Oreo Macarons - Beyond the Butter (2024)

10 Helpful Tips for Making the Best Oreo Macarons

Below are a few helpful tips for making your cookie and cream macarons experience a better, less stressful one!

Keep everything clean. Thoroughly clean any baking tools that will be used for making these oreo macarons. This includes the mixing bowl, whisks, silicone baking sheets, and spatulas.

A paper towel soaked with little white vinegar is a great way to remove any traces of grease that may have been left behind!

Sift, sift, and sift again. Do not skip sifting the almond flour, powdered sugar, and black cocoa powder when making macarons. The finer the dry ingredients are the smoother your macaron shells will be!

I sift everything twice, then whisk everything together one more time at the end. You can also use a food processor to pulse the ingredients together until well blended.

Use room temperature egg whites. Room temperature egg whites form a better meringue and don't take quite as long to come together either. Bring your eggs out at least 1 hour before starting, then separate out the egg whites.

Save the yolks to make these super easy lemon bars or lemon bar macarons!

Leave no yolk behind. When separating your egg whites, make sure there are no traces of the yolks. It's the quickest way to kill your meringue. To remove any broken pieces of eggshell, you can use one half of the shell or you can use your clean hands.

Test the sugar egg white mixture. An easy way to make sure the sugar has completely dissolved into the egg whites is to run a little bit of the mixture between your thumb and pointer finger.

If you feel any sugar granules at all, keep whisking. And with the simmering water—you won't burn your fingers when testing. I do not recommend skipping this test—it will leave your macarons with a gritty texture.

Macaronage test. When your macaron batter is ready for piping it can form ribbons or a figure 8 shape without breaking. Keep folding until you get to this point. Stop immediately once you can.

Keep it perpendicular. Hold your piping bag perpendicular to the mat as you pipe out the circles. Piped at an angle and you will more than likely end up with lopsided macarons.

Tap lightly. Gently tap or bang the baking sheets 3-4 times on the kitchen counter to bring any air bubbles to the surface. Pop those babies with a toothpick or a needle scriber tool. The latter is also used with royal icing cookies.

Let them dry. Drying time for your oreo macarons will vary depending upon how humid it is where you live. Your macaron shells will be ready when they are dry on top and no longer sticky to the touch. I recommend 35-45 minutes for drying. Having a ceiling fan to help speed up the drying is also helpful.

Piping bag pint glass. For those of us not skilled enough to use just your hand as the piping bag holder, a pint glass works wonders! After fitting the bag with your decorating tip (and coupler, depending on the size of the decorating tip), place the bag inside the pint glass and drape the bag over the sides.

oreo macaron shells

• ▢ 1 cup Almond Flour (sifted)
• ▢ ¾ cup Powdered Sugar (sifted)
• ▢ 3 tablespoon Black Cocoa Powder (sifted)
• ▢ 3 Egg Whites (room temperature)
• ▢ ½ cup Granulated Sugar
• ▢ ⅛ teaspoon Salt
• ▢ 2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• ▢ 10-12 drops Black Gel Food Coloring

vanilla cream filling

• ▢ ¼ cup Unsalted Butter (room temperature)
• ▢ ¼ cup Vegetable Shortening (room temperature)
• ▢ 2 cups Powdered Sugar (sifted)
• ▢ 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract (can also use clear imitation vanilla)

oreo macaron shells

• Prep your work area by cleaning your mixing bowls, whisks, and any other baking tools that will be used for making the macarons. Use a little white vinegar on a paper towel will help remove any grease left behind.

• Line 2 baking sheets with either macaron silicone mats (my preference) or parchment paper with circles drawn on the opposite side. Fit a large piping bag with a round decorating tip (like the Wilton 2A). Set to the side.

• In a medium bowl, sift the almond flour, powdered sugar, and black cocoa powder together twice, removing any bits left behind from the sifter. Then whisk to fully blend together (or use a food processor).

  1 cup Almond Flour, ¾ cup Powdered Sugar, 3 tablespoon Black Cocoa Powder

• Using a double boiler, heat the granulated sugar and egg whites over 1 - 1.5 inches of simmering water, continually whisking until the sugar has fully dissolved and the mixture is frothy in appearance (about 5-6 minutes). Test the mixture by rubbing a little of it between your pointer finger and thumb to make sure all sugar granules have dissolved.

  ½ cup Granulated Sugar, 3 Egg Whites

• Carefully transfer the mixture to a mixing bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and set the speed to high. When the mixture initially reaches the soft peaks stage, add in the salt and vanilla extract. Continue to mix at high speed right until stiff peaks form (about 10 minutes). The meringue should look glossy and be able to hold its shape when you invert the whisk attachment.

  ⅛ teaspoon Salt, 2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

• Using a spatula, gently fold in the sifted dry ingredients with the stiff meringue. As you continue to fold, press the batter against the side of the bowl. Midway through folding, add anywhere from 4-10 drops of black gel food coloring (optional). Keep folding until the batter is the consistency of lava. If the batter falls easily off the spatula in ribbons (or can make a figure 8 pattern) with no breaking, it's time to pipe! If not, fold 2-3 more times, then test again.

  10-12 drops Black Gel Food Coloring

• When ready, carefully scoop the batter into the piping bag. Holding your bag perpendicular to the silicone mat (or parchment paper), pipe out a circles close to 1.5 inches in diameter. When you tap/bang the baking sheets on the counter after piping they should spread out just a little.

• Gently bang your baking sheets on the counter 3-4 times to release the air bubbles. Use a toothpick or needle scriber tool to carefully remove them.

• Set the trays of oreo macaron shells to the side, somewhere cool and dry, where they can rest/dry for 35-45 minutes. The oreo macarons are ready to be baked when the tops are dry to the touch and no longer sticky. Use a ceiling fan to help dry them, if you have one. Drying times will vary based on where you live. The higher the humidity, the longer the rest time.

• When you're close to the end of the resting time, preheat your oven to 300ºF and place your oven rack on the 2nd level mark (just above the center).

• Bake only 1 tray of the oreo macarons at a time for 16 minutes at 300ºF, rotating the baking sheet at the 8-minute mark. Do not skip this step!

• When done, remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before trying to remove them from the mats. If your shells are still a little sticky after this time frame, you can pop them in the freezer for 15-20 minutes.

• If not making/piping the frosting until the next day, keep the macaron shells stored in an airtight container either in the refrigerator or freezer.

vanilla cream filling

• Using your hand mixer or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix together the unsalted butter, vegetable shortening, sifted powdered sugar, and vanilla extract on low speed until fully blended and smooth. Use a spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.

  ¼ cup Unsalted Butter, ¼ cup Vegetable Shortening, 2 cups Powdered Sugar, 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

assembling the oreo macarons

• Fit a medium-size piping bag with a coupler and open or round decorating tip (like the Wilton 10), then fill the bag with the frosting.

• In a circular motion, starting from the center, pipe the vanilla cream filling onto a macaron shell, then gently press another macaron shell on top. Repeat until you have used all the macaron shells. Store any leftover filling in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. It will need to be brought to room temperature for piping.

• Keep the oreo macarons stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Macarons taste their very best after 2-3 days of sitting in the refrigerator. They taste like a thicker, fancier version of the classic Oreo. YUM!