Lemon Macarons
Jun 14, 2014, Updated May 07, 2023
Lemon Macarons filled with a sweet and tangy lemon filling.
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As someone who bakes so much, baking French Macarons to perfection is probably one of the most satisfying things for me personally. I remember the first time I tried macarons, I was really not sure how to go about it. I had already read so much about how difficult it is to bake these cookies and that had made me really nervous. But now after baking them a number of times, I can safely say that french macarons aren’t really that difficult to bake. There are just small small things that you have to keep in mind and if you do that the end result would be definitely satisfying.
I wrote a post on the Basics of French Macarons a while back and if you are new to the macaron business, that post might be helpful to you. I won’t be writing too many details in this post as I have already done that in my previous one, so please go through it on some tips and tricks for making the perfect looking gorgeous macarons.
If there’s one flavor I am obsessed with this summer, it has to be lemon so it wasn’t surprising when I decided to bake lemon macarons for my niece on her 10th birthday. I could have made chocolate, oreo, nutella as kids love these flavors but I thought nothing can be more perfect then lemons in summers. These macarons turned out extremely well and everyone loved it.
Method
Sift together almond meal and powdered sugar. Do this sifting thrice, this will make sure that the macarons have a smooth top. Meanwhile separate the egg whites, the eggs separate best when they are cold. Keep at egg whites at room temperature for 30-45 minutes before you start working on them. You cannot work on cold egg whites for this recipe.
Once the egg whites are at room temperature start beating them using the wire whisk attachment of your stand mixer or using your hand mixer. When it begins to foam, add cream of tartar. Keep beating till it reaches a shaving foam like consistency and then add the granulated sugar. Beat more till the egg whites develop stiff peaks.
Add yellow color to the egg whites and mix till it’s uniformly dispersed. Fold the almond meal – powdered sugar mixture into the egg whites using a spatula. Don’t add the entire thing in one go, do it in 3-4 parts. Do not undermix and do not overmix either. The batter shouldn’t be runny but should still fall down from the spatula in a blob. Like I mentioned before, for more on such tips for making macarons, please read my previous post on the blog – French Macarons : The Basics
I used one of these silicone mats especially designed for making macarons so I didn’t have to bother much about piping equal size blobs. If you are using a cookie sheet, line it first with parchment paper.
Transfer the batter to a pastry bag fitted with 1/2 inch round tip. Pipe the batter onto the sheet/mat making small blobs around an inch big. After you have piped all the macarons, let them sit at room temperature for 30 minutes, do not bake them immediately.
After 30 minutes put them to bake in a preheated oven at 300 F degrees for around 20 minutes.
Make the filling while the macaron shells are baking.
To make the filling, beat together room temperature butter and cream cheese till smooth and well combined. Add powdered sugar 1/2 cup at a time and mix till creamy.
Add lemon zest, lemon juice and mix till combined. Add yellow color [optional] and beat till the filling is smooth and creamy.
Once the macaron shells have completely cooled, fill a pastry bag with the filling. Pipe little filling in the center of the shell and cover with another macaron shell to make the sandwich cookie.
The cookies taste great the next day, that is if you don’t end up eating them right away. They are really addictive and it’s difficult to stop munching on them.
* Please read this post French Macarons: The Basics for all my tips and tricks on making macarons.
Lemon Macarons
Ingredients
Macaron Shell
- 1 cup almond meal or flour
- 1.5 cups powdered sugar
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
- 3 egg whites at room temperature
- yellow food color
Filling
- 4 tablespoons butter at room temperature
- 4 oz cream cheese at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 1.5 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1.5 cups confectioners sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- yellow color a drop [optional]
Instructions
- Sift together almond meal and powdered sugar. Do this sifting thrice, this will make sure that the macarons have a smooth top.
- Meanwhile separate the egg whites, the eggs separate best when they are cold. Keep at egg whites at room temperature for 30-45 minutes before you start working on them.
- Once the egg whites are at room temperature start beating them using the wire whisk attachment of your stand mixer or using your hand mixer. When it begins to foam, add cream of tartar.
