Green Tea Matcha Macarons Recipe
A delightfully easy and delicious matcha macarons recipe with a buttercream white chocolate ganache in a healthy twist on the classic French dessert.
Are you a matcha fan? If so, these colorful matcha macarons are for you, with their green cookie shells and white chocolate buttercream filling. These are French-style macarons, which means that the dry ingredients are folded into a simple uncooked meringue.
The beautiful green color comes from stirring matcha powder into the mixture of powdered sugar and almond flour. However, if you’d like a brighter, more vivid green (which I, Rebecca of Good Things Baking prefer), then you can add a few drops of green gel food coloring to the batter.
Ingredients Needed to Make Matcha Macaron
- Fine almond flour
- Powdered sugar
- Egg whites
- Granulated sugar
- Matcha powder — Matcha is a finely loose powder derived from green tea. You can use it for lots of other desserts, like making white chocolate shamrock matcha cookies! Matcha is a popular ingredient in many Asian desserts.
- Green gel food coloring — If desired
Ingredients Needed for the White Chocolate Buttercream Filling
- Powdered sugar
- Melted white chocolate
- Softened unsalted butter
- Whipping cream
- Vanilla extract
If you want a classic buttercream filling, check out our foolproof macarons guide.
How to Make Matcha Macarons
1 — Line 2 clean baking sheets with new, clean parchment paper. Trim off the end of a new piping bag and fit it with a clean frosting coupler.
2 — Separate the four egg whites from the yolks. Then, place the whites in a clean bowl. Set them aside until they have reached room temperature.
3 — Weigh out 2 cups (240 g) powdered sugar, 140 g (1 1/4 cups) finely ground almond flour, and 12 g (2 tablespoons) matcha powder. Sift the dry ingredients together into a clean bowl using a large sieve. If any bits of almond flour won’t fit through the sieve, discard them.
4 — Add in a generous pinch of salt, then whisk the mixture well to combine the ingredients thoroughly.
5 — When the egg whites are at room temperature, use an electric hand mixer or a stand mixer with the whisk and beat them on medium-high speed.
6 — While the egg whites are beating, slowly add the 1/2 cup (100 g) granulated sugar. Continue beating until the egg whites have reached the stiff peak stage. That means that when you lift a beater or spoon out of the meringue, it will stay stiff and straight on the beaters, and the points of the meringue don’t fall over.
7 — Add one teaspoon of vanilla extract, as well as the green gel food coloring, if you are using it.
8 — Using a rubber spatula, stir about 1/3 of the almond flour mixture into the egg whites until they are well combined.
The macronage step:
9 — Pour the rest of the dry ingredients in and carefully fold them into the meringue with the spatula until you have a batter that runs off the side of the spatula in long, thick ribbons. This step is called the macro name and is important for beautiful macarons.
10 — Once your batter is ready, fold down the top edges of the piping bag that has been fitted with a coupler. (This helps keep them clean). Scoop the batter into it with a large spoon or spatula.
11 — Pick up the bag, fold up the sides, and give the top a quick twist to prevent the batter from coming out the top. Place the twisted part of the bag in the joint of your thumb and wrap the rest of your hand around the bag. You’ll have to repeat this step more than once, as the batter won’t all fit in the piping bag at once.
To pipe the macarons:
12 — Hold the bag straight up and down and about an inch over the parchment paper. Gently squeeze to a count of three, then stop squeezing and lift the bag away.
13 — Pipe macarons all over the sheet, leaving about an inch between them. Once the baking sheet is full, gently tap it on the counter several times to pop any air bubbles inside.
Tip: If you can see bubbles on the surface of your macarons that haven’t popped: Carefully poke them with a toothpick.
14 — Let the macarons sit for about 30 minutes or until the tops look dull and not wet and shiny. This could take more or less time if your kitchen is very hot and humid.
Baking your macarons:
15 — While the macaron tops are drying, preheat the oven to 300°F.
16 — Bake your macarons for 15-16 minutes.
Tip: For even baking: Turn the baking sheet halfway through the baking time. Judging the doneness of the macarons can be a little difficult. They need to be baked enough not to collapse when they come out of the oven and also not overbaked, which makes them dry. Check the bottom edge of the cookies for a slight color change. The feet of the macarons should also look dry, and they’ll slide easily on the parchment paper after cooling.
17 — Remove the baked macarons from the oven and onto a cooling rack. While they are cooling, make the white chocolate buttercream.
How to Make the White Chocolate Buttercream Filling
1 — Place the softened butter and melted white chocolate in a mixing bowl. Using a hand mixer, beat them together until they’re completely mixed.
2 — Add the powdered sugar and vanilla extract and stir it in until completely mixed in.
3 — Slowly add in the whipping cream while mixing until the buttercream is thick enough to hold its shape but soft enough to be piped easily.
Filling the Matcha Macarons
1 — Fill a piping bag that has been fitted with a large round or star piping tip. Twist the top of the bag to keep it closed and hold it in the crook of your hand, with the fullest part of the bag in the palm of your hand.
2 — Pipe a large dot of filling onto the flat side of half of the macaron shells.
3 — Place another cookie on top and gently press the two sides together. Repeat until all of the macarons are filled
How to Make Sure Your Batter is Mixed Correctly
One of the hardest parts of making successful macarons is stirring and folding the batter to the appropriate consistency. The more you make macarons, the more familiar you’ll become with how the batter should look and feel. It’s definitely a recipe where practice helps, so don’t be discouraged if you hit a learning curve when perfecting macarons! Here are several ways to test the macaron batter while mixing:
- You should be able to draw a figure eight with the batter coming off the spatula without the ribbon breaking. If it falls off in clumps, continue to fold it a few more times before testing it again.
