I have just returned from Paris and hope to be able to replicate this wonderful delicacy. Hoping to lower the sugar, and wondering if powdered Splenda could be substituted for the sugar?

Karolync : I hope you come back to see this! What it means is you start the oven at 375 but right before you put the tray of cookies into the oven you reduce the temp to 325 and bake.. So when you put the next tray of cookies into the oven you need to bring the temp of the oven back up to 375 before you can reduce the temp again to 325 so you get the proper oven temp. They want you to start iwth the oven temp high and then reduce it not bake it just at 325 the whole time. Good luck!

This is a great recipe. I found I had to really sift out the big chunks of almond flour to get it just right.

Jews in Spain ate the original macaroons, made with crushed almonds, egg whites and sugar. The dessert was so closely tied to the Jewish community that during the Inquisition, people purchasing the dessert were accused of being Jewish. Ultimately the cookies spread to France, where they were dubbed “macaroons” in the 16th century, according to Gil Marks in the “Encyclopedia of Jewish Food,” and then made their way to Eastern Europe. It wasn’t until Ashkenazi Jews brought them to the US.

HELP!! what does "After each batch, increase oven temperature to 375 degrees, heat for 5 minutes, then reduce to 325 degrees" mean in step 3?

This is THE recipe for Macarons. I have made this over and over again. It takes time, patience and a dry day-weatherwise. I jump for joy when it comes out 'perfect' and eat the ones that are not so perfect. I follow the steps exactly. You MUST sift and sift. This is the most tedious part. You need to rest the tray so that a 'skin' forms and whack it on the counter-just as the recipe states. It is the most perfect and the easiest (honest) of all the macaron recipes.

QUESTION Has any one tried both this recipe and MS's other recipe titled "Parisian Macarons" http://www.marthastewart.com/319525/parisian-macaroons? If so, how did they compare in ease and taste? MERCI!

@sarahkSD
I also had a not so successful experience the first 3 times I attempted to make this. Finally, I put the egg whites, sugar, and cream of tartar all together and then whipped. It was much easier, less time consuming, and my macaroons look and taste great now! I hope this was helpful!

OK, not sure what I'm doing wrong, but I just attempted this recipe for the second time and my macaroons come out flat and gooey, not at all like they're supposed to be. I'm not exactly a novice baker, but I don't know what I'm doing wrong! I want to make these macaroons so bad!

Please help Martha!

@meaghanek
I believe it is an espresso set. Each cup only holds about 1 oz of coffee.

My friend brought a box back from Paris. Oh la la! Worth the Time to prepare.Tasted so good.One bite~Hunny Ate Them from under my nose. Definitely for me and not Him this Time.As vibrant Colours as what We received from France.

Great flavor, but I found the cooking time had to increase significantly.

I followed this recipes exactly for chocolate macaroons and ganache filling with one exception...3/4' are too small. I piped mine about 1 1/4" round. My husband, who is a chocolate connoisseuer, loved them. We recently returned from Paris where he developed an addiction to macarons and we both were quite bummed when we realized finding fresh macarons was nearly impossible in the U.S. These turned out delicious! His words were "better than Lauderee"! Can't wait to try another flavor...

LOVE. I made a few adjustments and they are the most perfect french macaron ever. Find it on my blog:
http://pattycakebaker.tumblr.com/

I didn't find these too sweet at all. It may be because I didn't use that much filling (just piped around the edge of the macaron) - cut the swiss meringue recipe by 4 (and just used one egg) and still had a lot left over.

i found that it only makes about 16 - 2 inch macarons..i don't know where the 35 came from. Definitely worth it though!

I give this a half of a star out of five. Flavor of the uncooked dough was good (nice almond flavor), however, the finished results were extremely disappointing. I love both eating and baking French macaroons, so this was a big let down for me (especially considering all of the hard work that goes into baking macaroons).

I used this recipe after I saw Martha demo it on TV. She said it's super easy and I agree! I thought my first try would be a hot mess, but these macarons were perfect. The only flaw was it was WAY too sweet. I usually inhale 3-4 of the patisserie types, but can't stand eating more than one of my own. My cousin ate half of his & almost spit it out because of sweetness. I'll try EleniD's idea to reduce the sugar next time.

