These grinch macarons with red velvet ganache are sure to make anyone's heart (and taste buds) grow three sizes. The bright green macaron shells sandwich a creamy, fluffy red velvet ganache for a tasty bite-sized treat perfect for your holiday celebrations.
One of the most popular Christmas dessert categories are Christmas cookies. And, certainly there are festive fast and easy ones like these Christmas Pinwheels.
However, if you want to stretch your baking skills a little and really dazzle your guests - these grinch macarons with red velvet ganache are a must try.
These only use 10 ingredients and take about an hour to bake up. But, you do need to make sure to follow along with the recipe pretty closely to get a perfect macaron shell.
But, don't be too worried, we have included a ton of tips and tricks below for you calling out all the issues we have run into over the years. So that you can bake up a batch of these even if it's your first time.
Equipment
- Kitchen Scale
- Sifter
- Spatula
- Mixer with whisk attachment
- Mixing bowl
- Cookie Sheet
- Parchment or Silicone sheet with macaron template
- Pastry bag or ziplock bag
- large round piping tip
Ingredients
For Macarons:
- Almond Flour
- Powdered Sugar
- Granulated Sugar
- Egg Whites
- Meringue Powder (optional)
- Egg White Powder (optional)
- Green Food Coloring
For red velvet ganached:
- White Chocolate Chips
- Heavy Whipping Cream
- Red Velvet Flavoring
- Green Candy Melts
- Red Heart Sprinkles
See recipe card for quantities.
Substitutions & Variations
Here are a few notes/substitutions for the ingredients
- Carton egg whites - if you don't want to mess with separating eggs, you can use store bought egg whites in a carton. Fresh do tend to give better results thourhg.
- Egg white powder - this is useful to help fill gaps in the macaron shells, but it is optional and you can skip it.
- Meringue powder - this is also options, it is nice to use to stabilize the egg whites when whipping them.
- No pastry bag - if you don't have a pastry or piping bag, you can use a regular ziplock back and snip the end off it.
Want other grinch desserts? Try these grinch cupcakes, grinch hot cocoa bombs or this grinch cake roll.
How to Make Grinch Macarons
Follow these step-by-step instructions to bake up a batch of your very own.
Step one: preheat the oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit
Step two: add egg whites and optional meringue powder to a bowl. Beat with whisk attachment for 3 minutes.
Step three: Add in sugar a little at a time mixing on medium until combined. Then, mix on high for 5 minutes. It should be stiff and balled up.
Step four: Add in green food coloring and mix until combined.
Step five: combine almond flour, powdered sugar and egg white powder (optional) into a fine mesh strainer and sieve through getting rid of any large chunks
Step six: Take the dry sifted ingredients and slowly add them into the whipped mixture.
Step seven: Carefully fold dry and wet ingredients together, slowly deflating the mixture as you incorporate them.
Step eight: When mixture is ready is should be able to be scooped with spatula and gently flow off of it, ribboning as it falls and melting back inot the mixture within around 20 seconds.
Step nine: transfer batter to a pastry bag with a large round tip. Place macaron template on baking pan. Hold the bag ½ inch above the template and squeeze batter out to just fill the circle of each template
Step ten: Once all are piped on, lift the baking sheet and hit it on the counter a few times to release air bubbles. Allow to sit for at least 30 minutes (tops should no longer be sticky to touch). Then bake for 10 - 11 minutes.
How to Make Red Velvet Ganache and Assemble
Step one: melt white chocolate chips and heavy cream in microwave for about 1 minute. Stir well until smooth.
Step two: add to mixing bowl and tir in red velvet flavoring. Allow to cool.
Step three: Whip ganache for 2 - 3 minutes on medium so that it gets fluffy. Transfer to a piping bag.
Step four: Lay macarons shells out (pairing similar sizes together. Pip ganache onto one side and then sandwich the top shell on each.
Step five: melt green candy melts in microwave at 30 second intervals until smooth. Add to piping bag.
Step six: drizzle green melted candy over macarons and sprinkle with red hearts before the melted candy hardens.
Hint: you can eat them right away, but for the best texture, wait 24 hours for the shells to reach peak quality.
Recipe Tips for Success
- No yolks - when adding the egg whites make sure that there is absolutely no yolk included or they will not whip up properly.
- Correct consistency-
- whipped egg whites should have very stiff peaks, ball up and pull away from the sides of the bowl.