- Keep beating till it reaches a shaving foam like consistency and then add the granulated sugar. Beat more till the egg whites develop stiff peaks.
- Add yellow color to the egg whites and mix till it's uniformly dispersed.
- Fold the almond meal - powdered sugar mixture into the egg whites using a spatula. Don't add the entire thing in one go, do it in 3-4 parts.
- Do not undermix and do not overmix either. The batter shouldn't be runny but should still fall down from the spatula in a blob.
- Transfer the batter to a pastry bag fitted with 1/2 inch round tip. Pipe the batter onto the sheet/mat making small blobs around an inch big.
- After you have piped all the macarons, let them sit at room temperature for 30 minutes, do not bake them immediately.
- After 30 minutes put them to bake in a preheated oven at 300 F degrees for around 20 minutes.
Filling
- Beat together room butter and cream cheese till smooth and well combined.
- Add powdered sugar 1/2 cup at a time and mix till creamy.
- Add lemon zest, lemon juice and mix till combined.
- Add yellow color [optional] and beat till the filling is smooth and creamy.
- Once the macaron shells have completely cooled, fill a pastry bag with the filling.
- Pipe little filling in the center of one shell and cover with another macaron shell to make the sandwich cookie.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Lemon Macarons
Please anybody can you tell me how much is 1.5 cup powdered sugar is. Is it 1/2 cup 🤷♂️🤔. I want to make this recipe. Thank you.
1.5 is 1 cup + 1/2 cup
Forgot to mention that if you have a piper don’t suggest using that it would be better to use a bag and tip, if you don’t have that you can get a plastic bag and cut about half of inch up and use that ?
Omg yes! SO tasty we used flour instead of almond meal and it worked out perfect! Yummy and delicious
The recipe and instructions are great. My niece just made these for the first time and they are beautiful and delicious.
I absolutely LOVE this recipe! It’s very versatile which means that you can use it for more than just lemon! I’ve made lemon, strawberry lemonade, mint chocolate, and s’mores all using this same cookie recipe! All that I do is add a flavoring like mint extract or crumble a fine topping on them before baking. To make the s’mores ones I crumbled graham cracker crumbs and sprinkled them on the top for a crunchy crust! I must admit that I did not use the filling recipe for any of these flavors except lemon. ? Thanks for this in-dubiously incredible recipe.
You are welcome! glad to know:)
These were my first macarons, and they tasted amazing!! My whole family devoured them in one day. This is my go-to macaron recipe.
these are the best thing since sliced bread! they turn out amazing every time and the cookie is my go-to base for any flavor!
awesome!
Thank you for the step by step directions! We’ve never made these before but they turned out great. The lemon filling is out of this world. It’s the best frosting we have ever tasted!! We will definitely be making more flavors in the future! 🙂
glad to know!
I’m going to be baking these, and am confused on how the ingredients say “filling”, But I am confused on which side is about the “macaron shells” ingredients.
the ingredients above the filling, I just added the sub-heading, hope that helps
Thank you!
AMAZING!! SO GOOD I WOULD RECOMMEND THEM TO THE WHOLE WORLD.
Has anyone used Kirkland Almond flour to make these? It’s “superfine”. Thank you
it should work
Kirkland almond flour is the best! I tried other brands but this one is the winner)
The macarons were very easy to make. Step by step instructions. I would make it again. I also put in 1 tsp of orange zest and the orange did not over power the lemon.
My Lemon Macarons turned out great. Thank you for the easy to follow instructions.
You are welcome!
They are great!
awesome!
These turned out amazing. I used a silicon baking mat too and it worked great. I have tried other recipes but the directions have been confusing and the product never turns out right. These directions are clear and easy to fallow. Thanks so much!
You are welcome Kat, glad they turned out well! yay!
In the instructions it says add salt but in the ingredients list, salt is not listed. What is the measurement for the salt?
Hi Kelley, that was a typo. I fixed it now, there’s no salt in the recipe.
they look great!
thanks dina! 🙂