The long awaited recipe is FINALLY here! These eggless macarons are made with Aquafaba. I am so proud of this recipe. It took a few attempts but the effort was absolutely WORTH it.
I request you to please read the notes below before you proceed to the recipe:
Please remember, macarons are very finicky. They are very sensitive and a slight change in moisture, humidity, ingredient quality, mixing time, temperature, type of tray used etc. can impact your final baked cookie. I cannot tell you how many times my macarons do not turn out perfectly because of these things. So if at all you are not able to make the perfect macarons, please don’t be disheartened, it really needs 3-4 attempts sometimes, to understand how to get things right. Especially if you have never baked macarons. I promise you, even if your macarons don’t look like the classic macarons, they will definitely taste good.
Mixer: This is a small batch recipe, I have purposely made a small batch so that it is easier for you to practice when you start out. That way, in case you are not happy with the recipe, you won’t feel sad for wasting the ingredients. SO, this recipe cannot be made in a kitchenaid, if you have the smallest variant of kitchenaid, then may be it is possible. However, if you are using a hand-held mixer. It usually comes with the two whisk like attachments. I will recommend only to attach one and make this recipe because that way you are able to have more control on the meringue. Two beating attachments can incorporate too many big air bubbles and the meringue might not be stable enough.
Aquafaba: I am sure you know what Aquafaba is, please remember to use the liquid from a can of UNSALTED chickpeas. Please note, I use this brand called Epicure, they sell canned chickpeas that are unsalted. Different brands can have different concentrations of aquafaba.
Grease free bowl: Any form of oiliness will ruin your macarons. Always wipe your bowls, beating attachments, spatulas etc with any type of vinegar to remove grease.
STIFF PEAKS: Stiff peaks for this meringue means literally the stiffest peaks. When you lift your beater the peak on the meringue should be as stiff as a bamboo stick. It will not droop or curl down. This is very important and determines the structure of your macarons. With aquafaba it can take longer than eggwhites to get to stiff peaks. However, once you do reach stiff peak stage, do not over mix the meringue.
MIXING THE DRY INGREDIENTS: This is extremely important. Please only mix the macaron batter till you no longer see any dry ingredients or white meringue streaks. I know it will seem wrong but trust me, the batter should only be loose enough to fall from your spatula in blobs. NOT FLOWING. If you mix till your batter flows like ribbons then you have overmixed your batter.
I always use my grinder to pulse the dry ingredients into a fine powder, if you grind for too long the almonds will release oils and your macarons will not turn out properly.
DRYING: It is important to let your macarons dry out otherwise they will not rise properly in the oven. This can take a lot of time if your kitchen is humid.
LASTLY, please use a kitchen scale and oven thermometer. It is crucial to this recipe.
I use normal, raw almonds for this recipe and not almond flour so I would not suggest using almond flour in this recipe.
Eggless Chocolate Macarons
Ingredients
- 52 gram Almonds (regular plain almonds)
- 5 gram Cocoa powder unsweetened
- 55 gram Icing sugar
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 33 ml Aquafaba (liquid from a can of UNSALTED chickpeas)
- 33 gram fine caster sugar
- 1/8 teaspoon Vinegar (any vinegar works or even freshly squeezed lemon juice)
Instructions
Please read the notes above before making the recipe.
- In a grinder or food processor, add the almonds, icing sugar, cocoa powder and salt. Pulse till it becomes a fine powder. (See notes above.)
- Sift this dry mixture into a clean bowl and set aside.
- Now, in a very clean grease free bowl, add the aquafaba and vinegar. Using a hand held mixer, whisk this for 30 seconds on low speed (Read notes above). Now increase the speed to the second speed setting and whisk for 1 minute.
- Once the aquafaba becomes frothy and looks white and foamy. Add 1/3rd of the caster sugar and whisk on the second speed setting for 30 seconds. Repeat for the remaining amount of sugar (add 1/3rd, whisk for 30s, add the remaining 1/3rd and whisk).
- Now increase the speed one more step and keep whisking the aquafaba till it reaches very stiff peak. The meringue will be pointing up. It will not droop, the tip will not bend sideways.
- Once your meringue reaches stiff peak stage add the sifted dry ingredients in three additions, gently folding 2-3 times in between.
- Once all the dry ingredients are added, very gently mix the batter. You will only need to fold a total of 6-10 times depending on the intensity of your mixing. You only need to mix the batter till it is incorporated fully.
The batter will look like a thick brownie batter. It will not be liquidy. When you pick up some batter with the spatula, it will not flow in a continuous flow. Instead it will drop in chunks on its own. Once you drop the batter from the spoon wait for 10 seconds, it should very slowly settle down. Stop mixing at this point or else the feet of your macarons will spread out.
- Transfer the batter into a piping bag (I don't use any nozzel). And on a parchment lined baking tray, pipe your macarons leaving enough space between each.
- Once piped, bang your baking tray on the counter at least 10 times for the macarons to settle down.
IMPORTANT: Let your macarons sit in a clean and dry place till it dries out. The top of the macaron should be completely dry when you touch it with your finger tip. I have found that if you live in a humid environment, keeping the tray in an air-conditioned room helps to dry out the macarons. (read notes for more details).
- Preheat your oven to 140 C, if you have a fan oven, turn it on as well. If not, it is okay. Once the tops are dried, bake the macarons for 20 minutes.
- Once baked, let your macarons sit in the oven – TURNED OFF for 2 minutes. Now take the tray out and let your macarons cool completely on the tray before removing them.
- You use buttercream/ganache/jam/nutella or any filling of your choice to sandwich your macarons.
- Refrigerate your macarons for at least 24 hours for the BEST texture.
Hello. I gave a try to eggless chocolate macarons. But they didn’t have any feet. Actually few of them had, slightly at one side. Not prefect feet. What could have gone wrong please? Awaiting reply. Thank you 🙂
Hi! Thank you for trying my recipe. Also if you are a beginner, I am so proud of you! My macarons didn’t have feet the first 3-4 times I tried them.
Since a few of the macarons had feet as you mentioned, there might be a few possibilities:
It might be possible the batter was very slightly under mixed, maybe it just needed 1 or 2 more foldings.
The oven temperature might be slightly low or uneven (I recommend using an oven thermometer).
I hope this helps, since macarons are very temperature and humidity sensitive, one slight difference can have a huge impact. I hope these pointers help.
Happy baking and thanks again 🙂