I use my blog. I don’t need my backstory, and you don’t want it. Therefore, what I type above a recipe is usually sparse and necessary.

For no-rest vegan macarons, settle down for a few thousand critical words…

How to Use This Post and Recipe

Notice that you can jump from post to recipe and back. Should you or I need a reminder while baking, we can click linked instructions in my recipe to reread relevant information in my post. A “Back to Recipe” button is located at the end of each section for convenience.

Try it!

One More Thing

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Instructions

STAGE I.A. Preparing

“…study your oven.”

Chances are, you’re like me: embarking on a journey of precision baking with whatever oven the landlord or previous owner installed.

Perhaps this is why some professional bakers discourage home cooks from attempting macarons: we may have their skills, but lack their equipment.

Yet we can equip ourselves with knowledge instead. A deep dive into your appliance can help you proactively compensate for quirks related to preheating, temperature maintenance, and hot spots.

And the only study guide you need is an oven thermometer.

Preheating

Ovens are pathological liars. Regardless of setting, my oven beeps after 10 min of preheating – no matter what! I could input 450°F/230°C, and exactly 10 min later, it would happily chirp, “I’m ready!” despite being 300°F/150°C. Hence my admonishment:

Install an oven thermometer.

Hang it from the center of the middle rack, then preheat your oven and notice any discrepancies between setting and needle after 2 hrs. (Such a long preheat ensures your oven walls have fully absorbed heat creating a more stable environment.) Adjust accordingly.

Temperature Maintenance

To an extent, fluctuations are normal. Your ultimate goal is a baking chamber that averages 275°F/135°C. Preheat your oven for 2 hrs, then record the oven thermometer reading every 5 over the course of an hour. Average your records and adjust accordingly.

Also note your highest and lowest records. From my experience, a range of 260°F/127°C to 280°F/138°C is OK; any wider, and you may want to think about a pizza stone.

Pizza Stone

When I first heard of using a pizza stone to stabilize temperature, I thought I found the best advice on the Internet. A stone absorbs and holds heat acting as an additional wall to safeguard delicate bakes from internal dips and spikes as well as external drafts from opening the oven door.

I put mine in. Suddenly, batch after batch of macaron shells were lopsided!?

Depending on the location of your heating element(s), a pizza stone may generate more questions than answers. Mine, situated between an element and my baking tray, was first in line for the heat my shells needed. It intercepted critical degrees resulting in wayward feet.

I removed my pizza stone, and even rises returned. Yet I still believe in its potential to tame a truly wild oven. Try it in yours if temperature maintenance is a significant concern.

Trust the process.

I thought I could expedite the 2-hr preheat by setting my oven higher than 275°F/135°C for a shorter amount of time. Yet just as oven walls need time to absorb heat, they need time to release it. Even when I tried preheating at 300°F/150°C for an hour and then at 275°F/135°C for another half, my macaron feet spread – a classic sign of a too-hot oven.

At most, I’ll preheat at 280°F/138°C for an hour and then at 275°F/135°C for another 30-60 min, but admittedly, this is more personal superstition than global advice.

Relax a little.

Many ovens can only adjust in increments of 5. Aim for as close to 275°F/135°C as you can! If one setting averages 273°F/134°C and the next, 276°F/136°C, go with 276°F/136°C; if your choices are 274°F/134°C and 278°F/137°C, go with 274°F/134°C.

Given this morsel of mercy in macaron making, I suggest tracking your oven’s performance in increments of 5 – even if 1-degree increments are available to you.

Hot Spots

My preferred method for identifying hot spots is simply observing your oven through routine use. After baking as usual, notice where food has developed the most color.

Other, faster methods include the toast or parchment tests. Should these expedited methods appeal, perform the toast test at 350°F/180°C on the middle rack (where your macaron shells will bake); at 400°F/200°C, the parchment test is too far removed from my recipe to provide readily useful feedback.

I address moderate hot spots by instructing you to rotate your tray every 5 min. However, if you have severe hot spots, consider rotating more frequently after the first 5 min. Developing macaron feet respond poorly to any drafts before then.

BONUS INSTRUCTION: Download my oven log.

I compiled all my oven-related advice into a tracking sheet. Use it to study yours!

“Source ingredients.”

