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Gingerbread macarons may be one of the most iconic holiday flavors ever! These macarons have a delicious spiced filling just that’s just like fresh-baked gingerbread.
One of my favorite Christmas traditions is our family gingerbread competition. When it was time to decorate this batch of macarons, I wanted to use some of the classic ingredients we use to build our gingerbread houses. I chose piping consistency royal icing and sprinkles! I love how these turned out!
What you need to make Gingerbread Macarons
For the filling:
- Heavy cream
- Ground cinnamon
- Ground ginger
- Allspice
- Ground clove
- Corn starch
- Molasses
- White chocolate chips
- Unsalted butter, room temp
For the macarons:
- Egg whites
- Almond flour
- Powdered Sugar
- Granulated Sugar
- Salt
- Cream of tartar
- Gel food coloring (orange, chocolate brown, and super black)
For the decorations:
- Piping consistency royal icing
- sprinkles
Equipment and supplies:
- food processor
- stand mixer
- piping bags
- size 10 piping tip
- silicone baking sheets
- half sheet baking trays
How to make Gingerbread Macarons
For the shells, I use my Perfect Macaron Recipe and add 4 drops of orange, 4 drops of chocolate brown, and 1 drop of black gel food coloring to the meringue to make a warm brown.
To make the filling, all of the delicious spices are steeped in warm cream. The warm cream is thickened with cornstarch and sweetened with molasses. Off the heat, white chocolate is stirred in and finally, the mixture is whirled into a luscious cream with butter. The silky-smooth texture compliments the macaron shells so nicely.
After the filling is piped onto the shells (and you let the macarons rest 24 hours!) you have a delicious holiday treat! I packaged mine up in these cute gingerbread house boxes that I screen printed. The milk carton design is from Cricut design space and the white icing design is from Jennifer at Pigskins and Pigtails. Click here for a full tutorial and to download the SVG design.
Check out the recipe below for all the details and for all of my baking tips and base recipe, be sure to check out my blog post for Perfect Macarons!
Equipment
- food processor
- stand mixer
- piping bag and 1’4” piping tip
- Silicone Baking Mats (3)
- half sheet baking trays (3)
Ingredients
Gingerbread Macaron Filling
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 2 tsp groung cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1/4 tsp all spice
- 1/4 tsp ground clove
- 3 tbsp corn starch
- 85 grams molasses
- 75 grams white chocolate chips
- 85 grams unsalted butter cut into 1/2" pieces
Perfect Macarons
- 200 grams egg whites room temperature (preferably day old)
- 275 grams almond flour
- 250 grams powdered sugar
- 210 grams granulated sugar
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
- gel food coloring orange, chocolate brown, and super black
Instructions
MAKE THE GINGERBREAD MACARON FILLING
- In a heavy bottom pan, heat the cream and spices just to a simmer.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the corn starch and a splash of the warm cream to make a slurry. Once dissolved, pour the slurry into the pan and along with the sugar. Turn the heat back on low and stir constantly with a whisk until it comes to a boil. Continue to cook for one minute, then remove from the heat (it will thicken up quickly).
- Slowly stir in the white chocolate until all of the chips are melted and the mixture is smooth.
- Spoon the mixture into a food processor and gradually add in the butter. Allow each piece to incorporate before adding the next. Keep the processor running for five minutes after adding the last piece of butter. This will help thicken and cool the mixture.
- Transfer the cream filling to a piping bag and refrigerate until firm (at least 4 hours, but overnight is ideal)
MAKE THE GINGERBREAD MACARON SHELLS (My Perfect Macaron Recipe)
- PREPARE THE EGG WHITESSeparate the egg whites at least a day before you plan to make the macarons. Keep them in a sealed container on the counter overnight so they are at room temperature when you are ready to begin.
- PREPARE THE DRY INGREDIENTSMeasure out the dry ingredients. It is important to have everything ready to go before you start whisking the egg whites.Sift the almond flour and powdered sugar into a large bowl and stir to combine. Discard the large pieces left in the sieve-they will make the tops of your macarons look lumpy!
- MAKE THE MERINGUEIn a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, beat the eggs on low until foamy (speed 4 on a KitchenAid stand mixer).Add the cream of tartar, salt, then gradually pour in the granulated sugar. Increase the speed to high (speed 9 on a KitchenAid stand mixer) and whip until it reaches the stiff peak stage.Add in the gel food coloring and whisk just until it is thoroughly mixed. I usually add between 4-10 drops.
- MACARONAGEPour half of the almond flour/powdered sugar mixture on top of the meringue. Gently fold it in with a spatula. Once it is incorporated, add the remaining almond flour/sugar. Continue to mix until it flows off of the spatula like magma.Transfer the batter to a pastry bag fitted with a 1/4 inch round tip (size 10). Once filled, firmly grasp the opening of the party bag and shake the batter down to force any large bubbles to the surface.
- PIPE THE MACARONSPipe 1/2 inch rounds onto silicone baking sheets. Pick up the tray and drop onto the counter five times (be sure to keep the tray level when you do this!). Rotate the tray and firmly tap each side on the counter five times. This will level out the tops of the macarons and help pop any air bubbles inside the macarons. Use a toothpick to gently pop and bubbles that remain and level out any peaks that remain. Let the trays rest for one hour before baking so the tops can dry out slightly. The tops will turn matte when ready to bake.
- BAKE THE MACARONSPreheat the oven to 275ºF. Bake in the center rack on the oven, one tray at a time, for 18 minutes. Wait 5 minutes before placing the next tray in the oven-this allows the humidity in the oven to level out. Let the macarons cool before removing from the silicone baking mats or trays
FILLING THE GINGERBREAD MACARONS
- Pair matching shells and pipe on the gingerbread cream filling.
- After all of the macarons are filled, cover the sheet tray and place it in the refrigerator. The macarons are best after 24 hours-the filling and shells meld together to form the perfect texture.
- For extra special touch, decorate the tops of the macarons with royal icing and sprinkles!
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