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These candy cane macarons with red and white marbled macaron shells filled with a bright and bold peppermint white chocolate filling make the perfect festive and elegant Christmas macarons.
There is officially less than a week to go with Christmas! And there is so much to bake! It’s time for all things, peppermint, chocolates, and cookies!
Ah Christmas! To be honest, growing up, Christmas wasn’t a big holiday in our household. But I still have fond memories of time spent together with family.
I just love how magical this time of year feels; everything around you is so festive. Daily routines slow down, and the focus shifts from the routines to special touches.
More time is spent socializing, and indulging; eating and drinking to our heart’s desire. The eating of course usually includes lots of cookies, and chocolates!
Even though our family was not big on celebrating Christmas, it was my time off from school. And that meant there was a new baking project to be undertaken! Whether it was making gingerbread houses or experimenting with a new chocolate chip recipe – Christmas was my time to bake up a storm! Also, it helped that there were lots of people willing to test my experiments.
These days, my cookie baking adventures have matured a wee bit.
Lately, I’ve been obsessed with making French Macarons.
This year, I’ve spent a lot of time perfecting my macaron recipe. Tweaking the ingredients in each batch, experimenting with different baking times, and I think I’ve finally gotten there! You can read about all the macaron tips I learned from the all experiments here!
Once you’ve conquered these cookies, the possibilities are endless, and frankly addictive!
There are an infinite amount of colors, and flavor combinations to experiment with! These dainty cookies are oh so pretty on any dessert table, and can be adorned so different ways!
Go ahead, try these peppermint white chocolate macarons, and share with your friends and family, or keep them to yourself! Calories don’t count this time of year, do they?
How to make Candy Cane Macarons with White Chocolate & Peppermint Ganache Filling
These candy cane macarons have a few different steps to get to the final delicious macarons.
Make sure to watch my video above for more tips on the process!
STEP #1: Red and White Marble Shells
For these macarons shells, we’re going to start by making basic white macaron shells, and then color the pastry bag so they get that beautiful marble macaron look when they get piped.
The basic macaron shells are the same as the other macaron recipes that I have here like these Nutella Macarons and Masala Chai Macarons.
Weigh all the ingredients:
Making macarons is a bit of a lesson in patience and accuracy.
The best way to ensure macaron success is to weigh all your ingredients with a digital scale.
Combine the dry ingredients:
Start by sifting the almond flour and icing/powdered sugar together a few times to remove clumps. It helps with making sure that the final shells are as smooth as possible.
(I typically use the Kirkland brand of Almond Flour that I purchase from Amazon.)
Make the meringue:
Next, make the meringue, by beating of egg whites, granulated sugar, and a pinch of cream of tartar.
Macronage:
This is the step where the dry ingredients are folded into the meringue. Stop folding when the batter flows off the spatula in a ribbon.
Paint the Pastry Bag:
Fit a pastry bag with a round piping tip like a Wilton #12 Tip.
Next, paint two streaks on opposite sides along the inside of the pastry bag, starting at the tip all the way to the top, with red gel food color.
For this, it is best to use gel food color as it is the most concentrated food color. Any other type might introduce too much moisture into your macaron batter. I used Tulip Red by Americolor for these macarons.
STEP #2: Peppermint White Chocolate Ganache Filling
Make the Peppermint White Chocolate Ganache Filling by combining hot heavy cream with chopped chocolate. Keep mixing until it comes together, it might take a little while.
Make sure to allow the ganache to cool completely. Once it has cooled fold in some smooth peanut butter to get a chocolate peanut butter ganache.
STEP #3: Fill, Decorate and Mature
Fill:
Once ready to fill the macarons, add the chocolate ganache to a piping bag and pipe onto half the macaron shells.
Decorate:
Pipe a little white chocolate peppermint ganache to the rim of the macarons, then roll the in crushed candy canes.
Mature:
Macarons taste best when they’ve had some time to rest and mature in the fridge. So these macarons can easily be made ahead of time!
Tips for the Candy Cane Macarons
- The recipe below for the candy cane macarons makes 24 macarons. It can easily be cut in half, or doubled for the amount of macarons that you need. (I would recommend making more!)
Macaron Shells
- Make sure to weigh the ingredients with a scale. This is the scale I have, and it has really helped me make better macarons!