Quality

Granulated Sugar

Since my recipe involves dissolving a weighed amount of granulated sugar, brand matters little. Crystal size can affect a number of things from how much sugar is in a cup to how much air is whipped into your meringue. Weighing and dissolving eliminate these variables.

You can focus, therefore, on which sugar is right for you and your baking journey. Organic sugar is never processed with bone char, but other brands (which probably also aren’t) are lighter on your weekly budget. Both options are compassionate!

Eden Organic No Salt Added Garbanzo Beans

In preparation for my recipe review of vegan macarons, I cooked several pounds of chickpeas. I skipped brining, used as little water as possible, and froze quarts of what looked like perfectly thick, unsalted aquafaba. (Only one blogger specified unsalted aquafaba, but I wanted to control as much as I could across tests.)

All was well until I thawed and reduced some for the first recipe. After 20 min of whipping with cream of tartar on high speed, I had soft peaks at best. My homemade stash was useless! So I urgently went to a nearby store where the only salt-free canned beans I could find were Eden Organic.

I was rightfully intrigued by a creative source of sodium on their label: kombu!

Indeed, many varieties of Eden Organic canned beans are salt/sodium chloride-free, but contain sodium alginate from being prepared with seaweed. Sodium alginate not only boosts flavor, but also contributes mild stabilizing and gelling properties making this aquafaba behave more like egg whites than any other. I bought a few 29-oz (822-g) cans of their no salt added garbanzo beans to pay the best price by weight.

I was coasting! Then one day, my store simply didn’t have any 29-oz (822-g) cans forcing me to buy several smaller ones instead. Some were Eden Organic; some, 365.

The aquafaba therein was respectively better and worse. Lacking kombu, 365 aquafaba is effective – but barely. It consistently yielded around 85% sellable shells with the other 15% slightly sticking to my mat (even after more bake time).

The 15-oz (425-g) cans of Eden Organic No Salt Added Garbanzo Beans, by contrast, contain thicker, more concentrated aquafaba than the larger ones. It works brilliantly, 100%. I’ll never buy their 29-oz (822-g) cans – let alone a different brand – again.

Almond Flour

Bob’s Red Mill and Baker’s Corner (Aldi brand) almond flour have worked for me. I prefer the lighter, drier, and more economic Aldi product, but Bob’s is great too.

As long as you source superfine, blanched almond flour, I think you’re safe to make macarons. Coarser mills and almond meal won’t work as well – if at all. Coarse flours make these cookies lumpy; almond meal, made from whole almonds with their skins, won’t even mix or pipe properly.

And if you encounter the curious “almond meal flour”, use other clues on its package to determine which one it really is.

Powdered Sugar and Cream of Tartar

I’ve had success with random store brands of both products. After deciding whether organic sugar is for you, be free to grab whatever’s available. an unknown amount of cornstarch in your powdered sugar? years-old cream of tartar? You should be good to go!

I stress “should” because we are discussing macarons after all…

Shortening

You’re probably aware this isn’t a whole food recipe. Nevertheless, I hear requests to justify or eliminate shortening.

And for good reason! In addition to being high in saturated fat, shortening may be made from unsustainably sourced and/or unfairly traded palm oil. Purchase wisely for yourself, others, and our planet.

But do purchase. Many plant-based butters melt at room temperature, the temperature at which macarons should be served. A 50/50 blend of shortening and “butter” safeguards your hard work from coming undone.

Quantity

70, 56, ¼, 107, 100, 7…

I recognize I landed on some ugly numbers. Yet they produce 340 g batter which allows you to pipe an entire tray comfortably. A small amount leftover is intentional so you can avoid awkwardly squeezing – and in turn, excessively deflating – the last couple shells.

Can this macaron recipe be scaled?

yes and no. It’s actually already scaled by 93% and rounded from the following measurements:

• 75 g reduced aquafaba
• 60 g granulated sugar
• ¼ tsp (1.25 mL) cream of tartar
• 115 g each almond flour and powdered sugar, or
  • 115 g almond flour, 107 g powdered sugar, and 8 g Dutch-process cocoa

Throughout the recipe development process, the above ratios proved to be ideal. However, these measurements yielded roughly 30 shells: too much for one tray, not enough for two.

