Eggnog Macarons
Eggnog macarons are perfectly spiced holiday cookies, with hints of cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg, filled with creamy eggnog buttercream.
Well hello friends!
I have a few too many holiday recipes I want (and have) to share with you guys. Pardon my scheduling lapses and seemingly saving all for last minute. Apparently Christmas is upon us already. But these are all awesome recipes I know you will love so stay tuned the next few days. Like these eggnog macarons! They will be perfect on any holiday dessert table and would also make for great party gifts.
Is anyone else baking up a storm this week? I am making batch after batch of cookies and sending out holiday treat boxes with our Christmas cards this week. So much fun and I am trying so many different recipes including a few new favorites. I seriously LOVE the holidays and I have no idea what I will do with myself, mixer and oven come January. There will be no gingerbread, eggnog, cranberries or peppermint. Oh the travesty of the in between months before the start of spring 🙁
But for now, let’s talk eggnog macarons.
If you are a regular around here, you know by now how much I love/hate these fascinating fellas. Every now and then I venture out to try a new flavor and the challenge of getting a perfect batch drives me crazy most times. But you see, they are worth every ounce of the trouble. They are the perfect cookie. So crunchy and flaky on the outside and chewy on the inside with a great buttercream filling. Each bite is a dream and having two or three with your afternoon or midnight coffee is a great treat.
These particular eggnog macarons were made for my husband’s Grandma who was in the hospital for a few days last week. I know she is the only one in our family that gets how awesome macarons are. So to cheer her up, I snuck a dozen of these into her hospital room :). She enjoyed the perfectly spiced shells with hints of cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg that were filled with creamy eggnog buttercream.
If you are still in search of a beautiful dessert to add to your display, consider these eggnog macarons! Your guests will love them and thank you plenty.
Eggnog Macarons
Eggnog macarons are perfectly spiced holiday cookies, with hints of cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg, filled with creamy eggnog buttercream.
Ingredients
For the Macaron shells:
- 4 ounces (115g) almond flour
- 8 ounces (230g) powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- a pinch of cloves
- 5 ounces (144g) egg whites, room temperature
- 2 ½ ounces (72g) granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
For the Filling:
- ½ cup sugar
- 2 egg whites
- ¾ cup (1 ½ stick) unsalted butter
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- 1-2 tablespoons eggnog
Instructions
- Line two sheet pans with parchment paper. I used a 1½-inch round cookie cutter to draw circles on the parchment paper and flipped the paper (drawing side down).
- Preheat oven to 300 degrees and prepare a pastry bag with a round tip. I used Wilton 2A.
- Using a food processor, pulse the powdered sugar, almond flour and spices into fine powder. Sift several times until there is less than 2 tablespoons of almond bits left. Add the bits to the sifted dry ingredients.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer with the whisk attachment, combine the egg whites, sugar and salt. Whip on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form, about 5-7 minutes. Add the vanilla extract and whip for another minute.
- Add the dry ingredients to the meringue and fold with a rubber spatula. Gently fold to deflate the meringue by pressing against the side of bowl and scooping from bottom until batter is smooth and shiny; about 20-25 folds. To check consistency, drop a spoonful of batter and it should have a peak that quickly relaxes back into the batter. Start checking the batter after 20 folds.
- Transfer batter into pastry bag and pipe the batter into the pre-traced circles on the baking sheet. Tap baking sheet hard on counter to release any air bubbles trapped in the batter.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes until hard and slightly golden, rotating cookie sheets halfway through baking time. You should be able to peel off the macaron from the parchment.
- Cool completely on cookie sheets before peeling from the parchment.
For Filling:
- Whisk together sugar and egg whites in a heatproof mixing bowl set over (not in) a pan of simmering water. Whisk until warm and sugar is dissolved (mixture should feel completely smooth when rubbed between your fingers), 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from heat.
- With an electric mixer on medium speed, whisk egg white mixture for about 5 minutes (using the whisk attachment). Increase speed to medium-high, and whisk until stiff, glossy peaks form and meringue has cooled (test by feeling bottom of bowl), about 6 minutes.
- Reduce speed to medium and switch to the paddle attachment. Add butter, one piece at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in cinnamon, nutmeg and eggnog until well blended.
