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Nut Free Santa Macarons on a red and white chevron plate
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Nut Free Santa Macarons

These Nut Free Santa Macarons are red French cookies decorated with Santa's belt and buttons. They are also gluten free.
Course Dessert
Cuisine French
Prep Time 2 hours
Cook Time 30 minutes
Dry Time 18 hours
Total Time 20 hours 30 minutes
Servings 22 cookies (approx.)
Calories 64kcal
Author Meghan

Equipment

  • 1 digital kitchen scale
  • 2 macarons mats
  • 2 half sheet pans
  • toothpicks
  • disposable piping bags
  • medium round tip like #12
  • Plastic tip coupler
  • small binder clip
  • Piping bag holders
  • decorative piping tip
  • food dedicated paint palette
  • thin food safe paintbrush
  • plastic transfer pipette

Ingredients

For the Macaron Shells:

  • 126 grams oat flour
  • 126 grams powdered sugar
  • 100 grams egg whites at room temperature
  • ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
  • 90 grams granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • red no taste food coloring gel

For Filling:

  • 1 batch Easy Vanilla Buttercream see note

For Decorating:

  • black royal icing
  • white royal icing see note
  • gold food coloring gel
  • edible gold luster dust
  • clear alcohol Everclear, vodka or clear extract

Instructions

Make the Macaron Shells:

  • Sift together the oat flour and the powdered sugar into a medium bowl. Set aside.
    126 grams oat flour, 126 grams powdered sugar
    oat flour and powdered sugar mixed together in a glass bowl
  • Beat the egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment until frothy. Add the cream of tartar and continue beating the egg whites while slowly adding the granulated sugar one spoonful at a time.
    100 grams egg whites, ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar, 90 grams granulated sugar
    raw egg whites in a metal mixer bowl
  • Add the vanilla and red no taste food coloring gel until a vibrant red color is achieved. Continue beating until stiff peaks form.
    1 teaspoon vanilla extract, red no taste food coloring gel
    red meringue mixing in the bowl of a stand mixer
  • Using a large rubber spatula, fold ⅓ of the dry ingredients into the meringue, then fold in the remaining dry ingredients until the batter almost reaches the "figure 8" stage.
    dry ingredients being incorporated into meringue in a process called macaronage
  • Transfer the batter to the piping bag fitted with a medium round tip.
    red macaron batter in a clear disposable piping bag held open with a piping bag holder
  • Pipe 1-inch circles onto a macaron mat on top of an upside down half sheet pan. Slam the pan on the counter several times to force air bubbles to the surface. Use a toothpick or scribe tool to pop bubbles and smooth over the resulting hole.
    macaron batter piped into circles on a macaron mat during the rest step
  • Repeat this process with the second pan. You will not fill the entire mat.
  • Allow the batter to rest at room temperature for about 40 minutes, or until the surface has dried enough that if you gently touch your fingertip to it, the batter will not stick. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 300°F.
  • Bake the first tray of shells for 12-15 minutes, rotating half way through baking time. Allow the shells to cool on the mat at room temperature. Bake the second tray and allow them to cool as well.
    red macaron shells baked on a macaron mat
  • Once the shells have fully cooled, either fill them immediately or store them in a single layer in an airtight container in the refrigerator until you are ready to assemble.

Assemble the Macarons:

  • Pair up the cooled shells by size.
    red macaron shells with a piping bag filled with easy coffee buttercream
  • Fit a disposable piping bag with a round or decorative tip and fill with buttercream of choice.
  • Pipe a large mound of buttercream into the center of the flat side of each of the bottom shells.
  • Pick up the top shell by the edges and carefully press on top of the buttercream. Repeat with the remaining pairs.
    three assembled red macarons on a baking sheet

Add the Royal Icing Decorations:

  • Prepare outline consistency black, white and gold colored icing. Transfer each to a piping bag and secure the opening.
    two red macarons next to piping bags filled with gold, white and black royal icing
  • Start with the black icing by snipping off a very tiny opening in the tip of the of the bag. Pipe a small amount out on a plate or paper towel to get an idea of the pressure required to pipe.
  • Pipe the outline of a thin belt across the lower third of a macaron, quickly filling in the thin rectangle with black to create a solid black belt. Repeat this process with all of the macarons.
    red macarons, one with a black royal icing Santa belt, next to piping bags filled with gold, white and black royal icing
  • Snip off a small opening in the bag of white icing. Pipe 3 evenly-spaced buttons down the center of the macaron above the black belt.
  • Allow the belts to dry at room temperature for several hours to set the icing before adding the gold buckle. The black icing doesn't need to be fully hardened, just dried on top so the gold icing will not mix into it.
  • Snip off the tip of the gold icing. Pipe a little out onto a plate, carefully pipe a small rectangle on top of the center of the belt, then add a small line on the right side of the rectangle. Repeat this with all of the macarons until they have all been decorated.
    three Santa Macarons with black belts, a gold buckle, and three white buttons before being painted with gold luster dust
  • Store the macarons at room temperature in an airtight container until the gold icing has fully dried. The time this takes will depend on the temperature and humidity of your workspace, but it can take up to 16 hours. You can allow it to dry overnight.

Paint the Belt Gold:

  • Tap some gold dust into a well of the paint palette. Use the transfer pipette to add some of the clear alcohol to the luster dust and use the paintbrush to mix it into a smooth suspension. You want it to be thin enough to paint on the icing but thick enough so it doesn't run off the icing. Add more gold dust if it is too thin and more alcohol if it is too thick.
    a paint palette with a well filled with gold luster dust suspension next to a food grade paintbrush and disposable transfer pipette
  • Stir the gold suspension again with the paintbrush, then remove the bristles from the liquid and press them to another well in the palette to run off the excess liquid.
  • Very carefully paint the liquid gold onto the gold icing buckle, dipping the paintbrush back into the liquid gold to get more as needed.
    a red macaron with royal icing Santa belt next to a paint palette, small paintbrush and disposable transfer pipette
  • Repeat this process with all of the macarons. The alcohol will evaporate quickly, so the macarons will be ready to store after about 10 to 15 minutes.

Notes

I highly recommend weighing the ingredients listed in grams with a digital kitchen scale. French macarons are notoriously finicky and require precise measurements.
Use cracked whole eggs, not store bought egg whites. 100 grams of egg whites (to make both green and pink shells) is the equivalent of the whites from about 3⅓ large eggs.
"Macaronage," the process of folding the dry ingredients into the meringue, is the trickiest step of macaron making. The batter will be too thick if you under mix it or too thin if you over mix it. I refer you to two resources with visuals as to when the batter is ready to be piped: America's Test Kitchen and Le Cordon Bleu
Easy Vanilla Buttercream recipe HERE
Easy Royal Icing recipe HERE
Store the cookies in an airtight container in the refrigerator for a few days to allow them to mature and improve in texture. If refrigerated, allow the cookies to come to near room temperature before serving so the buttercream can soften. Unfilled shells or assembled macarons can be frozen.
Nutritional information is only an estimate and will vary based on your ingredients and substitutions. The information for this recipe is only for the shells.
You're Gonna Bake It After All
bakeitafterall.com

Nutrition

Serving: 1cookie | Calories: 64kcal | Carbohydrates: 14g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 0.1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.2g | Sodium: 9mg | Potassium: 35mg | Fiber: 0.4g | Sugar: 10g | Calcium: 4mg | Iron: 0.2mg