So I scaled it back. Since I settled on a no-rest recipe, I decided one tray was preferable as a second one would be forced to rest while the first bakes. Should additional batter rest after piping, on the baking tray? twisted inside a piping bag? loosely covered in the mixing bowl? I aim to answer these questions eventually, but for now, my recipe makes one tray of 24, 1 ½-in (3.5- to 4-cm) shells with a merciful buffer.

To make a “half” (47%) batch, use the above quantities x 0.47:

• 35 g reduced aquafaba
• 28 g granulated sugar
• ⅛ tsp (0.63 mL) cream of tartar
• 54 g each almond flour and powdered sugar, or
  • 54 g almond flour, 50 g powdered sugar and 4 g Dutch-process cocoa

I don’t recommend testing less than “half” because your stand mixer may not reach your mock Swiss meringue base well enough. Mine doesn’t in any case! I’m also unequipped to measure less than ⅛ tsp (0.63 mL) cream of tartar accurately.

“Gather and wash equipment.”

Practically speaking, there are two general categories of equipment for making macarons:

• Equipment That Will/May Directly Contact Raw Batter Ingredients
• Equipment That Won’t

The former category requires special care. Meringues and macarons are highly sensitive to cross contamination with food from other preparations – especially oils. If you have macaron-exclusive equipment, I probably found your blog! If you don’t, you need to wash most of this equipment accordingly:

1. With a new/freshly dishwashed sponge and dish soap, meticulously scrub tool.
2. Dry with a freshly laundered lint-free kitchen towel.
3. Using another towel, rub with distilled white vinegar.
4. Dry again, then set aside.

Equipment That Will/May Directly Contact Raw Batter Ingredients

• small prep bowl
• can opener
• fine mesh strainer
• small pot
• small spatula*
• small covered airtight container
• stand mixer with whisk attachment
• ¼-tsp (1.25-mL) measuring spoon
• large inflexible silicone spatula*
• medium bowl*
• parchment paper*
• sifter*
• metal (everyday) spoon*
• large round piping tip (such as Wilton 2A; Links are not affiliate.)
• disposable piping bag (or one that has never known oily applications like frosting)
• tall glass*
• aluminum half sheet pan
• silicone baking mat
• toothpick

Equipment That Won’t

• oven thermometer
• food scale that can measure in grams*
• trivet (if food scale is plastic)
• oven mitt
• offset spatula or butter knife
• medium piping tip (such as Wilton 12 or 21) and another piping bag, or zip-top bag
• microwave-safe plate
• hand mixer
• additional metal (everyday) spoon (if partially filling with vegan curd/jam/etc.)
• covered but not airtight container

*will be used more than once

Non-Negotiable Equipment

I’ve already stressed the importance of an oven thermometer. Why are other items emboldened?

Large Inflexible Silicone Spatula

A no-rest recipe such as mine hinges on a thick batter. For all their benefits, thick batters are woefully difficult to read. They offer some forgiveness for overmixing, yet conceal their readiness to be piped courtesy of a high dry:wet ingredients ratio. (More almond flour and powdered sugar means more in the way of observing how much your meringue has deflated.)

I thus offer a range of 85-90 folds for the macaronage stage. 87 is my magic number! Its magic, however, is dependent on my equipment and technique:

1. Leading with the narrow edge of a large inflexible silicone spatula, circle around your batter from 12:00 to 12:00.
2. With the wide side, drag down the center past the middle of your batter.
3. Repeat before reaching 6:00. (I demonstrate these motions in a video farther down.)

A flexible spatula yields to resistance deflating your meringue less with each turn. Such a tool will demand more folding; such a batter won’t clearly tell you how much. Find the kind of tool I list and plan on counting!

Aluminum Half Sheet Pan

The color and material of a baking sheet determine how it heats and cools. Though ideal for crispy bakes, darkly coated and/or steel pans heat slowly and unevenly. They stay hot longer after baking than uncoated (light-colored) aluminum ones finalizing crunch and browning particularly for savory dishes.

They can rupture delicate foods. Uncoated (light-colored) aluminum half sheet pans, by contrast, transfer heat the only ways vegan macarons accept: swiftly, evenly, gently.

