Soft and Chewy Strawberry Macarons

A strawberry macaron that is soft and chewy on the inside, crisp on the outside, and has just the right amount of strawberry flavor.

I admit that I was nervous about learning how to make French macarons but once I learned how to make them, I could not stop! I immediately had to make a strawberry version because strawberry anything is a winner in my book! 

There are a bunch of ways to get that strawberry flavor into your macarons. I've seen people use freeze-dried strawberries ground up into a powder, or you can use strawberry puree like I use in my strawberry cake recipe. 

I think the easiest and most convenient thing to use to get great strawberry flavor into your strawberry macarons is to use strawberry emulsion. Just a teaspoon adds tons of strawberry flavor, a nice light pink color and it doesn't affect the consistency of the macaron batter.

What Is Strawberry Emulsion?

Strawberry Emulsion is basically a super concentrated flavoring made from natural ingredients. It has a very strong flavor and typically takes less to flavor your recipes than using extract alone.

Strawberry Emulsion is great for flavoring cakes, frostings, fillings, and more. Use it in place of strawberry extract to give your baked goods a stronger flavor and richer aroma. Emulsions are the preferred choice of professional bakers for their exceptional taste and more potent flavor.

You can switch out the strawberry emulsion for any emulsion and make any flavor you like!

How To Make An Easy Strawberry Macaron

To make your strawberry macaron, we start with the basic macaron recipe. For a printable version, jump to the recipe card below. Make sure all your tools, bowl, and whisk attachment are completely clean and oil-free or your egg whites won't whip up. I highly recommend using a stand mixer for macarons, it takes a very long time for the meringue to whip with a hand mixer. I like to use a KitchenAid or a Bosch Universal Plus mixer.

Start with room temperature egg whites. Whip for 30 seconds or so until they get some bubbles. Add in your cream of tartar and slowly sprinkle in the sugar. Continue whipping on high to STIFF glossy peaks. We want to make tiny air bubbles in our meringue, small bubbles will pop slower than large bubbles.

After you get your egg whites to stiff peaks form, go ahead and add in your strawberry emulsion.

You can also use strawberry extract if you don't have emulsion but also add in a drop of pink food coloring. I used 1 teaspoon of strawberry emulsion... kinda looks like blood splatter in this pic. Maybe we should have re-thought this one lol.

Sift together your powdered sugar and almond flour. Remove and discard any large lumps. Sift a second time to just make sure everything is blended well. Some people like to use a food processor, but it's not necessary.

Add ⅓ of your flour mixture to the egg whites and fold in gently. Follow my easy macaron video for more visuals on folding properly.

Once your mixture is cohesive, go ahead and add in the remaining dry ingredients. 

Continue folding gently until the batter falls in ribbons from the spatula and you can draw a figure 8 with the batter without it breaking. The batter should flow like lava.

Place your batter into a piping bag fitted with a #14 round piping tip and then pipe onto parchment paper.

After conducting a test in my latest YouTube video, I've discovered a macaron silicone mat works better than parchment paper. This is the mat I used. 

Make sure you hold your piping bag straight up and down while squeezing to ensure the cookies are all the same size and in a circle. I pipe about a tablespoon at a time for small-sized macarons.

Once you have finished piping, tap the pan a few times on the counter to pop any surface bubbles. You can also use a toothpick to pop any bubbles below the surface. 

If you want to add some sprinkles to your macarons, now is the time to do it. Just don't use anything too heavy like metallic sprinkles or they will sink through the top of your macarons during baking. 

Now let your strawberry macaron cookies sit at room temperature for 30-60 minutes until a skin forms over the surface and you can touch them without feeling anything sticky. If you don't let the macarons develop a skin, they will not have feet when they bake. Now is a good time to preheat the oven to 300ºF.

I bake my macarons in the oven at 300ºF for 15 minutes. The cookies should be left to cool fully before trying to peel them from the parchment paper. If they stick then they were not finished baking and you'll have to remember to bake them for longer next time.

If you want your strawberry macarons to have a strawberry filling you can fill them with a strawberry reduction. You can also mix some strawberry reduction in with your buttercream and pipe that into the center. 

All that's left to do is fill your strawberry macarons with buttercream and serve them up!

I love the silky texture of Italian meringue buttercream with strawberry macarons, but if you want an easier filling, try my easy buttercream frosting.

How long do macarons last?

These macarons will last 2-3 days in the fridge. In fact, it is recommended that macarons be stored in the fridge for at least 24 hours to improve the texture of the cookie. 

You can freeze unfilled strawberry macaron shells. Thaw them out to use as you need them or if you're like me, you'll just sit there and eat them without guilt haha!

Want more macaron recipes? Check these out!
Chocolate Macaron Recipe

French Macaron Recipe

Pistachio Macarons

Recipe