Calling all gingerbread and snickerdoodle fans! These macarons combine the best of both worlds by taking elements from each of these classic cookies. The brown sugar shells have gingerbread spice mixed right in with the batter, and are dusted with cinnamon sugar once piped. The filling adds even more layers of flavor and texture with a creamy gingerbread spice molasses buttercream, and a chewy snickerdoodle cookie crumble.
First up on your to do list to create these festive macs, is baking the shells. I mixed up a Gingerbread Spice mix at the beginning to use in both the shells and then later in the buttercream. I also swapped out brown sugar for a portion of the white sugar I usually use to deepen the flavor. For a detailed look at the macaron shell process, jump over to my Basic French Macaron recipe and be sure to take a close look at the consistencies of the stiff meringue peaks and the final batter texture. Something to also take note of, is that you’ll need to sprinkle your cinnamon sugar on your shells shortly after piping so they will still be tacky enough for the mixture to stick.
See those cookie crumbles? Those are made from straight up snickerdoodle cookies! I adjusted the recipe to only produce 4 cookies since you won’t need any more than that for two dozen macarons. So by saving this recipe, you will have the added bonus of having a go to small batch snickerdoodle recipe for those times you have a craving but don’t need an entire batch!
One more small tip on the cookies! I originally started chopping them up with a knife, but the squared edges were giving me strong crouton vibes so I decided to crumble the rest by hand to create more rounded and organic shaped edges.
The gingerbread molasses buttercream is pretty straight forward. Make sure to beat your ingredients until light and fluffy.
For assembly, match up each shell with a partner that is equally sized. Pipe the gingerbread molasses buttercream on one shell in each pair, and on the other matching shell place a very small dollop of buttercream as well. This step is important to create a “sandwich” of buttercream to ensure that the cookie crumbles in the middle will have something to adhere them to the top shell.
Sprinkle a generous amount of snickerdoodle cookie crumbles on the main dollop of buttercream, and sandwich the matching shell with the small dollop of buttercream on top to finish your macarons. Store macarons in an airtight container in the fridge for 24 hours to allow flavors and textures to mature. Enjoy within 3-5 days for peak freshness!
Looking for more dessert recipes for the holiday season? Check out these!
Gingerdoodle Macarons
Ingredients
Brown Sugar Gingerbread Macaron Shells
- 130 grams Egg Whites Approximately 4 Large Eggs (Use a scale)
- 60 grams Granulated Sugar
- 60 grams Brown Sugar no clumps
- 1/2 tsp Cream of Tartar
- 200 grams Almond Flour
- 198 grams Confectioner’s Sugar
- 2 tsp Gingerbread Spice Blend See ingredients below
- 1 Pinch of Salt
- 1/4 tsp Brown Gel Food Coloring Optional
Macaron Topping Cinnamon Sugar
- 2 TBS Granulated Sugar
- 1/2 tsp Cinnamon Topping
Gingerbread Spice (See Instructions to Divide between Shells and Filling)
- 1.5 tsp Ground Cinnamon
- 1.75 tsp Ground Ginger
- 3/4 tsp Ground Cloves
- 2 Pinches of Nutmeg
Snickerdoodle Cookie Crumble
- 0.5 oz Butter (1 TBS)
- 38 grams of Sugar (3 TBS)
- 1 Egg Yolk
- Scant ¼ tsp Vanilla Extract
- 47 grams of Flour (1/4 cup plus 2 TBS)
- 1/4 tsp Cream of Tartar
- 1/8 tsp Baking Soda
- 1 Pinch of Salt
- 3/4 tsp Cinnamon
- 1 tsp Granulated Sugar
- 1/2 tsp Cinnamon
Gingerbread Molasses Buttercream
- 4 oz Salted Butter
- 8 oz Powdered Sugar
- 2 tsp Gingerbread Spice (See Ingredients above)
- 1.5 TBS Molasses
- 1 TBS Heavy Cream
- 1 Pinch of Salt
Instructions
Gingerbread Spice Mix
- Gingerbread Spice Mix
- Stir all ingredients together. Set aside for use in macaron shells and buttercream.
- Macarons
Brown Sugar Gingerbread Macaron Shells
- Line 2 baking sheets with either parchment paper or a silicone mat (circle template optional but recommended).
- Place a medium sized round piping tip in a large piping bag. Twist the bag right behind the tip and add a clip to seal off the opening. Place the bag tip down into either a clean tall cup with the edges folded over the rim to keep the bag open, or clip it into a bag holder.
- Using a kitchen scale, carefully weigh out and sift the confectioner’s sugar and almond flour into a medium mixing bowl. Add in the gingerbread spice and whisk well to fully blend the dry ingredients together.
