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Santa Claus Macarons Recipe

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4.9 from 44 reviews

Santa Claus Macarons are festive, delicate French cookies featuring bright red almond-flour shells decorated with royal icing to resemble Santa’s belt and buckle. Filled with a rich sugar cookie buttercream and rolled in shredded coconut, these macarons offer a perfect holiday treat with a balance of crisp shell and creamy filling.

Ingredients

Macaron Shells

  • 100 grams Domino Golden Sugar
  • 4 grams egg white powder (optional)
  • 100 grams egg whites
  • 105 grams almond flour
  • 105 grams Domino® Powdered Sugar
  • about 1 tbsp red gel food coloring

Royal Icing

  • 1 1/2 cups (187 grams) Domino® Powdered Sugar
  • 1 tbsp meringue powder
  • 4 tbsp water
  • 2 drops black gel food coloring
  • 1 drop yellow gel food coloring

Sugar Cookie Buttercream

  • 1/2 cup (63 grams) all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter
  • 1/4 cup (50 grams) Domino® Golden Sugar
  • 1 1/4 cup (156 grams) Domino® Powdered Sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/8 tsp almond extract
  • 1/2 tbsp milk or heavy cream
  • 1/4 cup (50 grams) desiccated coconut shredded

Instructions

  1. Prepare Ingredients: Gather all ingredients and equipment. Fit a large piping bag with a 1/4-inch round tip. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats and set aside.
  2. Sift Dry Ingredients: Sift together almond flour and powdered sugar, and set aside.
  3. Preheat Oven: Preheat the oven to 300ºF for about 60 to 90 minutes to stabilize temperature, or 270ºF if using a convection oven.
  4. Make Sugar Syrup with Egg Whites: Place a bowl over simmering water (without touching water). Add granulated sugar and egg white powder if using, whisk to prevent clumps. Add egg whites and whisk until sugar dissolves, testing by feeling no sugar granules.
  5. Whip Meringue: Transfer mixture to stand mixer bowl, whisk on low 30 seconds, medium-low 2 minutes, then medium-high until stiff, glossy peaks form (about 13–15 minutes). Stop before over-whipping to avoid hollow shells.
  6. Fold Dry Ingredients and Color: Add sifted almond flour and powdered sugar to meringue, add red gel food coloring. Fold gently using spatula forming a letter J, pressing batter down along bowl sides to remove air. Stop when batter is glossy with thick flowing consistency, forming slow figure 8s without breakage.
  7. Piping Batteries onto Sheets: Transfer batter to piping bag, seal top to prevent drying. Pipe rounds onto sheets, 90 degrees angle, about 3 to 5 seconds each. Tap trays on counter to release air bubbles. Pop surface bubbles with a toothpick.
  8. Rest Shells: Let shells rest at room temperature until surface forms a thick, dry skin (not soft) to prevent cracking during baking.
  9. Bake Shells: Bake one tray at a time for 20 minutes. Macarons are done when they have feet, deeper color, and tops are firm to touch without jiggle.
  10. Cool Shells: Remove shells from oven, cool completely before filling and decorating.
  11. Make Royal Icing: In mixer bowl, combine powdered sugar and meringue powder. Mix on low, gradually add water. Increase to medium-high and whip until glossy and fluffy with a thick, flowy consistency. Adjust water or sugar as needed. Divide evenly to two bowls and color one black and the other yellow. Place each into separate piping bags fitted with size 3 (black) and size 2 (yellow) tips. Keep covered to prevent crusting.
  12. Decorate Shells: Pipe a black royal icing line across half the shells to form Santa’s belt. Let dry a few minutes, refrigerating speeds drying. Pipe a yellow buckle square over the black belt line.
  13. Heat Treat Flour: Spread flour on lined baking tray and bake at 350ºF for 5 minutes, stirring once. Cool before use in buttercream.
  14. Make Sugar Cookie Buttercream: Beat butter and sugars for 4–5 minutes until creamy. Add heat-treated flour, vanilla, almond extract and mix low. Add milk or cream if needed to adjust consistency. Add more powdered sugar if too runny.
  15. Fill Macarons: Pipe buttercream onto bottom shells, sandwich with decorated top shells. Roll filled edges in shredded coconut.
  16. Storage: Store macarons in fridge up to 5 days or freeze up to 2 months.

Notes

  • Egg white powder is optional; if omitted, no recipe changes needed.
  • Resting the macaron shells before baking is essential to forming a dry skin and avoiding cracks.
  • Oven temperatures and baking times may vary; adjust according to your oven’s behavior.
  • Heat treat the flour before using in frosting to make it safe to eat.
  • Seal piping bag tops while working to prevent batter from drying out.
  • Allow royal icing to dry completely before proceeding to avoid smudging decorations.
  • Macarons freeze well; thaw in fridge before serving for best texture.

Find it online: https://hotsavors.com/santa-claus-macarons-recipe/