The 2009 October Daring Bakers’ challenge was brought to us by Ami S. She chose macarons from Claudia Fleming’s The Last Course: The Desserts of Gramercy Tavern as the challenge recipe.
Daunted, excited, and intimidated, I responded in my typical fashion of completely ignoring the call to arms until the absolute last minute. Yes, it was a foolish act, but with so many side projects and deadlines to meet, it was easy to prioritize everything else above it, and effectively forget about the challenge until last night. Luckily, this wasn’t the first time I had contemplated the construction of that oh-so trendy sandwich cookie. Having previously done some serious legwork on recipe formulation, I had the framework all set, and all was left were a few tweaks, and more than a few prayers to the baking gods to be made.
Midnight came, and my stand mixer roared to life, while the oven coils slowly grew warmer. I whipped. I folded. I piped. I waited.
I slid the sheets into the oven.
I held my breath.
…And did a little dance when those smooth cocoa shells emerged from the oven. They had FEET! Deliriously happy, I didn’t stop smiling for a solid hour afterward. I still can’t believe that it worked, and worked so perfectly!
Sandwiching a generous dollop of matcha “buttercream” between two delicate, crisp cookies, they were everything I could have dreamed of. My only regret was that I hadn’t made a double batch.
Now, before the deluge of emails comes, I’m not ready to share the recipe yet. I will say that it’s related to my meringue method, but I’m hoping to release it in a future book or ebook. Besides, I want to play around with more flavors and colors before signing off on this beauty!
Oh my goodness! I never thought I’d see a vegan version of these!! Fabulous job and beautiful photos, as always :)
Those are gorgeous. I love the bright mint color of the matcha buttercream. You’re making me think I should join the daring bakers to push my capabilities.
Mon dieu, Hannah! I’ve seen rows and rows of these gorgeous confections through decidedly non-vegan bakery windows. Yours are perfection! I’m so excited for that future cookbook or e-cookbook!
Hannah – wow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This is so impressive!
Wow! Your photos are lovely! I cannot believe these beauties are vegan macarons! You did a great job on this challenge.
OMG amazing !
Comment tu as fait !
T’es la plus forte, la meilleure des vegan ! whoouuuuu bravo !
seriously, so lovely.
xo
kittee
So fantastic!!!
PURE GENIUS! If anyone could make vegan macaroons with feet it is YOU, Hannah! These are just so beautiful, I can imagine how crispy and light and perfect they are.
Wow that’s fantastic, you are genius – vegan macaroons you are a star they look awesome!!!
they look divine, delicious and pretty. depressing. love your great vegan Macaroons.
Wow! Vegan macaroons! And they are beautiful Hannah!
I cant believe theyre vegan!! Lovely!
Rose
Wow! They look awesome! Didn’t succeed with mine! I’m dying to taste one real vegan macaron!
That is seriously impressive! I don’t know much about vegan baking but I can imagine that macarons aren’t the easiest thing to veganize. They look absolutely beautiful – much better than the non-vegan macarons that one of the bakeries here sell! Beautiful!
That’s awesome! Those look soooo good :)
Congrats, Hannah! I was less successful. ;-)
I’m in awe. The mind boggles. I can’t even begin to imagine how you managed this :)
wow!! I was holding my breath! Vegan macarons!
hannah a vegan version of macarons – i tip my hat off to you! incredible going on this!
I wouldnt have thought that it would work in vegan but you did it!!
Sounds fabulous, please include it in your next book! :)
LOVE IT!!!!
They look gorgeous Hannah!!
WOW!!!
What a great macarons. they are just perfect.
Gorgeous! I knew from the moment I found out this challenge, that if anyone was going to be able to do this, it would be you!
You tease..you dirty dirty tease.. glad it worked out well for you though
A vegan version of macarons? You rock! They look wonderful!
Bravo!!
Oh wow, it’s like the holy grail of vegan baking! I skimmed through this entry so quickly just hoping there’d be a recipe at the end, you tease ;)
I’ll be waiting for that eBook!!! :) These are so cute and look delicious.
Gorgeous photos of gorgeous macaroons! Glad yours turned out as well!
Someone else and I were just online lamenting the lack of vegan macarons! I’ve always suspected they could be made in a way similar to vegan meringue, but I’ve never attempted meringue, either. When you release your book, I’ll be the first to scoop it right up.
Wow! This is so totally impressive ! You feet in a vegan version! Can’t wait to find out how you did it.
