These Gluten Free and Nut Free Wicked Macarons are filled with vanilla buttercream. They are painted with phrases based on two famous songs from Wicked: "Defying Gravity" and "Popular."
I made these Wicked Macarons for the dessert table at my daughter's Wicked Birthday Party. I followed my Nut Free French Macarons recipe and made green and pink shells. Some of the macarons have green on both sides, some pink on both sides, and some with one of each.
I painted some of them with black food coloring gel to represent two of the famous songs from Wicked. I put "defy gravity" on some of the green shells and "Popular" on some of the pink shells.
These turned out really cute, and they were a hit at the party!
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Supplies
Other than the ingredients, you will need:
- Digital kitchen scale
- 2 macarons mats
- 2 half sheet pans
- Round tip like #12
- Plastic tip coupler
- Disposable piping bags
- Piping bag holders
- Green and pink food coloring gels, such as AmeriColor or Chefmaster
Optional decorations:
- Paint palette dedicated to food
- Black food coloring gel
- Edible pink luster dust
- Everclear, vodka, or clear vanilla extract
- Edible green and pink glitter
- Food safe paintbrushes
Make the Shells
When I make macaron batter, I like to get all of my supplies ready before starting to weigh ingredients.
I place the macaron mats on upside-down half baking sheets to ensure they lay perfectly flat. If you don't have mats, you can use parchment paper. If you need guides, you can trace 1-inch circles with permanent marker on the under side of the parchment.
Then, I place a disposable piping bag fitted with plastic tip coupler and a medium round #12 tip into a piping bag holder. I add a small binder clip around the twisted bag near the coupler to prevent the batter from flowing through the tip while I'm filling the bag.
I prefer to make the green shells then start over completely to make the pink shells, rather than split the batter in half before adding the food coloring gel. With how finicky macarons are, I think this is the safest approach to prevent wasting ingredients.
To make the green shells, sift together the oat flour and the powdered sugar in a medium-sized bowl.
Whisk to combine them completely. Set this bowl aside.
Place the egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and beat on medium-high until frothy. Add the cream of tartar, then slowly add the granulated sugar, one spoonful at a time, with the mixer still running.
Once soft peaks form, add the vanilla extract and green food coloring gel.
Continue to beat the mixture until the meringue forms stiff peaks. Remove the bowl from the mixer.
Using a silicone or rubber spatula, carefully fold ⅓ of the flour/powdered sugar mixture into the meringue. Then, add the remaining ⅔ of the flour mixture and continue folding until just before reaching the figure 8 stage.
Once the batter is the proper consistency, transfer it to the prepared piping bag.
Remove the small clip to allow the batter to flow into the piping tip. Pipe 1-inch circles of batter onto the first macaron mat.
Slam the tray down hard on the counter or a table several times to force any air bubbles to the surface. If desired, take a toothpick or scribe tool and pop large bubbles then smooth out the hole left after the bubble pops.
Pipe the batter onto the second macaron mat. You will not fill the entire mat.
Allow the batter to dry at room temperature for 40 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 300°F.
Bake the macaron shells for 12-15 minutes, rotating the pan once about 7 minutes into the bake. Only bake one pan at at time.
Allow the shells to cool completely on the mats before removing them. To remove more easily, push up on the mat from underneath to help them pop off.
If you have trouble with them sticking, that may mean they are underbaked. Some of the shells in the center of the tray may have a little bit of sticking. Very carefully use a stiff metal spatula to pry them off the mat, taking care not to rip the shell.
Once the green shells have been removed from pan, clean the mats, mixing bowl and wire whisk attachment well with soap and water. You want to make sure you remove all of the grease from the bowl and whisk, so I recommend drying them completely then wiping them with a dry paper towel to remove any bits of grease that may remain from the oat flour.
Then, repeat the same process for making the shells but use pink food coloring when making the meringue.
After stiff peaks have been formed, fold in ⅓ of the dry ingredients and then the remaining ⅔.
Transfer the batter to the prepared piping bag.
Pipe circles of the batter onto the first mat. Slam the tray down, pop the bubbles, then pipe the next tray and repeat. While the batter rests, you can make the Easy Vanilla Buttercream.
Bake the pink shells just like the green shells. Cool them completely on the mat.
You can store the shells in an airtight container in single layers separated by parchment paper, or decorate immediately.
Decorate the Shells
Because the macarons will be sandwiched, pair up the shells by size. You want the top and bottom of the sandwich cookie to match as closely as possible. You can do some with green on top and bottom, some with pink on both, and some with one green and one pink shell.
To add some sparkle to the green shells, you can dry brush on some edible green glitter or mix it into a suspension with Everclear or vodka and brush on the shells.
Add some black food coloring gel to the well of a paint palette and place a green shell in the center. Dip a food safe paintbrush in the black gel, remove the excess by brushing it on the palette, then paint the words "defy gravity" on the top. Repeat with as many of the green shells as you would like.
For the pink shells, you can paint on a suspension of pink luster dust and/or edible pink glitter. You can paint the word, "Popular" on some of the pink shells.
Fill the Macarons
Add the buttercream to a piping bag fitted with a decorative star tip, like a #6B.
Pipe a mound of buttercream into the center of the bottom shell.
Holding the top shell by the edges, place it on top of the filling and carefully press together. You can press straight down, or twist when you press down to change the direction of the pattern the buttercream will make.
