Gingerbread macarons packed full of winter spices of ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. The filling is an easy gingerbread spice white chocolate filling. Stable at room temperature, they travel well.
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Easy Gingerbread Macarons for the Christmas Holidays
This very easy gingerbread spice macaron recipe for the winter season was inspired by all the busy moms out there who are baking holiday goodies while taking care of their little ones. Ever since I had Bibi earlier this year, I have really come to appreciate delicious recipes that are easy to execute at the same time. This is especially so during this time of year because there are just so many obligations like Christmas parties, shopping, decorating and the like.
I'm really happy to bring you this new recipe for ginger spice macarons, the filling of which is very easy to prepare. Some of my past gingerbread macaron recipes had more complex filling pairings (like Gingerbread Baileys Cream Macaron or the Gingerbread Baileys Chocolate Macaron) but this one I'm showing you today requires only a few ingredients that you can find easily at the grocery store. What's more, it can be made with a just few simple steps.
Ingredients for Holiday Macarons
Gingerbread Macaron Shells
- Icing sugar - also referred to as powdered sugar by some. Note: icing sugar in North America usually contains corn starch as an anti-caking agent.
- Almond flour - I prefer to make my own almond flour via this tutorial but many bakers have used this brand successfully.
- Castor sugar - Castor sugar is an extra fine granulated sugar also known as berry sugar. Castor sugar is easily dissolved, making it preferable for meringues. It can be substituted with granulated sugar.
- Aged egg whites (measure before aging)
- Cream of tartar - its used to stabilize the meringue and usually found by the spices in the baking aisle. It can be substituted with lemon juice or vinegar in double the amount. Or left out completely if you cannot find it.
- Ground ginger - see below for spice alternatives
- Ground Cinnamon - see below for spice alternatives
- Ground Nutmeg - see below for spice alternatives
- Ground Cloves - see below for spice alternatives
Gingerbread Spice Macaron Filling
- White baking chocolate - use a good white chocolate intended for baking as chocolate chips and other ready to eat white chocolates contains additives that makes it less stable for use as a ganache filling.
- Heavy cream
- Room temperature butter
- Ground ginger
- Ground cinnamon
- Ground cloves
- Nutmeg
- Vanilla extract (optional)
Gingerbread Spice Subsititutes
The shells for these gingerbread spice macarons are infused with classic gingerbread spices of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cloves. The first 3 spices are commonly found in most home spice racks because they are often used in a variety of recipes. If you don't have them yet, it's worth investing in. However, if you would rather not buy a few bottles of spices that you might not use again, you can substitute all the spices in the recipe with an equal amount of a manufacturer's Gingerbread spice blend like the one I've linked below. Lastly, if you have all three spices except for cloves, you can also substitute it with allspice or cinnamon.
White Chocolate "Ganache" at Room Temperature
Besides being very delicious - think sweet with aromatic spices that warm you up during the winter season - this filling is a great pick for macarons that need to be left out at room temperature during a holiday party or get-together. I found this filling to be very stable at room temperature. I even experimented with keeping them out overnight (although, I don't advise you to do this for food safety reasons) and the filling didn't stick to my fingers. All in all, it's a scrumptious and hardy macaron filling that you can use for macarons that you'll need to travel with during the holiday season.
I'm looking forward to my first Christmas with Bibi and I'm working hard to prepare for it. Please join us for some behind-the-scenes look at our holiday prep and our life in Vancouver on our Instagram accounts: IndulgeWithBibi and IndulgeWithMimi. I wish you a very productive run-up to the festive winter season too. Let me know if you have any questions or comments below.
XOXO,
Mimi
Gingerbread Man & Christmas Macaron Templates
If you want to be a little more adventurous with your macaron baking this holiday season, try piping the macaron batter in these festive shapes. There are a variety of winter themed templates available for download once you subscribe to be a newsletter subscriber and receive the password to the member's only area. Enjoy!
Step By Step
Chop up chocolate into slivers. Add spices to cream.
On a medium heat, heat up cream with all the spices. Stir to combine. Once steam and a few bubbles appear, take off heat. Do not let boil.
Pour hot cream over chocolate. Let sit for 1 minute. Stir to combine.
Once, homogenous, add butter and incorporate.
Taste test and add a few drops of vanilla extract if desired, stir to combine.
If time allows, let it set at room temperature until it reaches a pipeable consistency (about 2-3 hours). To speed up this process, it can be placed in the fridge. Place a piece of plastic wrap on top of the chocolate filling to prevent a skin from developing on the surface. Place in fridge to firm up slightly for piping. Do not let harden or it will become too hard for piping. Check on it every 15-20 minutes. The filling lightens up as the white chocolate cools and starts to set.
