Pistachio Macarons

Pistachio macarons, arguably one of the most popular flavors of these glorious French cookies. These irresistible macarons are made of a pistachio macaron cookie and filled with a silky pistachio buttercream.

Macarons are notoriously tricky to make. If this is your first time making macarons, don’t stress! I’ve included many tips throughout this post to help you along the way. But admittedly it took me many MANY tries to get them right. There are unfortunately a lot of variables that can affect the outcome of macarons. While the process of making macarons can seem a bit daunting, I promise the payoff will be worth the effort!

With some practice and patience, you too can start making macarons in your own kitchen!

A few notes before getting started:

• Read through the recipe at least twice to fully understand the method and equipment needed.
• Measure out all ingredients prior to getting started.
• Prepare your piping bag, piping tip, piping template, and baking sheets before making the batter.
• Break up the work. You can make the pistachio filling the day before or the day after making the shells to make things easier.

How to Make Pistachio Macarons

MACARON SHELLS:

While there are several way to make macarons, this recipe uses the Italian method. Which means making an Italian meringue vs a French or Swiss meringue. An Italian meringue involves adding a hot sugar syrup to whipped egg whites to create a stable meringue.

Macaron shells are made of two parts; a meringue, and an almond flour/sugar mixture. To make the cookies/shells you will fold together the meringue into the dry paste mixture, which includes almond flour, pistachio flour, confectioners’ sugar, and egg whites to form a paste. Gently fold the batter together until it smoothly flows off a spatula, like thick lava. This process is called the macaronage.

Additionally, for these macarons I use a 50/50 split of almond and pistachio flour, to bring more pistachio flavor into the cookie itself. To make pistachio flour, add raw or roasted pistachios to a food processor and pulse to a fine texture. Sift through a fine mesh sieve, as you do the almond flour, until you have the specified amount needed.

While the pistachio flour does add a bit of natural coloring (and a speckled look), I opted to add some gel food coloring to get a more vibrant green color. I used AmeriColor gel colors in Avocado and Moss. But feel free to use whichever gel color(s) you like.

FILLING:

The pistachio filling is made from a French buttercream base. What is French buttercream? It is a frosting made up of egg yolks, butter, and a sugar syrup, that creates a wonderfully rich but not overly sweet buttercream. It is made very similarly to how an Italian meringue is made, except using egg yolks instead of the whites. So when making both these pistachio macaron shells and filling, you will get to use up all parts of the egg!

On its own, a plain French buttercream has a creamy custard like flavor, which is delicious as it. But adding pistachio paste to this buttercream really allows the pistachio flavor to shine without being sickenly sweet or making the pistachio flavor fight with other flavors (such as white chocolate) to stand out.

For this recipe, use a high quality pistachio paste, sometimes called ‘pistachio butter’. Look for an option that doesn’t include any added sugars or oils, and is made of pure pistachios and nothing else. The pistachios can be raw or roasted.

EQUIPMENT:

• Kitchen scale – this is non-negotiable! A good scale is required to properly measure out the ingredients for the macaron shells. Using weight instead of volume measurements ensures accuracy and consistency.
• Candy or Infrared Thermometer – needed to measure the temperature of the sugar syrup. I personally like to use this digital candy thermometer, but any candy or infrared thermometer should do the trick.
• Heavy duty stand mixer – such as a KitchenAid. You’ll use this to whip the eggs whites and sugar syrup into a thick and glossy meringue.
• Large sieve – You’ll need the almond flour and confectioners sugar to be well sifted and free of any large lumps.
• Large mixing bowl – for making the almond/sugar paste, then mixing the batter.
• Rubber spatula – to fold the meringue and dry paste mixture together.
• Piping bag & round piping tip – to create even and round piped macarons.
• Parchment paper or silicone baking mats – to line the baking sheets and prevent sticking.
• Macaron Piping Template – you can either sketch or print out your own circle template on paper or use a baking mat like this one that already has the macaron sized circles on it!
• 2-3 High quality baking sheets – higher quality baking sheet pans will resist warping in the oven.

TIPS FOR SUCCESS:

• Consistency of dry ingredients – use finely ground almond and pistachio flour and sift together with the confectioners sugar, discarding any large granules. If necessary, use a food processor to grind the ingredients into a fine powder.
• Sugar Syrup – carefully monitor the temperature of the syrup so as not to overheat it. Heating beyond 244°F will cause the sugar to become too firm.
• Meringue – whip the meringue just until stiff peaks are reached. Meringue should be thick and glossy. If you over mix it will become lumpy and dry, causing hollow shells. Also, be sure the stand mixer bowl is very clean before whipping the egg whites. There should be no liquid or oil residue in the bowl, otherwise it can prevent the eggs whites from whipping up properly.
• Macaronage (mixing) – swipe the spatula around the outside of the bowl and cut through the middle of the batter to combine the meringue with the dry ingredient/paste mixture. The batter should flow smoothly but not become runny. Stop mixing often to check the consistency. Better to under mix than over mix.
• Piping – hold the piping bag straight up and down. Apply even pressure while piping each round. Release pressure before flicking away the piping tip.
• Air Bubbles – bang the baking sheets on the counter to release any air bubbles that may be trapped in the piped macarons. If any stubborn air bubbles remain, use a toothpick to pop them. Air bubbles can lead to cracking or bumpy shells, so best to get rid of them.
• Drying – allow the macarons to dry at room temperature until a ‘skin’ forms on the outside of the shell. The shell should not be sticky when lightly touched. The ‘skin’ encourages the macarons to pop up when baking, rather than spread out, creating the little ruffled feet at the bottoms of the shells.

Looking for more Macaron flavors? Check out these posts!

• Salted Caramel Macarons
• Blood Orange Macarons
• White Chocolate Cranberry Macarons

If you make this recipe I’d love for you to leave a comment / review below and be sure to tag me @bakeorbustblog on Instagram! Happy baking!

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