Repeat with all of the pairs until all have been sandwiched.
Storage
Macarons should be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for at least 24 hours before enjoying to mature and improve in texture.
Allow the cookies to come to room temperature before serving so the buttercream can soften.
Gluten Free Option
These cookies are naturally gluten free if you use a certified gluten free brand of oat flour. I like Bob's Red Mill brand of gluten free oat flour.
📖 Recipe
Nut Free Wicked Macarons
Equipment
- 2 macarons mats
- 2 half sheet pans
- 1 small binder clip
- Round tip like #12
- disposable piping bags
- Piping bag holders
- digital kitchen scale
- Decorative star tip like #6B
- Food safe paintbrushes
Ingredients
For the Green Macaron Shells:
- 63 grams oat flour
- 63 grams powdered sugar
- 50 grams egg whites (see note)
- ⅛ teaspoon cream of tartar
- 45 grams granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- green food coloring gel
For the Pink Macaron Shells:
- 63 grams oat flour
- 63 grams powdered sugar
- 50 grams egg whites (see note)
- ⅛ teaspoon cream of tartar
- 45 grams granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- pink food coloring gel
For the Buttercream Filling:
- 10 tablespoons salted butter
- 1 dash table salt
- 5 ounces powdered sugar (see note)
- 1 tablespoon heavy cream
- ½ tablespoon vanilla extract
For Optional Decorations:
- black food coloring gel
- green edible glitter
- pink luster dust
- pink edible glitter
- Everclear or vodka
Instructions
Make the Green Macaron Shells:
- Sift together the oat flour and powdered sugar into a medium sized bowl, then set it aside.63 grams oat flour, 63 grams powdered sugar
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the wire whisk attachment, beat the egg whites until foamy, then add the cream of tartar. With the mixer still running, add the granulated sugar one spoonful at a time.50 grams egg whites, ⅛ teaspoon cream of tartar, 45 grams granulated sugar
- Add the vanilla and green food coloring and continue to beat the whites until the meringue has formed stiff peaks.½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- Fold ⅓ of the flour/powdered sugar mixture into the meringue. Then, add the rest of the dry ingredients and continue to fold and carefully press the batter against the sides of the bowl until the batter reaches just before the figure 8 stage. See note below on "macaronage."
- Transfer the batter to the prepared piping bag. Remove the binder clip, if using, to allow the batter to flow into the tip.
- Pipe 1-inch circles of batter onto the first macaron mat.
- Slam the tray down on a flat surface several times to cause air bubbles to rise to the surface. Use a toothpick or scribe tool to pop any large bubbles and smooth the batter over the hole.
- Repeat this process with the second tray. You will not fill the entire second tray.
- Let the shells dry at room temperature for 40 minutes. While they dry, preheat the oven to 300°F.
- Bake the shells for 12-15 minutes, rotating once after 7 minutes. I recommend baking one tray at a time.
- Remove the pan from the oven. Allow the shells to cool on the mat completely before removing them.
- To remove shells from the mat, carefully push up from underneath the mat to release the shell. If the shells stick, this means they needed a little longer in the oven. Carefully pry them off the mat by sliding a thin metal spatula underneath them.
Make the Pink Macaron Shells:
- Make sure the mixer bowl and whisk attachment have been cleaned thoroughly with soap and warm water. Dry completely, then wipe down with a dry paper towel to ensure no grease residue remains. Grease will affect proper meringue formation.
- Repeat the same process for making the green shells but use pink food coloring gel instead.
Decorate the Shells:
- Since the cookies will be sandwiched, pair them up by size. You can do some with both shells pink, both shells green, and some with one green and one pink.
- To add some shine to the pink shells, dissolve some pink luster dust in a few drops of clear alcohol like Everclear and paint the pink shells with the suspension.
- To add glitter to the shells, dry brush on some green edible glitter on the tops of the green shells and pink edible glitter on the pink shells with a food safe paintbrush. You can also make a suspension of the edible glitter in Everclear and wet brush the shells.
- Add a drop of black food coloring gel to the well of a paint palette. Place a shell in the center. Use a very thin food safe paintbrush to dip in the black, remove excess by brushing on the palette, then paint on the words "defy gravity" on the green shells and "Popular" on the pink shells. You can leave some shells blank for variety.
Make the Buttercream Filling:
- In standing mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat butter and salt at medium-high speed until smooth, about 20 seconds. NOTE: If using a hand-held mixer, increase mixing times by at least 50%.10 tablespoons salted butter, 1 dash table salt
- Add powdered sugar and beat at medium-low speed until most of the sugar is moistened, about 45 seconds.5 ounces powdered sugar
- Scrape down bowl and beat at medium speed until mixture is fully combined, about 15 seconds; scrape bowl, add heavy cream and vanilla extract, and beat at medium speed until incorporated, about 10 seconds.1 tablespoon heavy cream, ½ tablespoon vanilla extract
- Increase speed to medium-high and beat until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes, scraping down bowl once or twice. This step is important to create a smooth and whipped buttercream.
Fill the Macarons:
- Fit a piping tip such as a #6B large open star tip into a piping bag. Add the buttercream to the bag. Pipe a mound of buttercream into the center of the bottom shell.
- Holding the top shell by the edges, place it on top of the filling and carefully press together. You can press straight down, or twist when you press down to change the direction of the pattern the buttercream will make.
- Repeat with the remaining pairs until all of the macarons are filled.
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