Salted Caramel Macarons - The Floured Table | With homemade caramel (2024)

These chewy salted caramel macarons are golden brown in color with subtle caramel notes from brown sugar in the macaron shells. The interiors are filled with a creamy swirl of salted caramel buttercream and a pocket of homemade salted caramel sauce. Using a Swiss meringue buttercream keeps the frosting from being cloying, and the dark amber notes in the caramel sauce help balance the overall sweetness. If you're a fan of salted caramel, these are definitely for you!

I really like salted caramel. I've drizzled it on cakes, tucked it into tarts, and poured it over tiny cakes. I've even made salted caramels with whiskey. There's always a partial jar of it on the top shelf of our fridge. It's quite easy to make, and a real treat to eat with most anything (crisp apple slices dipped in caramel sauce are the ultimate simple fall indulgence.)

This macaron recipe is a not-so-subtle love letter to caramel. (How I love thee, let me count the ways...) The shells are made with brown sugar rather than white in order to give them a naturally colored golden glow and bit of extra flavor. The caramel buttercream gets its taste from a generous portion of deliciously dark and rich homemade salted caramel sauce. And more caramel sauce is piped into the center of each macaron and drizzled on top for decoration, for a triple caramel French macaron that's very, very good.

If you haven't tried making macarons, I encourage you to give these a go. Macarons do have a learning curve, but they're very much worth the effort.

Ingredients

MACARON INGREDIENT NOTES

• Almond flour - Use finely ground almond flour (affiliate link) for macarons, rather than almond meal or ground almonds. The key to a smoothly textured macaron shell is to avoid lumps and graininess from roughly milled almond flour. If you have a food processor, you can process the almond flour and powdered sugar together to create as fine a consistency as possible. Additionally, always sift your almond flour to remove any larger pieces.
• Powdered sugar - Sift your powdered sugar well to avoid lumps.
• Egg whites - Make sure your egg whites are at room temperature. If you've forgotten, place the eggs in a bowl of hot water for 10 minutes prior to separating, or if already separated, place the base of a container of egg whites into a container of hot water to warm for 10 minutes. Make sure water does not enter the container.
• Brown sugar - Brown sugar provides sweetness, extra caramel flavor and subtle natural golden color to the macaron shells.

SALTED CARAMEL SAUCE INGREDIENT NOTES

• Granulated sugar - Granulated sugar and water are heated in a heavy saucepan over the stove until fully dissolved, bubbling and golden brown in color. They form the base of the caramel sauce.
• Water - This salted caramel sauce uses the "wet caramel" technique, which means adding water to the sugar as it melts and caramelizes. Since the water needs to boil off in order to create a caramel, it cooks for longer than a dry caramel, thus enhancing the flavors and creating a caramel with more depth.
• Heavy whipping cream - Cream provides the rich smooth texture to the caramel sauce. Warming the cream before adding it to the hot sugar mixture will help reduce the possibility that the sugar will seize.

SALTED CARAMEL SWISS BUTTERCREAM NOTES

• Egg whites - Egg whites and sugar are warmed to dissolve the sugar, then whipped to form a Swiss meringue. To this, we add the remaining ingredients to create a wonderfully smooth, not too sweet buttercream.
• Unsalted butter - The temperature of the butter is important here. It should be at room temperature, around 65 degrees F. You should be able to make a fingerprint in the butter with a bit of resistance. I like to cut my buttercream into tablespoon sized cubes to ensure even temperature.
• Salted caramel sauce - The salted caramel sauce should be at room temperature.

Instructions

Step 1: In a medium bowl, whisk together the almond flour and powdered sugar. Set aside.

Step 2: Into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, add the egg whites. Beat on medium speed until foamy.

Step 3: Gradually beat in the brown sugar. Scrape down the side of the bowl.

Step 4: Increase speed to high and beat egg white mixture until stiff peaks form.

Step 5: To the stiff egg white mixture, add half of the almond flour mixture.

Step 6: With a spatula, fold it in until well mixed together. Add the second half of the almond flour mixture. This is the stage called macaronage. You want to fold in the remaining almond flour while removing some of the additional volume/air from the macaron batter. As you fold in the almond flour, use the spatula to press the batter up and against the side of the bowl.

Step 7: Every few strokes, scoop the batter onto your spatula and let it drip off. It should flow in a constant, slow stream (like lava or honey) without breaking. If you can hold the spatula and drizzle a figure 8 with the batter without it breaking, your batter is ready.

Step 8: Using a piping bag fit with a round open tip, pipe circles of macaron batter onto each circle marked on the parchment paper. Stop squeezing and give a quick flick of the piping bag tip up and to the side to finish each macaron. Pipe all the circles onto the parchment and continue with other pans. Lift each pan and bang it down onto the counter (as level as possible).

Give it a quarter turn and repeat banging three more times, turning each time. Turning the pans helps ensure the batter does not spread too much in any direction. Repeat with all baking pans. This step helps remove air bubbles. Pop any visible air bubbles with a toothpick. Set the pans on a draft free surface to dry the macarons for a minimum of 30 minutes.

Step 9: Bake at 300 degrees Fahrenheit for 17 minutes.

Step 10: Pair up similar sized shells for filling and decorating the macarons.

Step 11: On a parchment lined baking sheet, add caramel drizzle to the tops of half of the macaron shells. To the bottom halves, add a piped circle of caramel buttercream and fill with salted caramel sauce.

Step 12: Assemble similar sized macaron shell bases and tops by pressing the tops gently into the base. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet in the refrigerator for 12-24 hours to mature.

