

I guess that by sharing all these photos I have probably taken all the suspense out of ‘did it work?’… but I was still amazed and incredibly impressed by just how well it worked.

Not only were the macarons picture-perfect, they tasted exactly the same as regular macarons. The shells were a touch drier, perhaps, than traditional macarons, but once they were filled the shells soften and you get the same taste and mouthfeel.

But there are some differences to the method – mostly involving cooking time and oven temperature. The oven temperature has to be lower than traditional macarons – about 120C (250F) as opposed to 150C (300F).

Too hot and the macarons will easily burn, too low and they will be cooked on the outside but completely uncooked in the middle.

Vegan Macarons Tips and Troubleshooting

The macaron shells have need to dry out for at least an hour or longer and they have to cook for longer, between 20-30 minutes.

Do not bake more than one tray at a time – you will end up with unevenly baked macarons if you do – as I learned the hard way.

Vegan Macarons Fillings

I filled mine with avocado chocolate mousse (or ‘ganache’ in this case I guess) and they tasted amazing. Don’t be too heavy-handed with the coconut oil, it may cause it to deep into the shells.

An easier filling would be to make vegan ganache using dairy free dark chocolate chips and coconut cream or soy cream (try Alrpo Soy Single Cream Alternative).

You could use any fillings you like – and flavour the macarons any way you like. Vegan buttercream is another option – take a look at this vegan chocolate cake for the recipe.

Macarons Storing Tips

• It would be best to store the macarons shells in an airtight container, separated by grease proof paper.
• Once the macarons are filled they will start to soften – this is fine if you eat them within a day or so but would not advise it for much longer.
• Macarons can also be frozen but I haven’t tried this myself since they usually disappear pretty quickly!

Useful Tools for Macarons Perfection

• Digital scales – for best results it is important to weigh the ingredients
• Fine sieve
• Silicone spatula
• Piping bags
• Plain round piping tip (Wilton 1A)
• Silpat Silicon Macaron Mats or similar
• Cookie sheets (without rims)

Have you made my Vegan Macarons recipe? Post a photo on my Facebook page, share it on Instagram, or save it to Pinterest with the tag #Nusde. I can’t wait to see your take on it!

More Aquafaba Recipes to Try!

• Vegan heart-shaped churros
• Five ingredient chocolate peanut butter mousse
• Vegan Chocolate and Coconut Mousse