- Match similar sized cookies together and pipe or spread filling on one flat side and top with another. Sprinkle with nutmeg.
These are so festive! I love the idea of adding eggnog to macaroons! These would be perfect at a holiday party… I’m sure your husband’s Grandma absolutely loved that you brought her these, what a sweet thing to do. And I think everyone has a love/hate relationship with these little buggers! haha
Thanks Ally. They will be perfect indeed at a holiday party :). Grandma loved them. I heard from my MIL that she didn’t bring any home lol! Hope you have a great weekend dear.
You macarons look perfect! I still haven’t attempted these beauties – they kind of scare me! I need to though, b/c they are so pretty and so delicious! What a fun version for Christmas. I bet your husband’s grandmother loved them – so sweet and special!
Thanks Cate! You have to try them soon. I know you will be able to make perfect ones.
Oh girl these are brilliant!! One day I will finally get a food scale and attempt these…. Until then, I love that you snuck a dozen to Mr B’s grandma. That is totally awesome and should cement your place as favorite granddaugher-in-law for many years to come!!
Thanks girlfriend!! You should really make macarons soon. So gooey good. And yes, Grandma loves me. She does treat me differently…and I love it 🙂
I love macarons! I’m still pretty new to them and haven’t had a chance to experiment with a lot of flavors yet, but these sound great.
Thanks Hallie. The different flavors is the fun part. Hope you can try some new ones soon. have a happy holiday dear 🙂
I am dying to try making my own macarons, but until then just send me these ones!!
Oh girl I wish I could. They go so fast each time lol!! I’ll have your name on the next batch 🙂
So sweet of you! These macarons would definitely brighten up my day. I’ve never tried eggnog macarons but I’m sure they are amazing. So pretty too!
Thanks Ashley 🙂 Happy Holidays!
These look great, I love the look of them with the specks in the white – so pretty!
Thanks girl. Hope you are having a great weekend.
I love all the delicious Christmas posts! Does Christmas ever have to end? 😉 I have been looking for more ways to use eggnog flavors. I am going to make some of these for my gluten free friends. They will love it!
Yay!! SO glad I am not bombarding you guys lol! I know right? Christmas should not end!!! Thanks as always dear, Hope you have a great weekend. Happy Holidays!!
Totally jealous that you can make macarons. I would not know where to begin! These look lovely! I hope your husbands grandmother is feeling better!
You can definitely make them Nancy. Might take a few tries but start with this recipe. It’s my basic recipe and it’s the best one I have found. Thanks for the best wishes. Grandma is back home and doing well.
These eggnog macarons look gorgeous Zainab! Hehe I feel the same way and have been baking up a storm but still haven’t gotten around to making a few more recipes I have been dying to try. I have a love/hate relationship with making macarons too but these definitely sound so worthy of all the work:) Love all the holiday flavours in here and the sprinkled nutmeg makes these so pretty!
Thanks Kelly. The time is just going too fast. Hope you can get to most of your recipes this weekend. Have a great one Kelly!
These look awesome Zainab! I’m in the same boat. There are some recipes I still haven’t gotten around and Christmas is approaching quickly! These macarons look delicious! Eggnog flavor in these macarons are a terrific idea. Love it and pinned!
How did it just creep up on us?? So not fair. But I think that just means it is absolutely OK to keep baking holiday recipes in January lol! Thanks for sharing on Pinterest! Hope you have a great weekend.
I vote we extend the season of eggnog. I don’t know what I’m going to bake in spring either! These macarons are gorgeous!
Vote passed!! (If I had the power). But I totally agree my dear. Let’s find our inspiration in January and February. Hope you have a great weekend. I’ve been thinking of your Christmas post all day and I hope you get some of those butterflies back 🙂
You’ve inspired my new goal of 2014… master the macaron!! I am totally in a love/hate relationship right now. These are absolutely gorgeous!
That’s a great goal!! I need to get out of the love/hate relationship and graduate to love because I do love the end results.
These have got to be the most beautiful macarons I have ever seen! You are truly a macaron master… I bow at your feet! Simply gorgeous and perfect in every way…
Oh thank you so much Allie!! I feel the same way about your macarons too…so right back at you. I hope you have a great weekend.
