Salted Caramel Macarons
I used my favorite salted caramel sauce to make salted caramel macarons with a vanilla shell, salted caramel buttercream and salted caramel glaze!
My Homemade Salted Caramel Sauce is one of my favorite sauces to make when I want to add something special to a recipe. I usually make it to accompany another bold flavor, like chocolate, but it’s so delicious it deserves to have its own macaron so you can fully enjoy the taste.
If you love making macarons and want to try new flavors, my White Chocolate Raspberry Macarons are a great fruity option. To satisfy a chocolate craving, my Chocolate Macarons are perfect. If you want something a little tart my Lemon Macarons are delicious and have homemade lemon curd!
How to make Salted Caramel Macarons
I decided to use my Vanilla Macaron recipe for the shells so the flavor of the Salted Caramel Sauce stands out when you bite into the cookie. I wanted the salted caramel to be the dominant flavor without it being the only flavor.
Like all of my macaron recipes, I used the Swiss method because I found it to be the simplest recipe to work with. I like to bake user friendly desserts and with such a pretentious cookie I prefer that method.
The inside of my Salted Caramel Macarons are filled with my salted caramel sauce and a salted caramel French buttercream. Then I made a caramel glaze to drizzle over or dip the cookie in.
Macaron Shells
The Swiss method involves cooking the egg whites and granulated sugar over a double boiler. Cooking the egg whites makes the meringue more stable. After the meringue is done I added the vanilla extract and then folded in the almond flour and powdered sugar.
Ingredients:
- Almond Flour: Macarons will always use a nut flour, traditionally almond flour. I haven’t tried making them with any other flour so I don’t recommend it.
- Sugar: Macarons require two types of sugar- granulated and powdered. The granulated sugar is used to make the meringue and then the powdered sugar gets folded in with the almond flour.
- Egg Whites: You need egg whites when you make meringue. Aquafaba is a common egg free alternative and although I’ve made meringue using it before, I have no tried it for macarons so I suggest looking into a recipe intended to be vegan if you need it to be egg free.
Salted Caramel French Buttercream
Caramel is pretty sweet so I decided to use my French buttercream as the base of my frosting. It’s less sweet than American Buttercream and uses up at least two of the leftover egg yolks. For the macarons you will only need to make ½ a batch of the buttercream and to flavor it you add ¼ cup of the Salted Caramel Sauce.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use store bought caramel?
I highly recommend making the caramel because it is SO DELICIOUS and you will have extra to drizzle on anything and everything. If you are short on time and can plan ahead, you can make it a few days before.
You can use store bought caramel but if I’m being honest, I have not found a brand that I can recommend yet.
Do I need to make a glaze or can I just drizzle caramel on top?
I made the salted caramel glaze because it will dry and you will be able to store them in a box without ruining them. The caramel sauce doesn’t dry and your fingers will get sticky when you pick them up and the sauce will get on everything when stored.
How to store Salted Caramel Macarons
You can store your macarons in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to a week. If you want to store them in the freezer, place them in an airtight container and place the container in a freezer bag, squeezing out all of the excess air. They are best served at room temperature or slightly chilled.
Thanks so much for reading today’s post! If you have any questions just comment down below, I’m happy to answer! If you make these salted caramel macarons I would love to see the results! Make sure to tag me @baranbakery on instagram and order my cookbook, Frosted.
As always, have a blessed day and happy baking!
Love, B
Yield: 22-25 whole cookies
Salted Caramel Macarons Recipe
I used my favorite salted caramel sauce to make salted caramel macarons with a vanilla shell, salted caramel buttercream and salted caramel glaze!
Prep Time
1 hour
Cook Time
40 minutes
Additional Time
1 hour
Total Time
2 hours 40 minutes
Ingredients
Salted Caramel Sauce
- 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup (59mL) water
- 1/2 cup (118mL) heavy cream, room temperature
- 1/4 cup (56g) salted butter softened
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Vanilla Macaron Shells
- 1 cup (100g) almond flour, spooned and leveled
- 7/8 cup (105g) powdered sugar, spooned and leveled
- 3 large (100g) egg whites, room temperature
- 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste (or extract)
Salted Caramel French Buttercream
- 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 1/8 cup (28mL) water
- 2 large egg yolks, room temperature
- 1/2 cup (113g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste (or extract)
- pinch of salt
- 1/4 cup (2 oz) salted caramel sauce, room temperature
Caramel Glaze
- 1/4 cup (2oz) salted caramel sauce, room temperature
- 1/4 cup (30g) powdered sugar, spooned and leveled
- Pinch of sea salt flakes
Instructions
Salted Caramel Sauce
- Make Salted Caramel Sauce ahead of time so it has time to cool.
Vanilla Macaron Shells
- Sift together the almond flour and powdered sugar and set them aside.
- Heat up a small pot of water on the stove to create a double boiler for the Swiss meringue. Whisk the egg whites and granulated sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer over the double boiler until the sugar is fully dissolved and the egg whites are frothy (about 120F or 49C).
- Remove the mixture from the heat and use the stand mixer with the whisk attachment, at high speed, to beat the egg whites and sugar just until stiff peaks form, about 2 minutes.
- Add in the vanilla bean paste and mix for a few seconds, until it is fully incorporated.
- Sift the almond flour and powdered sugar mixture over the meringue and use a firm spatula to fold the dry ingredients into the meringue.
- The method that I use to fold the batter (use photos for reference) is by pressing the batter up against the wall of the bowl and then scraping it off of the bowl.
- Do this until the mixture is able to ribbon off and form a complete figure '8' without breaking. This may take a while, just keep folding but don't over-mix so test the figure '8' every 5-10 folds.
- Using a piping bag, with a small circle tip, pipe out 1 1/2 inch size circles onto a lined cookie sheet, about 2 inches apart. Rap tray on the counter a few times to remove any air bubbles from within the batter (use a toothpick to remove any air bubbles that are visible and won’t come out).
- Allow the cookies to rest while preheating the oven to 300F (149C) conventional (no fan). Bake one pan at a time in the center of the oven for 13 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and allow the cookies to cool completely on the pan.
Salted Caramel French Buttercream
- Use the ingredients listed above to make a half batch of French buttercream. Add 1/4 cup of salted caramel sauce and mix until combined.
Assembly
- Pipe a border of buttercream around the edge of half of the macarons and then fill with salted caramel. Place the other half of the macarons on top and refrigerate them for about 30 minutes or so.
- To make the glaze, combine the caramel sauce with the powdered sugar and whisk until it’s completely smooth. Dip the top of the macarons in the glaze or drizzle some on top of the macarons. Top with a pinch of sea salt flakes.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
22Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 220Total Fat: 11gSaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 48mgSodium: 101mgCarbohydrates: 28gFiber: 1gSugar: 27gProtein: 3g
Nutrition information may not be fully accurate.