These pumpkin spice macarons are filled with a creamy pumpkin spice buttercream made with pumpkin pie spice and are perfect for fall!
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Pumpkin Spice Macaron Recipe
- Powdered sugar
- Almond flour – the almond flour should be fine and blanched so the shells are smooth and there are no dark bits.
- Egg whites – they do not have to be aged but they do have to be at room temperature because they will whip up to stiff peaks faster.
- Granulated sugar – regular granulated sugar is fine to use.
- Powdered egg whites – adding egg white powder can help if you’re having problems getting a strong meringue. It also helps to dry the macarons faster while they’re resting.
- Vanilla extract – adding a little bit of vanilla extract gives the macaron shells a nice flavor.
- Gel food coloring – use gel food coloring instead of liquid because it will not add moisture to the batter which can affect the texture of the macaron shells.
How to Make Pumpkin Spice Macarons
- Make the meringue – Whisk the egg whites and granulated sugar until you have stiff peaks. When you lift the whisk, the peaks should not fall to the side, they should stand straight up.
- Fold the batter – Combine the almond flour and powdered sugar with the meringue and fold the batter until it falls from the spatula in ribbons, making sure not to over fold.
- Pipe the macarons – Using a pastry bag with a medium tip, pipe the macarons in 3/4 inch circles and rest the shells until they are no longer sticky.
- Bake the macarons – Bake for 14-16 minutes between 300F-315F.
- Make royal icing – Combine powdered sugar, meringue powder, and water to make the royal icing and drizzle on top of half of the shells.
- Make the buttercream – Whisk the salted butter, powdered sugar, and pumpkin pie spice until creamy and smooth.
- Assemble the macarons – Pipe the buttercream, assemble the macarons, and refrigerate for at least 24 hours before eating.
Pumpkin Spice Filling for Macarons
These macarons are filled with a pumpkin spice buttercream made with pumpkin pie spice. It’s so easy and tastes so good!
- Salted butter
- Powdered sugar
- Pumpkin pie spice
- Heavy whipping cream
Whisk the salted butter until creamy and add the powdered sugar in two parts, whisking each part until fully mixed in. Add the pumpkin pie spice and heavy cream and continue whisking until smooth and creamy.
Can Royal Icing be Used on Macarons?
Yes! Royal icing is great to use on macarons. You can make it ahead of time, at least two weeks in advance. It’s such a great way to decorate macarons because the icing hardens so it’s not messy if you pile the macarons on top of each other or package them in a box.
Royal Icing Recipe with Meringue Powder
Royal icing is very easy to make with meringue powder and can be made ahead and stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to two weeks.
- Powdered sugar
- Meringue powder
- Room temperature water
In a small bowl, add all ingredients and stir with a spoon. You’re looking for a drizzling consistency that’s not too thin. If you lift the spoon and the icing sinks back into itself within 10 seconds, the icing is ready.
Decorating Macarons with Royal Icing
Using royal icing is such a great way to decorate macarons. You can dip the macaron shells in the icing to coat and decorate the tops, like I’ve done with my Splatter Paint Macarons, you can use it to decorate character macarons like my Ladybug Macarons, or you can just drizzle it on top of the shells for a simple and pretty decoration like I’ve done with my Dulce de Leche Macarons and Macarons with Cream Cheese Filling.
More fall macaron flavors to try
Pumpkin Spice Macarons
These pumpkin spice macarons are filled with a creamy pumpkin spice buttercream made with pumpkin pie spice and are perfect for fall!
Servings: 18 macarons
Calories: 130kcal
Equipment
- Kitchen scale
- Strainer
- Whisk
- Stand mixer
- Spatula
- One 16 inch pastry bag
- Two 8 inch pastry bags
- Medium round piping tip
- Small bowl (to mix royal icing)
- Two silicone mats
- Two half sheet pans
- Oven thermometer
Ingredients
- 90 grams powdered sugar
- 80 grams almond flour
- 70 grams egg whites (room temperature)
- 70 grams granulated sugar
- 2 grams egg white powder (optional)
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 3 drops orange gel food coloring
- 2 drops terracotta gel food coloring
Pumpkin spice buttercream
- ¼ cup salted butter (½ stick)
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- ½ tsp heavy whipping cream
- ¼ tsp pumpkin pie spice
Royal icing drizzle
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tsp meringue powder
- 1 tbsp water (room temperature)
Instructions
Prepare dry ingredients
- Sift powdered sugar and almond flour using a whisk to break down any clumps. Set aside.