Variations

Part of the fun of macarons are the nearly infinite variations that you can create with different fillings. While it's possible to modify the macaron shell flavors as well, it's an advanced technique as it alters the ingredient ratios. If you'd like to try different flavors, start easily by swapping out fillings:

• You could switch out the salted caramel sauce for a chocolate ganache filling to make chocolate caramel macarons. Try the chocolate ganache from this chocolate olive oil bundt cake recipe.
• Instead of a salted caramel buttercream, substitute a dark chocolate Swiss meringue buttercream. A half recipe should be enough. Fill with salted caramel.
• Add 1-2 teaspoons of instant espresso powder to the caramel buttercream for a punch of coffee flavor! I like to dissolve the espresso powder into the vanilla extract and then add that to the buttercream per the instructions.
• Add 2 Tablespoons of bourbon to the salted caramel sauce (when you add the vanilla extract) for a bourbon salted caramel filling!

Equipment

Items below contain affiliate links.

Piping bags - I use 16 inch piping bags fitted with a pastry tip to pipe the macarons onto the baking sheets. I also use these bags to fill the centers of the macarons with caramel sauce.

Large round pastry tip - To pipe the macarons, I use a Wilton 1A round piping tip.

Large star pastry tip - To pipe the salted caramel buttercream, I use a Wilton 4B star piping tip.

Baking pans - I bake my macarons on half sheet baking pans which measure 18 x 13 inches.

Parchment - Parchment paper is great for lining baking pans, and my macarons never stick when I use parchment. One roll of this 15 inch x 164 foot (38 centimeter x 50 meter) non-stick paper lasts a LONG time! If you have access to a Costco store, the price is often a bit better.

Storage

You can generally store assembled macarons in an airtight container in the refrigerator, carefully stacked between layers of parchment paper. These, however, are a bit more fiddly since they have a caramel drizzle on top that will never fully set. Stacking them will stick them together and smear the caramel decoration.

Refrigerate - If you plan to serve them within 24 hours, store them in a single layer on parchment lined baking sheets in the fridge. If you plan to make them up to 5 days in advance, consider omitting the decorative caramel drip on top until the day they will be served. This way you can store them in an airtight container in the fridge.

Freeze - You can also freeze these macarons. Place them in a single layer on a parchment lined baking sheet, freeze for 1-2 hours, and then transfer to an airtight container. Place parchment paper between layers. Defrost in the refrigerator before eating.

Troubleshooting

Macaron troubleshooting

Macarons are notoriously challenging. There are many factors that can cause your macarons to have issues. A few of them are listed here. Have patience with yourself (and fun) during the baking process. They are a technical bake and you will learn and improve each time you make them. For a comprehensive guide to macaron issues, see here. My top recommendations: use a kitchen scale to measure all ingredients, sift everything well, and take your time when you're at the macaronage stage.

• Macarons don't develop feet - A macaron's classic marker is the foot. Your meringue should be beaten to stiff peaks (see visual guide here). If under or over beaten, this can impact the formation of the feet. It's also important to dry the piped macarons long enough so that the tops form a subtle skin on top. When you touch one, the batter should no longer be tacky or stick to your finger. When the macarons bake, the steam cannot escape through the dried top, so it exits through the side, lifting the shell and creating the foot.

• Macarons have hollow shells - Hollow macarons can be caused by over beating the meringue, which impacts the structure of the batter and causes the interior of the shell to collapse. Hollow shells can also result from under baking macaron shells.

• Macarons are wrinkly - Wrinkly shells after baking can be caused by over beaten meringue, over mixed batter, or an oven temperature that is too low. Make sure to use an oven thermometer to make sure your oven heats at the correct temperature! My oven is never preheated when it says it is. It takes at least 15 additional minutes to reach the correct temperature.

Caramel sauce troubleshooting

• Caramel seizes and forms lumps when adding cream - This can occur if your cream is too cold or is added all at one time. To avoid this, heat the cream until it's warm to the touch. This will help avoid drastic temperature changes. If it has already seized, continue to stir over medium-low heat until the lumps dissolve. This might take 5 or 10 minutes.

• Caramel sauce doesn't thicken - When you finish the caramel sauce, it will still be fairly runny as it is hot. It thickens significantly as it cools to room temperature, and becomes even firmer if refrigerated. How to thicken caramel sauce if it just doesn't set up after cooling? Gently reheat the entire amount in the same large heavy saucepan and keep it at a simmer for 5 to 10 minutes.

Swiss meringue buttercream troubleshooting

Sometimes when making Swiss meringue buttercream, you might encounter challenges. Here are a few common problems, with solutions. If you have a digital thermometer, the temperature you're aiming for is about 72 degrees Fahrenheit (22 Celsius).

• Buttercream is soupy or liquidy. Does your buttercream become runny after adding the butter to the meringue? It's possible either the meringue wasn't cooled enough, or the butter was too soft. Either way, your mixture is too warm.
  • If it doesn't thicken after continuing to beat for a few minutes at medium-low speed, remove the bowl from the mixer and place it in the refrigerator for 10 to 15 minutes. This should chill the ingredients and bowl enough that it will thicken when you try again.
• Buttercream is broken or curdled. If your buttercream has curdled and looks lumpy, it's most likely too cold. Perhaps you cooled the swiss meringue too long before adding the butter, or the butter was too cold. Maybe you made the Swiss meringue buttercream in advance and you're mixing it again after it's been in the refrigerator.
  • Place the entire bowl of buttercream over a water bath for several minutes, until the edges begin to soften and melt. Place back onto stand mixer and beat on low speed using the paddle attachment.
  • Alternatively, you can remove about a half cup of buttercream and heat it for 10 seconds in the microwave, until it is beginning to melt and get runny. Add it back to the bowl and beat. This should warm your buttercream enough. Repeat if needed.

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