Disclaimer: I am officially in Fall mode! Forget spring, forget summer, bring on the sweaters and everything pumpkin flavored! I’m sure some (maybe many) of you are still in summer mode. Where you live in the world may be such that you’re still getting blasted by hot weather. But here… here in Western Norway, the week long forecast is showing an hour of sun next Saturday, and that’s supposedly the next time we’ll see sun. In the meantime, we’re looking at cold, rainy weather. The sort of weather that makes you want to curl up by your fireplace with a good book and a hot cup of tea. And because it’s Fall, said cup of tea would definitely have to be Chai. Which got me to thinking: wouldn’t Chai tea make perfect rainy day macarons? Why yes, yes I think it would!
Chai Tea Macarons
Makes about 20 macarons
For the macaron shells:
4 egg whites + 1 tbsp. egg white powder OR 1/2 cup water + 4 tbsp. egg white powder
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1 cup (packed) almond flour
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 1/2 tsp. chai tea
For the filling:
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 tbsp. granulated sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
If you’re new to macarons, have no fear! These things are not nearly as finicky or as frightening as they often appear. To make these, start by whisking together your almond flour, powdered sugar, and chai tea. For this recipe, you’ll want to use fairly fine chai tea (I found the stuff inside the prepackaged tea bags works pretty well). Trust me, you don’t want to bite into a big chunk of that stuff! If you want really smooth macaron shells, you can pulse this mixture in a food processor using 2-3 second intervals, but if you’re food processor died on you (like mine did), it’s ok to skip this step. You macarons will be just a smidge lumpier than if you had had the food processor. In a separate bowl, whip you egg whites and egg white powder (or egg white powder and water) until frothy. Add the granulated sugar and beat until stiff peaks form. Gently fold your meringue into the dry ingredients, folding until the ingredients are just combined (over mixing can lead to cracking in the shells as they bake).
Preheat your oven to 200*F (95*C) and line your baking sheets with parchment paper. To make sure your shells are uniform (and therefore evenly baked), it helps to make a template before hand. Personally, I just trace around a circular cookie cutter on a plain piece of paper for my template. For this recipe, you’ll want your macarons to be about 1.5 inches across, otherwise you’ll have to adjust the baking time. Scoop your macaron batter into a piping bag, and pipe your first tray of shells. Important note: only pipe one tray of shells at a time, and only when they’re going to go right into the oven. Piping your shells in advance can dry out the tops and lead to cracking in the shells (have you noticed just about everything leads to cracking in the shells?). Before baking, give your baking sheet of shells a few good hits on the counter to release any air bubbles in the batter. Bake the shells for 15 minutes, and then increase the temperature in your oven to 350*F (175*C) and continue baking your shells for another 9-11 minutes, or until they can be pulled away from the parchment paper easily. Be sure to let your oven cool back down to 200*F (95*C) before putting in the next batch.
To make the filling, simply whip up your heavy whipping cream until soft peaks form. Add the sugar and cinnamon, and continue whipping until the whipping cream stiffens. If you’re going to eat these macarons right away, you can pipe some whipped cream filling onto your shells and start sandwiching them together. If you’re not going to eat them right away, I recommend waiting on filling them (the whipping cream gets kind of watery the longer it sits). That being said, you can, in fact, store these in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 2 months as long as you freeze them immediately after filling.
On a completely unrelated note to baking, my current cozy-up-next-to-the-fireplace-and-read book is Mr. Pernumbra’s 24 Hour Bookstore. So far, I’m really enjoying it! What are you reading? Join the conversation in the comments below!
Happy baking!
Macaron shell recipe adapted from Les Petits Macarons
Ginnie says
August 17, 2014 at 8:46 pmI love chai tea! These sound delicious. I can’t wait to try them:)
The Simple, Sweet Life says
August 19, 2014 at 11:56 pmI hope you enjoy the recipe! 🙂
Thalia @ butter and brioche says
August 18, 2014 at 8:09 amooh definitely craving a macaron right now.. these look delicious, love the chai flavour.
The Simple, Sweet Life says
August 20, 2014 at 12:01 amWish I could send you one! 🙂
Jennifer Irwin (@Moodycow210) says
November 9, 2014 at 4:48 amIs a macaron different from a macaroon? I’ve only ever heard of macaroons.
The Simple, Sweet Life says
November 10, 2014 at 12:32 amYes, there is a difference, although many don’t realize it. 🙂 Macarons are the French confection you see here while macaroons are a meringue based dessert often covered in coconut. The Food Network has a good article on the differences and similarities if you’re interested:
Joan says
November 11, 2014 at 5:24 pmI’m allergic to nuts (and legumes and soy) is there something I could use to substitute for the almond flour?
The Simple, Sweet Life says
November 14, 2014 at 10:47 pmI’m sorry to hear that! As someone who does not have nut allergies, I have to admit, I haven’t made nut-free macarons. I’ve heard that you can substitute ground pumpkin seeds for the almond flour, but I haven’t tried it myself. Would that work for you with your allergies? If you’re interested, here’s a great article and recipe for some nut-free macaron alternatives: 🙂
Mary says
January 8, 2015 at 6:56 amI don’t know what I’m doing wrong. My macarons always cook perfectly and come out delicious, but I never can get them to come out all smooth looking with the little “feet”
Any tips?
The Simple, Sweet Life says
January 14, 2015 at 11:00 pmWhen you say smooth, do you mean the smoothness of the top of the shell? If so, that has to do with how finely the almond flour is ground. The best way to ensure a smooth top is to take your finely ground almond flour grind it a little finer using a food processor. As for the feet, if they’re not appearing at all, I’ve heard of two reasons for that: not enough sugar or not mixing the macaron batter enough. The first should be pretty easy to check; if you’re using this recipe and making sure you use the amount of sugar called for in the recipe, you should be getting feet on your macarons. If that’s the case, then the batter probably isn’t being mixed long enough. To test if your batter has been mixed long enough, pipe a macaron. The macaron should flatten out and be smooth on top without any points that stick up (those are called tails). If the shell has a tail that won’t settle into the rest of the batter, then you need to continue mixing the batter a little more. Hope this helps! 🙂
ngoc says
September 6, 2015 at 8:43 pmYum!!! I tried mine with Earl grey tea instead and it was delicious!
You can check out my tips here: https://youtu.be/duNq06gcVLU
The Simple, Sweet Life says
September 8, 2015 at 11:53 pmEarl grey tea macarons sound amazing! Love the variation! 😀
Cate says
January 1, 2017 at 6:51 amWhen working with teas in baked goods, I prefer to infuse, rather than add tea to dough or batter. I don’t care for the grittiness of tea.
I’ve made tchai tea macarons using white chocolate tchai tea ganache. Bring heavy cream and tchai to simmer, simmer 10-15 mins. Let stand for 30 mins, then strain the tchai out. The cream will need to be reheated to make the ganache.
The macaron shell can be any flavor to compliment the tchai: citrus, cardamon, vanilla bean, etc.
I prefer Valrhone white chocolate and Kusmi tchai tea for this application. I thought any good white chocolate would do. But I found a marked difference in taste (in a bad way) when I used Callebaut white chocolate.
The Simple, Sweet Life says
February 19, 2017 at 9:35 pmWhat a fun twist! Thanks for sharing your recipe! 😀