- Line sheet pans with silicone mats.
- Insert the piping tip into the 16 inch pastry bag.
Make the meringue
- Whisk the egg whites on medium speed (speed 4) until you see small bubbles (this can take as little as 15 seconds sometimes).
- Slowly add 3 tbsp of granulated sugar, 1 tbsp at a time, waiting about 10 seconds between each tbsp.
- Whisk until you start to see tracks in the meringue.
- Increase speed to 6 and continue slowly adding the remainder of the granulated sugar, 1 tbsp at a time, until you’ve added all the sugar.
- Once you have soft peaks, stop the mixer, scrape the sides and add the vanilla extract.
- Whisk for another minute and stop and add the gel food coloring.
- Whisk for about 5 minutes, or until stiff peaks. The meringue should form a clump inside the whisk.
Combine ingredients
- Add 1/3 of the powdered sugar/almond flour mixture into the meringue and fold the batter until you can't see any of the dry ingredients.
- When folding the batter, slide the spatula under the batter, lift it in a U motion, go over the top of the batter, and slide it under again. This way you make sure to get the batter at the bottom of the bowl.
- Once fully combined, add in another 1/3 of the dry ingredients and repeat the process of folding.
- Add in the last 1/3 of the dry ingredients and fold until fully combined.
- Once all of the powdered sugar/almond flour mixture has been added, continue folding a few more times to make sure all the ingredients are combined well.
- Now it's time to deflate some of the air in the batter by folding once and smearing the batter against the side of the bowl twice, and then folding again. You only want to smear the batter 3 or 4 times against the side of the bowl because you don't want to deflate all of the air in the batter.
- You can test the consistency by lifting the spatula and letting the batter run down. If it falls in ribbons without breaking and sinks back into itself within 30 seconds, the batter is ready.
Pipe the macarons
- Transfer the batter to the 16 inch pastry bag.
- Holding the pastry bag at a 90° angle, pipe the macarons into ¾ inch circles about 1 inch apart.
- Tap the tray against the counter about 8 times to release any air bubbles.
- Let the macarons rest until they form a skin and are no longer sticky.
- While the macarons are resting, preheat the oven to 310°F.
- Bake the macarons for 14-16 minutes.
- Macarons are ready when they no longer shift if you touch the tops.
Royal icing drizzle
- In a small bowl combine the powdered sugar, meringue powder and a few drops of water and stir with a spoon.
- Continue stirring, adding a few drops of water at a time if necessary for a drizzling consistency.
- Once you can lift the spoon and the icing sinks back into itself within 10 seconds, the icing is ready.
- Transfer the royal icing to an 8 inch pastry bag, cut a very small opening at the tip, and drizzle the icing on half of the shells. Let the icing dry before assembling the macarons. It should dry within 10-15 minutes. While you wait, make the buttercream.
Pumpkin spice buttercream
- In a medium bowl, using the stand mixer, whisk the butter until smooth.
- Add half of the powdered sugar and whisk until fully combined.
- Add the remaining powdered sugar and the pumpkin pie spice and whisk until combined.
- Add the heavy cream and continue to whisk until smooth and creamy.
Assemble the macarons
- Fill an 8 inch pastry bag with the buttercream and cut a ½ inch opening at the bottom of the bag.
- Pipe the buttercream in the center of half of the macaron shells and top with the decorated shells.
- Place the assembled macarons in the refrigerator overnight so they can mature.
- When ready to eat, remove macarons from the refrigerator and let come to room temperature, about 20 to 30 minutes, before eating.
Notes
*Calories reflected are for macaron shells only
Use an oven thermometer to make sure your internal oven temperature is accurate
Mixing bowl should be clean and grease free
Weigh all ingredients in grams for accuracy
Use room temperature egg whites (to bring eggs to room temperature quickly, put them in a bowl filled with hot water for about 5 minutes)
Sift the almond flour and powdered sugar together because almond flour is moist and doesn’t sift well alone
Mix the egg white powder and the granulated sugar before adding to the egg whites to fully dissolve the egg white powder
Whisk the meringue until you have stiff peaks
Let macarons dry before baking so they don’t crack
Mix your royal icing until you have 10 second icing, which means that when you lift the spoon, the icing will sink back into itself within 10 seconds
Nutrition
Serving: 1macaron | Calories: 130kcal
This recipe was great! The egg white powder made a huge difference in my meringue. Thank you!!