Recipe
Gingerbread Spice Macarons
Gingerbread macarons packed full of winter spices of ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. The filling is an easy gingerbread spice white chocolate "ganache". Wrap them up for Christmas gifts or serve them at your next winter holiday party.
Ingredients
Gingerbread Macaron Shells
- 62 grams icing sugar
- 60 grams almond flour
- 45 grams castor sugar (see Note 1)
- 50 grams aged egg whites (measure before aging)
- 1/8 tsp cream of tartar (see Note 2)
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp nutmeg
- 1/8 tsp cloves
Gingerbread Spice Macaron Filling
- 130 grams white baking chocolate
- 65 grams heavy cream
- 10 grams room temperature butter
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp ground cloves
- 1/8 tsp nutmeg
- a few drops of vanilla extract (optional)
Instructions
Gingerbread Macaron Shell Instructions
- Set aged egg whites out at room temperature.
- Print out free macaron template in the Subscriber's Only Area.
- Pulse almond flour, icing sugar, and spices together in a food processor.
- Sift dry ingredients. Discard big pieces of almond that can't be sifted.
- IF YOU ARE NEW TO MAKING MACARONS, please read the instructions to my BEST MACARON RECIPE before attempting to follow the rest of the instructions since it is condensed for the advanced macaron baker.
- With the balloon whisk attached, whip the room temperature egg whites on low-medium speed.
- Add cream of tartar when it becomes foamy.
- Turn up the speed to medium.
- Once the whisk starts to leave tracks in the egg whites, add sugar a little at a time.
- Turn the speed up to medium-high and whip until stiff peaks. Read: How to Make Meringue for Macarons
- Fold the almond flour and meringue together until the batter becomes a "lava" or honey-like consistency. Use the "Figure 8" test to determine when to stop folding. READ How to Fold Macaron Batter.
- Transfer batter into piping bag fitted with a round piping tip.
- On parchment paper or silicone mats, pipe the round macaron shells.
- Wait until the shells have developed a "skin" and have become completely dry before baking. This is critical to prevent cracking.
- Bake at 325F for 12-14 minutes. Every oven is different, you may need to adjust your own temperature settings. Please read How to Use Home Oven Properly for Baking Macarons if you are unsure.
- Macaron shells are done when they no longer wiggle and the feet doesn't indent when gently nudged.
- Once baked, let cool completely before removing from the baking mat/parchment paper.
Instructions for Gingerbread Spice Macaron Filling
- Set butter out at room temperature.
- Chop up chocolate into slivers.
- In a small sauce pan on medium heat, heat up cream with all the spices. Stir to combine. Once steam and a few bubbles appear, take off heat. Do not let boil.
- Pour hot cream over chocolate. Let sit for 1 minute.
- Stir to combine.
- Add butter and incorporate.
- Add a few drops of vanilla extract if desired.
- Let cool.
- Place a piece of plastic wrap on top of the chocolate filling to prevent a skin from developing on the surface.
- Place in fridge to firm up slightly for piping. Do not let harden or it will become too hard for piping.
- Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a round tip. (e.g. #10)
Assembly
- Find two similar sized macaron shells.
- Pipe a dollop of gingerbread filling onto one of the shells.
- Assemble with the other shell.
- Place in an airtight container and let mature for 24 hours before eating.
Notes
1. Castor sugar is an extra fine granulated sugar also known as berry sugar. It can be substituted with granulated sugar.
2. Cream of tartar can be found in the spice area of the baking aisle at most grocery stores. It can be substituted with twice the amount of lemon juice.
Recommended Products
As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.
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McCormick Ground Cloves, 0.9 oz Shaker -
Simply Organic Nutmeg Ground CERTIFIED ORGANIC 2.3oz. bottle
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McCormick Ground Cinnamon, 7.12 oz
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McCormick Ground Ginger, 1.5 oz
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India Tree Superfine Caster Baking Sugar, 1 lb. bag
-
RYBACK Stainless Steel Egg White Yolk Filter Separator Cooking Tool Dishwasher Safe Chef Kitchen Gadget
-
Callebaut White Chocolate Chunks 16 oz
-
McCormick Gingerbread Spice (Pack of 2)
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Ateco Disposable Piping Bags, 12-Inch, Pack of 100
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PaperChef Culinary Parchment Multipurpose Non-Stick Paper, 205 sq ft
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Gel Food Coloring AmeriColor Junior Kit, 8 Colors.75 Ounce Bottles
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Food Processor for Almond Flour
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Heavy Duty Rimless Baking Pan for Macarons
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Toaster Oven Size Silpat Non-stick Silicone Baking Mat
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Regular Sized Silpat Non-Stick Silicone Baking Mat
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Bob's Red Mill Super-Fine Gluten Free Almond Flour, 3 Pound
Nutrition Information
Yield
12Serving Size
1Amount Per Serving Calories 164Total Fat 11gSaturated Fat 5gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 5gCholesterol 8mgSodium 16mgCarbohydrates 14gFiber 3gSugar 10gProtein 3g
This information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. This information comes from online calculators. Although indulgewithmimi.com attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures are only estimates.