Is it that time of the month already? Oh dear! The macaroons look great–love the matcha filling!
oooh these are so beautiful and perfect! very impressive hannah!!!
This is beyond impressive! Well done, Hannah!
WOW! That is seriously impressive!! A vegan macaroon!! Congrats on a job well done!!
so beautiful, you’re making me hungry!! Do you take your own pictures?
Oh my goodness, Hannah – these look divine!
Superb looking macarons. The colour and the flavour are impressive well done. You have mastered macarons. Cheers from Audax in Australia.
Those are so pretty and look melt in your mouth amazing! You always come up with the prettiest, yummiest looking desserts.
http://whatyourmommadidntknow.blogspot.com/
Wow, how impressive! I can’t wait to see how you veganized the recipe – this was a difficult one to do that with! Beautiful macarons!
Stunning creations!
Sounds like you’re hooked! Great job, and love the entry title!
Oh, gosh darn it. You tease! I was so curious to see how you made them vegan.
Congrats on the feet! They look great and love the flavor combo.
Gorgeous! I love them! Thanks for your post – that will help me a lot!
awesome! clearly midnight baking is the way to go.
These vegan macarons actually have feet! This decided it for me: I’ll have to get your next book for sure now. :)
Absolutely amazing, Hannah! I’m so impressed.
These are absolutely gorgeous looking macarons and they are vegan ones at that! I love the colour pairing and flavour combinations too!
All I can say is, “how’d she do that?”
Oh Wow! You’re absolutely amazing, I’m very impressed!!!
I LOVE the color of the filling!! Great job!
Those are amazing! and beautiful photos!
I’ve seen some vegan macaron attempts, but your one is spot on. Looks better than my non-vegan one
I am crazy impressed. Can’t wait to someday find out how you did it.
Those look gorgeous Hannah! Well done on the challenge and yes, your feet are really good looking! I am slightly jealous now.. :) Love your color too!
I’m intrigued as to how you made your vegan macarons. Can’t wait till you reveal it :)
Wow– your macarons look amazing. I can’t believe you did it without egg whites.
Well done! The look just like regular macaroons! :)
they look absolutely perfect!
WOW! These are gorgeous!!!
Amazing! Love the colour & flavours =D. Love to see how you did it!
holy god. you are my new idol!
ps, i made some of your candy from your wicked treats e-book and posted about it!
Oooh! You can definitely have my money. Can’t wait! I’m a big fan of your photos as well. Thanks for the great blog!
Hannah – Fabulous job! And yes you do have those little happy macaron feet!
I can’t wait to see your recipe and your new ebook.
Natalie @ Gluten a Go Go
You madam, you completely rock! Cannot wait to read about how you did it. My hats off to you, dear. They look terrifi (I am so utterly impressed!)
You really need to hurry up with releasing this recipe. These are lovely!
You have feet! It’s exciting isn’t it! Your macarons are lovely. Great job, I love the matcha buttercream.
congratulations! you’re pretty good :)
I can’t wait to see the recipe when you finally publish it. They look amazing!
Wow, love the bright green color of the filling!
I am waiting for that book to come out! Your vegan macarons look splendid!
Great feet! Your macs look wonderful – I love that flavor combination too, matcha goes so well with chocolate!
I’m always so incredibly impressed with what you’re able to do!! These look absolutely perfect. I would’ve been super excited for them to have feet too. =)
Gorgeous looking macs, nicely done!
I am really looking forward to your next book with macaroons, souffle etc.
Love ur site.
Congratulations! I can’t wait to see the recipe.
LOVELY! Cannot wait to see the recipe!!
They look gorgeous. Congratulations! Wonder how you made them without egg whites. :)
Wow, that’s amazing….vegan macarons…including feet! Well done!
Hello! I was wondering if you are giving out your French Macaron recipe yet? Thanks!
This is the holy grail of vegan baking- you are truely amazing! Just another appeal to bring this recipe out! I really want to have an all-vegan wedding reception and it would be great to be able to have macarons
Have you released this recipe yet?
Oh please say you will share soon! This is the only decent-looking vegan version I have seen, and I am a girl on a mission.
Is this in a book somewhere now? It looks great!
The macarons are the new cupcake! These are stunning! .. where can I find the recipe please?