I tried this recipe with poor results. I wasn't able to get the smooth surface or "feet". Also, I am wondering what type of tea set is used in the picture, since these are 3/4" cookies. I made the second set a bit larger, at least 2" in diameter with a little better results. I still think I will shop around for a better recipe.

I made pistachio variation filled with chocolate ganache. I prepared my own pistachio flour. This was the first time I made macarons in my life but it was a 100% success. I used half of the sugar mentioned in the recipie and I think next time I will use 1/3.

These are a bit tedious, but I used my tiny 1 1/4" ice cream scoop and they turned out great, looked just like they should. I added vanilla bean seeds to the batter and them made vanilla swiss meringue buttercream. They were good, but maybe not worth the time. I mmight not have whipped my egg whites long enough, they weren"t exactly at stiff peaks, seemed to have worked anyway.They were quite delicious!

The spelling macaron is mainly used to differentiate between the "American" idea of a macaroon (coconut and chocolate) and the French pastry.

This recipe state to serve immediately but a majority of recipes say you should let the macaroons sit for a day or so

It is macarons, but it's also "french macaroons".

It won't technically be a macaroon w/o any nuts in it, however if you have an allergy you may want to try a flax meal or soy based flour(if your not allergic to soy nuts as well).

almonds flour is the basic of macaroons, can be replace with other nuts. Macaroons without nuts can not be named macaroons

SandraM-My brother is highly allergic to nuts, so I scoured the internet for a nut-free version (very difficult!). www.bakingobsession.com/2009/10/26/nut-free-french-macarons/<<these are made with coconut. unfortunately, my brother is allergic to that as well.

SandraM-My brother is highly allergic to nuts, so I scoured the internet for a nut-free version (very difficult!). www.bakingobsession.com/2009/10/26/nut-free-french-macarons/<<these are made with coconut. unfortunately, my brother is allergic to that as well.

What about a substitute for almond flour for those allergic to nuts? Any suggestions?

Please note, the French spelling is MACARON, not Macaroon. It is pronounced
mah-kah-ROHN.

I made the pistachio variation, and they turned out divine. Light as air, not too sweet, and very impressive. I was able to find almond flour in the natural foods section of my grocery store.

I really love this recipe with the measurements in cups and not by weight (for some of us who do not have a kitchen scale just yet).

I use Bob's Red Mill Almond Flour and very happy with it.

Where do you purchase, or how do you make, Almond Flour?
Sylvia Schult

I am making French macarons as favours for my upcoming wedding. Champagne macarons, in fact! When making macarons, I only use the Italian meringue method (cooked sugar). It is more stable than this French meringue method. With all my trials for the wedding, I pulled together all my tips and hints - if you're having trouble with this version, give it a try! http://melanger.wordpress.com/2009/06/30/french-macarons-my-n n n n n n how-ton n n n n n /

I love this site all the more now that there is a recipe for macarons!!

Buttercup, I used almond meal when I made my macarons. However, I found it hard to sift the ingredient. They turned out fine but I think i would process it in a blender so that it is very fine.

Buttercup, I used almond meal when making mine, however I found it hard to sift the ingredient so i processed it in a blender and it was fine

I'VE made this especially since it is gluten free. They're pretty wonderful. You can do anything to them. But they're not macarOOns they're macarOns and as far as I can tell the only people who don't know that are Martha's editors. Sorry, some things are more cringe worthy when they're from the "experts."
Make them though they're good.

I am delghted about this recipe, as it is gluten-free! Is almond meal (which is fine) the same as almond flour?

I used this recipe yesterday to make several batches of macaroons, and was very satisfied with it. I posted my experience trying it (http://giverslog.com/?p=1089) and a free downloadable tag that I used when I took them to my daughter's bake sale. I had no problems with cracking, and the only real change I made was folding the batter just a few extra times so it was just soft enough to form rounded caps with no peaks. I also made my own almond flour, which I may or may not do again.