PS: Thank you for today!! You put a huge smile on my work day 🙂
I wish I could make macarons this perfect. Yours came out flawless and the flavor combo sounds fantastic!
I hope your hubby’s grandma is feeling better now! xo
Thank you Consuelo!! You can definitely make perfect macarons…I have no doubt. Thanks for asking about Grandma. She is doing great now. By the way, woohoooo exams are over!! So happy for you :). Hope you have a great relaxing weekend.
I love macarons! And these look so pretty. Do you refrigerate them? Stopping by from SITS Sharefest.
Shannon thanks for stopping by! Yes I always refrigerate them to store. Only bring out 30 minutes or so before serving.
Love this spin on mararons. I have only made them once (at Christmas!) and loved how pretty they turned out, but they weren’t festively flavored like these. Thank you for sharing a yummy Christmas recipe with us, Zainab! Pinning.
Jelli, the festive flavors are fun!! Happy Holidays 🙂
I’m headed on over to your place for Midnight Coffee, Z! Fabulous job on the macarons, they look lovely. And, it was so sweet of you to make them for your husband’s grandma. I hope she’s feeling better soon! Enjoy the rest of your weekend, my friend. Already pinned and will pin some more!
Oh Stacy I’d love to have you over!! Grandma is doing well and just saw her, thanks for asking. Thank you so much for sharing on Pinterest. Hope you are having a great weekend. Happy Holidays my friend 🙂
I just found this recipe from the Will Cook for Smiles link party and it looks so good. And it’s perfect for the recipe link party that just went live on my website Future Expat. Today’s theme is SUGAR…so feel free to link this up and any other of your sweet sugary recipes.
http://futureexpat.com/2013/12/required-ingredient-sugar/
Every link gets posted to Pinterest and the featured recipes each week also get highlighted on social media sites too. Would love to have you join us!
Love this flavor for macarons!
These look yummy! I’ve never made macaroons but may have to try.
Thanks Krista! You should try it at some point. They are addicting. Hope you had a great weekend. Happy holidays!
Your macarons look perfect! I still haven’t tried my hand at them yet 🙂
WOW….. your macarons are baked to PERFECTION!!!!! Absolutely beautiful. I need to give macarons another go, I’ve tried making them twice, and it was an epic disaster both times. These look amazing, and love the eggnog flavor!
I’ve never made macarons before. These are so pretty and yummy looking!! But I have to admit: Macarons intimidate me a bit!!! Stopping by from show stopper Saturday!!
I LOVE macaroons! There is a bakery in Paris called Laduree and they have the best macaroons. There’s always a line out the door. This recipe sounds so good, I love macaroons and eggnog. Great combo!
Thanks!
great flavor!
Whoa! These are so adorable and festive! Macarons are the one cookie I can’t seem to figure out how to make (I have attempted SOOO MANY TIMES!)
Wow! they look so beautiful and although i never tried eggnog before, i would take a chance and try your macarons 🙂
Thanks Michal!
That was so sweet of you! I’m sure your husband’s grandma loved them. Macarons are like my nemesis. Clearly I must defeat them; however when I try they always get the best of me. Your macarons are perfect and the eggnog flavor must be amazing in these!
I made these last weekend and they got GREAT reviews. Thank you so much for sharing your recipe. This was my first attempt at macarons and I’m so glad I chose your recipe.
I am so happy to hear this!! So glad they were a hit 🙂 Thank you for coming back and letting me know!
Hi, thanks for all the inspiring recipes. I know it’s not Christmas time anymore, but it’s still winter, and I have some eggnog to use up. 🙂
I am curious about the cloves. You mention it a few times in descriptions, but I don’t see it in the ingredient list. How much would you add? I expect a tiny amount since that could overpower. 1/8 teaspoon?
Hi Alex, yes, just a tiny about, about 1/8 teaspoon would be sufficient. Fixing the recipe above to make sure it is captured.
Can this be good for shipping to friends?
It could be but you will have to pack it very well as macarons are very fragile.
Can I just say, I have made these twice and absolutely love them! Thank you so much for this wonderful recipe.
Oh, I am so so glad to hear!! These macarons are delicious.