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.
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 🙂
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.
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!
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.
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!!
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.
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!
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 🙂
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 🙂
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 🙂
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.
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.