Sean says
Hi Mimi, Just discovered your site and I absolutely love it! I appreciate the recommendations on different products that you include in the posts. I was wondering if you have a recommendation on your favorite/preferred food scale. I'm not too happy with the one I have, so thought I'd see what you use.
Mimi says
Hi Sean,
I'm happy to hear that. I really like the Starfrit with Glass Top one because it's easy to use, inexpensive and accurate enough for my use with macarons. Try to look for it on Amazon, if you can't find it, I'll try to link to it for you.
XOXO,
Mimi
Kim says
Hi there! I love reading your post. they're so informative and your photography is always so beautiful! I had read your faq and would like to ask a question of my own. I also apologize if these questions have already been answered! i will soon open my own home bakery and would love to add macarons to the menu. i have the shells down to a science. now i'm ready to tackle the fillings! but i'm really trying to figure out how to be efficient with my time while also offering customers an amazing and fresh product..so that leads me to my question.
If i have let's say 10 flavors on my menu for macarons and each order of macarons is 10. A customer wants 1 of each flavor. so 10 different macaron flavors. Would i thaw out my butter cream and make 10 separate flavors for just one order? not to mention rewhipping and coloring my butter cream AND cleaning would take a really long time just for one order...surely there is another way to be efficient? Should i just make my macarons, fill them and keep them in the freezer?
thank you so much!!
Mimi says
Hi Kim,
I'm happy you enjoyed everything on the site! You know what, I have a post that sounds relevant to this exact same situation you are referring to. Can you take a look at How to Price Homemade Macarons and see if it answers your question. Let me know if you have any questions after.
For your specific situation, I would recommend making a dozen batch of each flavor at once and then keep the rest frozen for other events. Otherwise, for efficiency sake and if you care about profit making, I would not recommend doing 10 different flavors in one box unless you have a sufficient amount of clients to spread out the remainder of macarons. But I go over this in detailed in the above linked post so go take a look and see if it helps 🙂
XOXO, Mimi
Colin says
Why is the filling a totally different color than what is pictured?
Mimi says
Hi Colin,
That's a great question. The filling becomes lighter after the white chocolate sets 🙂
XOXO,
Mimi
Vanessa says
Thanks for sharing! How far ahead of time can I make them?
Mimi says
Hi Vanessa,
The ganache filling can be made up to 2 weeks in advance if kept in the fridge in an airtight container. You can also freeze this ganache for future use. It can stay fresh for up to a month in the freezer. The shells also can be made in advance, just check out my post on how to freeze macarons and make in advance.
XOXO,
Mimi
Suzanne says
This looks so good! What a great dessert to make when you want that taste but want to mix it up!
Mimi says
Hope the recipe worked out great for you! Happy holidays!
XOXO,
Mimi
Rachel says
What I wouldn't give for a button on websites to convert from metric to US units.
Mimi says
Hi Rachel,
That's a real valid point! I really wished it would be easier to convert for those who don't have a scaled. Some of the ingredients come in such small amounts that it won't scale accurately in volume measurement. I hope you can get a scale for kitchen use. It really helps with a variety of recipes and can be used to weigh parcels for shipping 🙂
XOXO, Mimi
Chris says
What's the color of tge gel you used for the shells? Thanks!
Mimi says
Hi Chris,
The colors are natural from the spices in the recipe 🙂
XOXO,
Mimi
Amanda says
Has anyone tried to change the spies in this recipe? Are the favors bold enough? I am getting ready to make this and don't see any comments or reviews suggesting any changes.
Juliana says
The spices are incredible! Just made these and can’t get enough.
Mimi says
I'm so happy to hear you loved the spices! I love making this recipe because it makes the house smell so nice. Happy baking this holiday season!
XOXO,
Mimi
Miya says
Hi! These sound perfect for Christmas time. Did you color the batter before piping or do the spices do that?
Mimi says
Hi Miya,
There is no need to add additional colour to these but if you prefer them to have a darker brown color, then add the gel colour to the meringue after it gets to soft peaks but before it reach stiff peaks.
XOXO, Mimi