- Another way to tell it is ready is to spread some of the batters up the side of the bowl. If it immediately begins to slide back down into the bowl, it’s ready. If it’s too stiff, it will cling to the side.
More Easy Macaron Recipes to Try
We’ve rounded up some of my favorite macaron DIYs macarons from the last few years so that we can bask in all of the food colorings and sugary goodness together.
Green Tea Matcha Macarons Recipe
Equipment
- Baking sheet
- Parchment paper
- Piping bag
- Sieve or strainer
- Kitchen scale
- Whisk
- Hand or stand mixer
- Rubber spatula
Ingredients
For the matcha macaron shells:
- 4 large egg whites (120 gram)
- 100 grams white granulated sugar (1/2 cup)
- Green gel food coloring if desired
- 140 grams powdered sugar (1 1/4 cup)
- 140 grams fine almond flour (1 1/4 cups)
- 12 grams matcha powder (2 tablespoons)
For the white chocolate buttercream filling:
- 4 tbsp softened unsalted butter (57 gram)
- 3 oz melted white chocolate (scant 1 cup)
- 1 cup powdered sugar (120 gram)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1-2 tbsp whipping cream
Nutrition
Notes
- Makes about 15 large macarons or 30 shells
Instructions
- Line 2 clean baking sheets with new, clean parchment paper. Trim off the end of a new piping bag and fit it with a clean frosting coupler.
- Separate the 4 egg whites from the yolks. Then, place the whites in a clean bowl. Set them aside until they have reached room temperature.
- Weigh out 2 cups (240 g) powdered sugar, 140 g (1 1/4 cups) finely ground almond flour, and 12 g (2 tablespoons) matcha powder.Sift the dry ingredients together into a clean bowl using a large sieve.If there are any bits of almond flour that won’t fit through the sieve, discard them.
- Add in a generous pinch of salt, then whisk the mixture well to thoroughly combine the ingredients.
- When the egg whites are at room temperature, use an electric hand mixer or a stand mixer with the whisk and beat them on medium-high speed.
- While the egg whites are beating, slowly add the 1/2 cup (100 g) granulated sugar. Continue beating until the egg whites have reached the stiff peak stage.That means that when you lift a beater or spoon out of the meringue, it will stay stiff and straight on the beaters and the points of the meringue don’t fall over.
- Add in 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract, as well as the green gel food coloring if you are using it.
- Using a rubber spatula, stir about 1/3 of the almond flour mixture into the egg whites until they are well combined.
The macronage step:
- Pour the rest of the dry ingredients in and carefully fold it into the meringue with the spatula until you have a batter that runs off the side of the spatula in long, thick ribbons.This step is called the macronage and is important for beautiful macarons.
- Once your batter is ready, fold down the top edges of the piping bag that has been fitted with a coupler. (This helps keep them clean)Scoop the batter into it with a large spoon or spatula.
- Pick up the bag, fold up the sides, and give the top a quick twist to prevent the batter from coming out the top.Place the twisted part of the bag in the joint of your thumb and wrap the rest of your hand around the bag.You’ll have to repeat this step more than once, as the batter won’t all fit in the piping bag at once.
To pipe the macarons:
- Hold the bag straight up and down and about an inch over the parchment paper.Gently squeeze to a count of three, then stop squeezing and lift the bag away.
- Pipe macarons all over the sheet, leaving about an inch between them.Once the baking sheet is full, gently tap it on the counter several times to pop any air bubbles inside.If you can see bubbles on the surface of your macarons that haven’t popped, carefully poke them with a toothpick.
- Let the macarons sit for about 30 minutes, or until the tops look dull and not wet and shiny. This could take more or less time if your kitchen is very hot and humid.
Baking your macarons:
- While the macaron tops are drying, preheat the oven to 300°F.
- Bake your macarons for 15-16 minutes.For even baking, turn the baking sheet halfway through the bake time. Judging the doneness of the macarons can be a little difficult.They need to be baked enough to not collapse when they come out of the oven and also not overbaked which makes them dry.Check the bottom edge of the cookies for a slight color change. The feet of the macarons should also look dry, and they’ll slide easily on the parchment paper after cooling.
- Remove the baked macarons from the oven and onto a cooling rack. While they are cooling, make the white chocolate buttercream.
How to make the white chocolate buttercream filling:
- Place the softened butter and melted white chocolate in a mixing bowl. Using a hand mixer, beat them together until they’re completely mixed.
- Add the powdered sugar and vanilla extract and stir it in until completely mixed in.
- Slowly add in the whipping cream while mixing until the buttercream is thick enough to hold its shape but soft enough to be piped easily.
Filling the matcha macarons:
- Fill a piping bag that has been fitted with a large round or star piping tip.Twist the top of the bag to keep it closed and hold it in the crook of your hand, with the fullest part of the bag in the palm of your hand.
- Pipe a large dot of filling onto the flat side of half of the macaron shells.
- Place another cookie on top and gently press the two sides together. Repeat until all of the macarons are filled
Don’t forget to share your matcha macarons with us on Instagram using the hashtag #sugarandclothloves. We always love seeing all of your creations! Looking for more quick and delicious recipes? Find them all right here!
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