They are common, but so are variations. Uncoated half sheet pans may be made of naturally dark steel; light-colored aluminum ones may be coated with a material that preserves their natural shade. Hence, I painstakingly type “uncoated (light-colored) aluminum half sheet pan” –

And not the disposable kind.

Even when following a recipe that specifies dark sheets, I made sweet volcanoes.

Silicone Baking Mat

There are scientific reasons for choosing silicone over parchment (and vice versa). Curiously, mine are more logistical than chemical.

To start, I only tested with silicone baking mats. After the previously linked recipe review in which my first-ever batch of beautiful macarons lifted off silicone, I never considered switching. Secondly, I bake on a flipped tray; the lip that would contain a slippery piece of parchment is therefore unavailable!

Certainly, there are ways to fasten parchment. Using it, however, introduces variables related to heat distribution and moisture absorption. I’m unsure my recipe would even work if you did.

Food Scale That Can Measure in Grams

Welcome to precision baking! Volume measurements are not an option, and anything larger than a gram is too big.

Moreover, the world wide web is against US home cooks specifically. If you search, “How many cups of granulated sugar is 56 g?” you will find, “56 g of granulated sugar is approximately 1/4 cup.”

Yet approximates and customary measurements are disastrous here. Granulated sugar especially comes in a range of crystal sizes making a given weight consume more or less space. ¼ cup (60 mL) of coarse crystals contains less than 56 g resulting in chalky macarons; the same amount of fine crystals contains more, resulting in fragile ones. Weigh all ingredients on a food scale that can measure in grams!

Macarons actually don’t require very much or very specialized equipment.

STAGE I.B. Reducing Aquafaba/Making Meringue Base

“Add 140 to calculate starting weight; 70, goal.”

There are more pros than cons to reducing aquafaba by 50%. I’m not saying it isn’t annoying! Without reducing, the entire macaron making process transpires within a day. Unreduced aquafaba significantly shortens the macaronage stage too.

However, it’s worthwhile. Reducing aquafaba:

• Decreases can-to-can variability
• Produces a meringue base that doesn’t splash when whipped on high speed
• Shortens whipping time
• Strengthens meringue
• Affords some forgiveness before batter is overmixed
• Eliminates rest time
• Creates a tighter batter making shape and character macarons more possible

I also prefer the longer macaronage! Sometimes, with unreduced aquafaba, the resultant batter is perfectly deflated yet still has micro-streaks of almond flour. Do I risk folding a weaker meringue a few more times, or ignore any visible dry ingredients? I’ve never been forced to answer this question with reduced aquafaba.

Lastly, aquafaba may be batch reduced up to 5 days in advance for a more condensed and predictable baking day commitment. Unreduced aquafaba takes 15-20 min (versus 6-10) to whip, and yields a moist batter that takes 15-135 min (versus 0) to rest – depending on the relative humidity and ambient temperature that day.

Reducing concentrates proteins and starches resulting in a faster whip. Moreover, by preemptively evaporating some moisture, the resting (AKA drying) stage becomes unnecessary. You thus can make more macarons in a day if your aquafaba was reduced beforehand.

And more macarons is probably why you’re here.

Tips

In Step 6, I instruct you to, “…strain 140 g aquafaba into pot.” I honestly strain 142.

Doing so isn’t necessary! I simply feel safer with a couple extra grams as vegan macarons have a limited window of tolerance. 69 instead of 70 g of reduced aquafaba is OK, but anything less than that (or more than 72 g) is risky.

Pay close attention to your rate of reduction as well. High heat can denature aquafaba leaving you with a substance that won’t whip to stiff peaks. Aim to reduce around 7-8 g/min, then –

Honor the long cooling, chilling, and warming directions. Unlike egg whites, aquafaba contains starches which require temperature manipulation over time to develop a similarly cohesive network of proteins.

“Stir 1-2 min, until sugar is completely dissolved.”

There are three types of meringue:

• Italian
• Swiss
• French

Generally speaking, Italian meringue begins with heating granulated sugar to 240°F/116°C before pouring it into the egg whites or aquafaba as they/it whip(s). Swiss meringue starts by dissolving granulated sugar into the egg whites/aquafaba over a double boiler, and French meringue skips heat entirely.

