Malted Milk French Macarons
Easter is right around the corner and that means all the stores are going to be full of delicious malted milk candy and pastel colored treats. Both things being the perfect inspiration for my malted milk french macarons. Macarons can be so finicky so I didn't add the malt powder to actual shell, just the filling.
I remember as a child, one year my parents hid my Easter basket and I searched for what seems like hours for mine and my brothers candy. I finally found it, no thanks to my brother. He was older and just got a basket because I did. He wasn't nearly as excited about the whole experience. His loss.
Like all the other holidays, my favorite thing about it is being in the kitchen cooking with my mom. It makes my heart sing. Haha. That reminds me of that song "Wild Thing". Anyway, it gets a little more tense for the holidays that we have ham at because I cannot stay out of it. My husband is always telling on me for picking at it before we sit down for dinner. Luckily, my parents don't care. I'm the baby, what can I say? 😉 In your face, husband!
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There are a few keys to making the perfect French macarons that I've gathered from my experiences.
- Sift your powdered sugar and almond flour to remove any large pieces of almonds. I'm using Bob's Red Mill almond meal because they use whole, blanched sweet almonds and the meal is finely ground. Lumpy macarons just aren't pretty.
- The egg whites should always be room temperature.
- This is what you need to look for when the batter is ready. When you pick the batter up onto your spatula and let it fall into the bowl it should move slow but constant sort of like hot lava I guess.
- One last thing. Let the macarons dry. When you press your finger into the side of the macaron, it shouldn't stick to your finger at all. It should have a nice shell and that's when you're ready to put it in the oven to bake.
Malted Milk French Macarons
Ingredients
Macaron Shell
- 1 cup almond flour
- 1 ½ cups powdered sugar
- 3 large egg whites room temperature
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- pinch of salt
- ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 - 4 drops sky blue gel paste color
For the speckles
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
- 2 - 3 drops of brown gel paste color
Malted Milk Frosting
- ¼ cup butter room temperature
- 2 tablespoons malted milk
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon milk
- ¾ cup powdered sugar
Instructions
Macaron Shells
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or silicon mat (aff. link).
- Sift together the almond flour and powdered sugar. If you can't find almond flour you can always make it with almonds and a food processor. Finely grind the almonds and sift through a fine mesh sifter. Discard or snack on any large pieces.
- In a large mixing bowl, add in egg whites. Turn on high and beat until the egg whites form a soft peak meringue.
- Add in the granulated sugar, salt, vanilla extract, and cream of tartar. Mix on high until a stiff peak meringue forms. I slowly but constantly add in the granulated sugar into the meringue instead of tossing it all in at once.
- Add in the sky blue gel paste color and give it a quick mix to incorporate.
- Very lightly and carefully fold in a third of the almond flour/powdered sugar into the meringue with a spatula. Repeat with the rest of the almond flour/powdered sugar mixture. All together you'll want to have about 59 turns of this mixture. If you don't mix enough the macaron shell will be extremely fluffy and cracked. If you over mix, the macaron shell will be extremely flat and might not form a foot.
- Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
- Fill a piping bag with the macaron shell filling. I just used a coupler on the end of my piping bag. Pipe macaron shells on the baking sheet.
- Let the macarons dry until they are no longer tacky to the touch. It will take 20 minutes to 1 hour.
- Place in the oven for about 10 minutes until they no longer stick to the parchment paper.
- Let the macaron shells cool.
Speckles
- Once the macarons are completely cooled, add the vanilla and brown in a small bowl. Stir to combine.
- Using a brand new paint brush and a plastic glove, dip the brush in the brown and flick the brush against the glove to begin adding speckles. Just a warning, put an apron on because you can't really control where the food coloring goes.
- Once you're content with the speckles, set aside to drive. It took mine about an hour or two to dry.
Frosting
- In a mixing bowl, add in all of the frosting ingredients. Mix on low until incorporated. Turn hand mixer on high and beat for 1 minute until fluffy.
- Add the frosting in the piping bag with a straight tip.
- Add a thin and even layer of frosting on the bottom macaron. Add the top macaron and twist to squish the frosting out slightly. Repeat with all macarons.
Notes
Nutrition
(Nutrition facts are an estimate and not guaranteed to be accurate. Please see a registered dietitian for special diet advice.)
Impress your family with these malted milk macarons. Start by grabbing Bob's Red Mill $1 off coupon for almond meal.
I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.
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I love these, yours turned out so stunning!
These look gorgeous! Could you please tell me if you use the malted milk powder dry or if you reconstitute it and then measure the 2 T?
Hi! I use it dry.
I also make many macarons, although I prefer to make them in thermomix is more comfortable, and especially fruit flavors, melon, watermelon, strawberry, and if you want try the bitter orange filling, a very special touch
Great blog
This is a really creative recipe! Well done, and such gorgeous photos. Pinning!
Hello, I love this idea! I would love to know what type of malt milk you recommend , and are you using chocolate flavored? Thank you so much for posting this great idea!
I used the carnation malted milk powder.
I have made macarons once, and it as an all day affair, but these are just too pretty not to make for easter! LOVE the speckling