Ok, help the vegan community by sharing this recipe already! You can’t keep this to yourself if you are not going to post it on an e-book, or a cookbook! :-P
Hello Hannah, Omg! I am so excited to know that it is possible to make a vegan French macaron. I have been vegan for over a year now due to health reasons. I love being vegan because I feel great and in a much better condition health-wise. The only draw back sometimes are sweets and desserts. I am so glad to stumble upon your blog while I was searching for vegan French macarons online. I checked your website and so happy to know that you have four books available. I’m definitely buying your book my sweet vegan and looking to purchase the other mini books as well. Can you tell me if the “My Sweet Vegan” book includes the French macaron recipe? Once again, thank you for sharing your experience and creativity. You’re simply brilliant!! I can not wait to try your recipes!!! Always, E
I just read this recipes are available in “Vegan Desserts: Sumptuous Sweets for Every Season”. Not My Sweet Vegan :)
You are correct! :)
So pretty! I plan on making some for a Princess themed bento. :)
WOW! I’ve been looking everywhere for this! I have a feeling they’re going to be extremely hard to make, and I’m not so much a baker (I’m an amazing chef though!).
I hope I’m successful and your book comes quickly. Do you have a bakery by any chance lol
Hannah OMG you ROCK!
Soooo… any closer to releasing the recipe? :)
Yes! Actually, the recipe has been released in my latest cookbook, Vegan Desserts, which is now available. Happy Baking!
Allllllright then, I’m getting ready to win at macarons! Thank you!
Can you use orgran No Egg instead of the replacer in your recipe?
Unfortunately no; The formula is different, and it doesn’t whip up or bake in the same way.
[…] chocolate chip meringue cookies have accomplished the impossible and look amazing! Check out these vegan french macaroons. One look at these and you’ll never look […]
I realize this post is almost 4 years old, but you’ve gained yet another fan in me. I never even considered vegan Macarons to be possible, but you did it! I’m not vegan but I cook/bake vegan for my children due to multiple food allergies. The first and last time i tried making macarons, I sadly produced “macawrongs” and I was shamed into submission. I bought your book to give this another go, and to finally let my kiddos try them without killing them (will try making them nut-free as well). I shall let you know how I get on. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Hi Michelle! I’m so glad you found my recipe, and hope they finally produce the macarons you’ve had your heart set on for so long. Please don’t hesitate to get in touch if you have any questions or comments, since I know it’s not the simplest recipe in the book. I would also love to hear how you manage to make the nut-free, since the almond meal is such a large piece of the puzzle. Fingers crossed this one meets your expectations. :)
Is it bad to eat the batter raw? Too late– my boys & I did. Anyway, you are a rockstar for figuring vegan macarons out. Thanks a million. Long post following, sorry.
Now for my attempt: 1st tray of macs just came out, and although they were yet another batch of the ‘wrongs, they are still spectacular. My 5 year old is currently getting rid of the evidence in his mouth ( I had a bunch, too). My batter may have been too thick. I scooped, packed, measured then weighed (for reference next time). Maybe I shoul’ve just spooned & leveled the powdered sugar & “nut” flour into the measuring cup. I also noticed that the warmed egg replacer mixture came out half congealed. Is that supposed to happen? I did get the “fluffy, glossy, meringue” but the “peaks” stretched out & did a DQ-soft-serve-loop (whisked with hand mixer for 10 min). Got the thick “lava” ribbon consistency. Batter was really sticky (but very yummy); not sure if I undermixed; I folded quite a while. But when I piped, I couldn’t get rid of the peaks and couldn’t pipe nice, even discs (that’s probably a problem with my skills rather than my batter). Got the feet but still had raw foam in the middle after 13 min @ 300 (will purchase an oven therm, promise). Hollow shells but that’s not a huge issue for me. I banged the tray down on the counter a few times.
The big plus? I was able to make them nut-free! Did half sunflower seeds & half pumpkin seeds (got some from Trader Joe’s before they started packaging peanuts in the same factory. Boo!)
I may never be able to make the perfect macaron, but I am so thankful to you for sharing this dynamite recipe and because of you, my children can now have some idea of what these gems are all about. On that note, would you mind helping me troubleshoot? I can send you photo evidence if you like.
Ha, don’t worry about being unable to resist eating the batter- I do the same thing every time! It tastes a whole lot like nutty marshmallow fluff to me.
I’m delighted to hear about your vastly improved experience, despite the fact that it wasn’t quite an unqualified success. It does sound like the warmed egg replacer got a bit nuked in the microwave, so it’s likely that yours is simply more powerful that mine. Either cut the heating time in half or reduce the power level by half, and hopeful that should help things next time. The most glaring issue I see that you mentioned is your measuring style. As you already figured out, I do spoon and level, which results in a wholly different measure in the end.