- final batter should ribbon off the spatula and re-incorporate into the mix within 29 seconds. Too thick will cause shells to peak and too thin will result in them spreading like regular cookies.
- Before baking - before baking, make sure they have rested. You should be able to touch the top of the shell/macaron and have none stick to your finger.
Storage
You can keep these for up to 2 weeks in the refrigerator in an airtight container. Or, you can freeze them for up to 3 months.
Grinch Macarons with Red Velvet Ganache
Equipment
- Kitchen Scale
- Sifter
- Spatula
- Electric Mixer with whisk attachment
- Mixing bowl
- cookie sheet
- Parchment or Silicone Sheet with macaron template
- Pastry Bag or ziplock bag
- Large Round Piping Tip
Ingredients
Grinch Macaron Shells
- 130 g Almond Flour approx 1 ⅓ cup
- 130 g Powdered Sugar approx 1 cup
- 90 g Granulated Sugar approx ⅓ cup
- 100 g Egg Whites approx 3 large eggs
- ½ teaspoon Meringue Powder optional
- 1 teaspoon Egg white powder optional
- Green Food Coloring
Red Velvet Ganache + Decorations
- 10 oz White Chocolate Chips
- ⅓ cup Heavy Whipping Cream
- 1 tablespoon Red velvet flavoring
- ½ cup Green candy melts
- ¼ cup Red Heart Sprinkles
Instructions
Grinch Macaron Shells
- Preheat oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Separate 100g of egg whites (about 3 large eggs).
- Beat egg whites until foamy with a whisk attachment for about 1 minute.
- Add in ½ teaspoon meringue powder (optional) and 90 grams of granulated sugar in three increments, mixing on medium after every addition.
- After all sugar is added, mix on medium/high for 5 minutes. It should have stiff peaks and be pulling away from the sides of the bowl.
- Add in green food coloring and mix until combined.
- Combine 130 grams of almond flour, 130 grams of powdered sugar and 1 teaspoon of egg white powder (optional) in a fine mesh stainer. Sift through and discard any larger chunks.
- Pour the sifted dry ingredients into the whipped mixture stirring just enough to incorporate them.
- Then, start gently folding the mixture to deflate it. Make sure to scrape the bottoms and sides.
- When done, you should be able to scoop some with your spatula and have it ribbon off, then reincorporate into the mix in about 20 seconds.
- Transfer batter to a pastry bag with a large roudn tip.
- Add macaron template to baking pan.
- Hold pastry bag about ½ inch above the template and squeeze slowly until the batter fills the inner circle of the template.
- Once all rounds are filled, lift the baking sheet and hit it on the counter a few times to release air bubbles.
- Allow batter to rest for at least 30 minutes. You should be able to touch the surface of the shell without any sticking to your finger.
- Once they have rested, bake for 10 - 11 minutes. Set aside and allow to cool.
Red Velvet Ganache + Decorations
- Add 10 oz of white chocolate chips and ⅓ cup of heavy cream to a bowl. Then heat at 30 second intervals in the microwave until smooth. This takes about a minute.
- Add in 1 tablespoon of red velvet flavoring and stir well.
- Pour into mixing bowl and allow to cool slightly.
- Once cooled, whip on medium for 2 - 3 minutes until it becomes fluffy.
- Transfer to a piping bag.
- Lay macaron shells out, pairing up similar sizes.
- Pipe one half of the shells with the whipped ganache and then sandwich the other half on top of each.
- Melt ½ cup green candy melts at 30 second intervals, stirring between each heating until smooth and melted.
- Add melted mixture to a piping bag and drizzle over the top of the amcarons.
- Sprinkle red heart candies over top quickly before they dry.
Notes
- No yolks - when adding the egg whites make sure that there is absolutely no yolk included or they will not whip up properly.
- Correct consistency-
- whipped egg whites should have very stiff peaks, ball up and pull away from the sides of the bowl.
- final batter should ribbon off the spatula and re-incorporate into the mix within 29 seconds. Too thick will cause shells to peak and too thin will result in them spreading like regular cookies.
- Before baking - before baking, make sure they have rested. You should be able to touch the top of the shell/macaron and have none stick to your finger.
- Egg white powder + meringue powder - both are optional ingredients.
- No piping bag- you can use a ziplock bag and snip the corner instead.
Nutrition
Nutrition information provided is just an estimate and may vary based on specific ingredients used.