- It is important for your oven to be at the correct temperature when baking macarons! I can’t imagine baking macarons anymore without this oven thermometer.
- Make sure to cool the macaron shells completely before filling them.
- If you need more tips on making the macaron shells, check out my in-depth post on tips to make the perfect macarons.
For the Peppermint White Chocolate Ganache Filling:
- Combine the heavy cream into the white chocolate when the heavy cream is hot.
- Cool the ganache completely, in the fridge, for at least two hours for it to firm up and be used as a filling. If not, the filling will slide off the macarons.
- A little peppermint extract goes a long way. The flavor may depend on the brand you use. I love using extracts by LorAnn Oils.
Decorating and Filling:
- If you want a crushed candy cane rim, you might need to pipe a little extra white chocolate ganache on the edges to get the crushed candy canes to stick. (You can see how in the video above).
- Let the macarons mature for at least 4 hours, overnight if possible for the best flavor.
Follow me onĀ Instagram @sprinklesandscribblesĀ for more baking inspiration!
Ready to make some Candy Cane Macarons?
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Marbled Peppermint White Chocolate Macarons
Ingredients
Marble Macaron Shells
- 135 grams almond flour
- 125 grams icing sugar
- 100 grams egg whites (About 3 large egg whites)
- 88 grams granulated sugar
- a pinch cream of tartar
- red food coloring gel such as Americolor Tulip Red
White Chocolate Peppermint Ganache Filling
- 150 grams white chocolate
- 50 grams heavy cream
- 1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
- 2 tablespoon crushed candy canes (optional – I crushed about 2 candy canes)
Special Tools
- Measuring scale
- Sifter
- oven thermometer
- Stand mixer or Hand mixer
- Pastry bag
- #12 round tip (optional)
- 2 aluminum baking sheets with silicon mats or silpat
Instructions
Macaron shells
- Pre-heat oven to 300Ā°F.
- Separate the eggs from the egg whites (if using fresh eggs). Measure out 100 g (about 3 large eggs).
- In a separate bowl, sift the icing sugar and almond flour together
- Repeat the sifting process to ensure there are no clumps. If there are any clumps, discard them.
- In a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, add the egg whites and a pinch cream of tartar. Beat on high until foamy.
- Once the egg whites are foamy, turn mixer down to the lowest setting possible, and slowly add in the granulated sugar. Be sure to incorporate all the sugar into the egg whites.
- Turn up the mixer again on high, and keep beating egg whites until peaks form. DO NOT OVER BEAT.
- Once done, pour all the almond flour and icing sugar mixture into the egg whites.
- With a rubber spatula, fold the dry mixture into the egg whites, until the paste flows like a ribbon.
- Fit a pasty bag with a #12 round tip, if using, and trim the bottom as appropriate.
- Paint two streaks on opposite sides along the inside of the pastry bag, starting at the tip all the way to the top, with red gel food color.
- Pour batter into piping bag.
- Pipe circles onto the prepared baking sheet. You should get about 50-60 circles in total depending on the size of your macarons.
- Once piped, rap the sheet on the counter to release all the air bubbles.
- Rest for 30 minutes, until the shells have formed a skin, and macarons are no longer tacky to the touch.
- Bake in oven, at 300Ā°F for 12-13 minutes.
- Check for doneness, by wiggling a shell. Shells are done when they don't move from the feet. If it wiggles from the feet, then bake for another minute, and check again.
- Cool the shells in the tray.
White Chocolate Peppermint Ganache Filling
- While the shells are cooling, make the ganache filling.
- Heat the heavy cream in the microwave for one minute
- Whisk in the solid white chocolate until melted and smooth
- Add in peppermint extract and whisk to incorporate.
- Store in fridge to cool / harden a little for at least 2 hours.
- Remove from fridge and beat with a hand mixer to get a airy whipped ganache.
Assembly
- Remove macaron shells from baking tray and pair similar sized shells together to form the cookie sandwiches.
- Add in about a teaspoon of peppermint ganache
- Sprinkle each shell with chopped candy canes, if using.
- Carefully sandwich the cookie with itās pair.
- Repeat to assemble all the cookies
- Once all the cookies are assembled, store the macarons in the fridge for at least 24 hours to mature.
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