It sounds like you’re well on your way and with just a few tweaks, should have the technique down pat! Thank you for having the patience to wait out this recipe, since I know it’s not exactly the fastest or the easiest.
Hi again, Hannah. Thanks for your tips. I’ve tried making Macarons again (prior to reading your post and against your advise in the book to follow the recipe) and tried to cut the powdered sugar by 2 tbsp & replaced it with cornstarch; needless to say I didn’t end up with Macarons, but did get very scrummy meringue cookies. I also found out how versatile your “meringue” recipe is– just made some fudgy chocolate meringue cookies using you technique in Bon appetit’s recipe in the hopes of making a cookie similar to the one sold in SB and…voila! Nom-worthy, egg-free, cakey, fudgy beauties. They are a bit cakey compared to the SB cookies but yummy nonetheless.
You got me excited about baking again. Thank you.
Third attempt at macarons was a success!!! We don’t bother filling the shells, we just pop ’em right in. I found that using egg replacer is a lot more forgiving than egg whites: I somewhat vigorously folded/mixed the batter until I finally got the lava flow consistency and the meringue help up & piping was no problem. Hurray again to you for the recipe! Yes, I did a victory dance.
Hooray! Congratulation on macaron mastery. That is so exciting and gratifying to hear, because it’s one thing to write the recipe, but entirely another to have it work for others. Thank you for working through the issues and making those macarons happen. It makes my whole week to hear this!
What book are your macaron recipes in?
You’ll find the macaron recipe in Vegan Desserts! It’s currently out of print, but the second print run (now in paperback format) will be released November 1st. Thanks for your patience!
Happy New Year Hannah! The only recipe ingredient I can’t find where I live is chocolate extract. Could I substitute another extract, such as vanilla or peppermint? Also, I read somewhere that over-nuking the egg replacer in the microwave could destroy its magical properties. How many watts is your microwave, and what power level do you use? Thanks!
Hi Tricia, and Happy New Year to you too! Not to worry about the chocolate extract- You can absolutely change up the flavor and substitute whatever suits your tastes. I hadn’t heard that about EnerG, and since this is an unconventional use for the ingredient, I don’t think that the same consideration holds true. I’ve certainly never had any trouble with it after microwaving, especially since it for such a short time. I’m a bit embarrassed to say that I have no idea what wattage my microwave is, but after using my fair share of different ones, I’m confident that it’s a standard model and should match up to most modern units made in the last 5 – 8 years.
I went ahead and made these before your reply, using vanilla extract, and the macarons came out pretty enough to photograph for my school newspaper. The feet were a little too chubby, but none of the tops cracked in the oven. However, they were hollow inside! I smashed a few delicate cookies, not knowing they were hollow. Most of them survived to sandwich with the mint buttercream and were surprisingly delicious despite the defects. That’s after going to Chantal Guillon’s Macarons in San Francisco! Thanks Hannah!
Although they weren’t perfect, I’m so happy to hear that they still turned out and tasted great! Thanks for giving the recipe a shot, despite the difficulty. :)
>
[…] recipe I normally rely on uses weight measurements and Kaminsky’s uses volumetric. I tried commenting on Kaminsky’s blog for troubleshooting, but she did not share any advice on why my macarons turned out […]
Any luck with the cookbook? I’d love to know how I could get your recipe for vegan macarons!! Thanks!
Yes! You can find the recipe in Vegan Desserts.
I’m not that much of a online reader to be honest but your sites really nice, keep it up!
I’ll go ahead and bookmark your site to come back later
on. Many thanks
hihi,this are amazing!! may i know how to get this recipe for vegan macaroon~cookbook?many thanks for sharing,awaiting your reply via email…thank you!
I’m happy to say that the recipe has been published! You can find it in Vegan Desserts.
Hi Hannah,
I ordered the book since last year…but till date still out of stock!oh! (haven’t ship to me since it’s out of stock-not sure if publisher did let you know how popular your book is…), been pending to do Macaroon since last Dec till now, could you please advise any possibilities to get the book?…many thanks…
Hi Kerry Ann,
I’m so sorry you’ve been having such trouble getting a hold of Vegan Desserts! It’s currently in the process of being reprinted, with 4 brand new recipes added, too. I’m not sure of the release date, so if you don’t want to wait any longer it’s always available in ebook format.
Hi Hannah,
OOO…In this case, could you please update me once you release it……I would be happy to get your cook book…must get it! :-)