- Place egg whites, granulated sugar, brown sugar, salt, and cream of tartar into a large mixing bowl. Make sure to thoroughly break up any clumps of brown sugar. Then, begin beating with a whisk attachment using either a handheld mixer or a stand mixer for 2 minutes on a medium low speed (Kitchen Aid Speed 4).
- Turn up the mixer to a medium speed (Kitchen Aid Speed 6) and beat for an additional 2 minutes.
- Add the brown gel food coloring (optional)
- Turn mixer up to medium high speed (Kitchen Aid Speed 8) and beat for 3 more minutes, or until peaks are very stiff and the meringue clumps up in a ball in the center of the whisk. Test stiffness by removing whisk and pointing it upward. Once the peaks can hold their shape flipped upright, your meringue is ready. See photos in Basic French Macaron recipe for reference.
- Pour half of your almond flour/confectioner’s sugar mixture into the bowl with your meringue, and fold 15 times with a silicone spatula. One fold is scraping all the way around the edge of your batter in your bowl, and then dragging your spatula through the middle. Be sure to scoop around the bottom of the bowl as well so you don’t miss any dry ingredients.
- Pour in the remaining powdered sugar and almond flour, and continue folding (approximately 40 more folds) until dry ingredients are fully incorporated, your batter is no longer clumpy and stiff. Keep in mind that this macaron batter is slightly thicker than most and should not be folded all the way to the figure 8 stage test. Do not overfold. Start checking your batter’s readiness every 5 folds or so at this point by scraping all batter down to the bottom of your bowl, and then wiggling your bowl back and forth several times. If the batter levels out with very few peaks and lines remaining, it should be ready. (See photos in Basic French Macaron recipe for reference)
- Pour batter into prepared piping bag, and twist the opening off. Hold your bag at the twist between your thumb and pointer finger. Remove the clip.
- Holding the piping bag straight up and down, apply pressure to begin piping your batter in the center of your circle templates, and then release pressure once you are a few millimeters short of your desired size. After you release pressure, use a small quick circular flick to release your tip from the piped macaron.
- Once you’ve piped a full tray, firmly bang the tray on the counter a few times to pop any air bubbles and smooth out shells. Pop any remaining large bubbles with a toothpick. Repeat with the second tray.
- Sprinkle cinnamon sugar mixture on top of each shell.
- Begin preheating your oven to 295 degrees, using an oven thermometer if possible to ensure accurate temperature readings.
- Set aside shells to dry until they form a skin and are no longer tacky to the touch. Once you can gently run a finger over your shells, they are ready to bake. Use a fan to speed up the process, rotating the tray every few minutes to ensure even drying. This usually takes at least 20 minutes for me even with a fan.
- Once shells are dry, and the oven has fully preheated to 295, place one tray in the center of the middle rack of the oven. Bake for 18 minutes.
- Quickly open door to check the shell’s doneness by gently pressing on the side just above the feet to see if it’s firm. If it moves at all, bake for another 2 minutes.
- Check shells by performing the same test, pressing on the side. If they are still unstable, bake for one more minute, and check again. Repeat until shells are firm and do not budge.
- Allow shells to cool completely, and the carefully remove from silicone mat or parchment paper by gently peeling them off.
Snickerdoodle Cookie Crumble
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and line one baking sheet with parchment paper or foil.
- Cream the butter and sugar together in the bowl of an electric mixer until light and fluffy.
- While butter and sugar are creaming, whisk dry ingredients together in a separate mixing bowl.
- Add the egg yolk and vanilla extract in to the bowl with the butter and sugar, and beat until well combined. Scrape down the bowl as needed.
- Slowly add the dry ingredients in and mix until there are just a few flour streaks remaining. Scrape down the bowl, and then mix just until the flour streaks are gone and the ingredients have been incorporated.
- Stir together the cinnamon and sugar in a small bowl and set aside.
- Portion out the cookie dough in to four equally sized balls, and roll each ball in the cinnamon sugar and place on the baking sheet with a few inches of space around it.
- Bake for 13-15 minutes, or until cookie edges have just begun to set. I baked these a little longer than I usually would to create a firmer texture that would stand out in the macaron.
- When cookies have cooled, crumble them up into crumbs 1/4 or smaller.
Gingerbread Molasses Buttercream
- Beat butter until light and fluffy.
- Slowly add in powdered sugar, salt, and gingerbread spice, and beat until fluffy. Scrape down the sides of your bowl along the way.
- Pour in molasses and beat until incorporated.
- Add in heavy cream and beat until combined.
Assembly
- Match each shell with a partner of equal size.
- Pipe a dollop of Gingerbread Molasses Buttercream on one half, and a very small dollop on the matching half.
- Place a generous amount of snickerdoodle crumbled on the larger dollop, and then sandwich the partner shell on top.
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