If you wish to learn more, Erin McDowell has a fabulous meringue tutorial. Almost all her advice applies to aquafaba-based meringues even though she uses egg whites.

Mock Swiss Meringue

I call my go-to meringue “mock Swiss meringue”. As for a conventional Swiss meringue, I dissolve granulated sugar into my base. But instead of using a double boiler and egg whites, I take advantage of the heat obtained through reducing aquafaba.

I pitted my mock Swiss against French meringue in vegan macarons many times. Ultimately, my method delivers better and more consistent results.

left, French; right, mock Swiss meringue vegan macarons

What about Italian meringue?

For aesthetic and practical reasons, I never tested Italian meringue vegan macarons. Macarons are a comprehensive vibe! When I initiated research, I clicked on five recipes with images of what I wanted mine to look like. Only coincidentally, I collected one Italian, one Swiss, and three French formulae.

Unfortunately, the Italian one (by Fred Csibi, AKA Doc Macaron) requires potato protein which I cannot reliably find in the US. I also, admittedly, was not sad to skip boiling syrup – for myself and my readers. I thus focused on French and “Swiss” ultimately gravitating toward “Swiss”.

STAGE I.C. Finalizing mise en place

“Meanwhile, setup…”

Congratulations for reaching this milestone! Everything hereafter will transpire relatively quickly. Be prepared.

Piping “Tip”

Wilton describes fitting a piping tip to a piping bag better than I can. (This video starts at 1:26.)

Flipped Tray

Baking on a flipped tray eliminates the possibility that the air-blocking rim is causing lopsided macarons. Additionally, it removes the need for a wire rack. After baking, a flipped tray can go directly on your counter; the rim will spare your macaron bottoms from retreating in shock from the cool surface.

STAGE II. Whipping/Meringue

“Doneness cues…”

Glossiness is only one way to tell when your meringue can form stiff peaks! I prefer looking for splatters, and listening for a flag flapping sound.

STAGE III: Folding/Macaronage

“…fold 85-90 times.”

Earlier, I discussed the need for a large inflexible silicone spatula. I also promised you a demonstration of my technique.

Counting 85-90 folds is easier than trying to explain when this viscous batter is ready to pipe. I think of homemade sand slime, Elmer’s Gue (not glue), or my hair conditioner – none of which may feature in your life, past or present.

I fold 90 times in this video, but 87 is my magic number.

STAGE IV: Piping

“…perfectly perpendicular…”

This stage may have inspired my subtitle “world’s most insultingly difficult sandwich cookie”. You can do everything else perfectly, and yet if you pipe your batter on an angle, your macaron shells will look like peeping clams.

Use a mirror or buddy to determine if you’re absolutely perpendicular to your tray. Then, after lifting and dropping it four times, use a toothpick to pop and heal any surfaced bubbles; a pocket of air can cause lopsidedness too.

STAGE V: Baking

“Bake 30-35 min, until feet look dry.”

I will never not be anxious during this stage. You’re not alone.

Beyond that, most of my baking advice exists in other sections. Set a timer to rotate your tray at accurate intervals, and grab an offset spatula or butterknife to help grip it when you do; the upside-down rim can be challenging to grasp.

My shells are almost always done after 32 min. Unfortunately, the best way to test doneness is to lift them off the tray after they’ve cooled another 30-35. Use a flashlight to inspect their feet as you’re able, and let them cook another minute if you notice any shine. (Oven lights produce heat.)

STAGE VI.A. Making “Buttercream” + B. Filling

“Meanwhile…”

I have a confession: When I started testing macarons, I used canned frosting. (You might be surprised to discover how many are vegan.)

I encourage you to do the same. At the very least, wait for your shells to be done and make “buttercream” while they cool. There’s little more disheartening in the baking world than having filling from scratch on deck as its intended dessert fails you.

STAGE VII. Maturing

“…refrigerate 24-48 hrs.”

I won’t tell you not to eat your macarons immediately. However, postpone judging their texture and fullness until they’ve been refrigerated for 24-48 hrs in a covered but not airtight container. This process softens crunch, increases chew, and offers a chance for macaron bottoms and tops to meet internally. Hollow spaces will fill in this time.

And finally, for the love of your hard work, allow them to sit at room temperature for at least 15 minutes to give the “buttercream” time to become supple again.