These delicate chewy macarons are filled with a creamy white chocolate ganache flavored with bright pop of green apple. This recipe would pair well with an apple pie type filling, caramel, or maybe even mixed in with a variety of other candy theme flavors!
This post contains affiliate links. This means I may earn a small commission should you chose to make a purchase using my link at no extra cost to you.
This flavor wasn’t initially on my radar until I was looking to whip up some macarons as a Teachers Appreciation gift for my daughter’s preschool teachers. I did some digging and found out one of them really enjoyed the green apple lotus energy drinks you can get at coffee stands, so this flavor was a nod to that. ALSO…the fact that it was an apple theme gift for a teacher felt too poetic to pass up!
As usual, I recommend starting with your shells since they will take the longest! For an in depth look at the macaron shell making process, head over to my Basic French Macarons recipe.
Next, let’s talk about the ganache filling! Here’s a few do’s and don’ts when it comes to making ganache.
DO
- Make sure to chop up your chocolate into small even pieces (or use chips!)
- Heat slowly
- Stir gently
- Stir with a spoon or silicone spatula
DON’T
- Overheat/Heat too quickly
- Allow any water to come in contact with your ganache (it will seize up and be unusable)
- Stir vigorously
- Use a whisk
If you want to do a deep dive on the ganache making process, head over to Philosophy of Yum for a boatload of ganache troubleshooting info and tips.
Watching ganache come together is probably in my top 5 favorite baking moments. So satisfying!
My biggest pieces of advice when it comes to this ganache filling, are to be PATIENT and heat it slowly, and to avoid over stirring while you wait for it to set. Overheating can cause your ganache to split, and over stirring can cause it to be grainy.
I wanted something quick and easy to flavor the ganache so I chose Super Strength Green Apple flavor from Lorann Oils. You can get it on Amazon at the link below!
I did find that I had to use quite a bit to get the green apple to come through the white chocolate, but I was happy with the flavor tones and felt like it was a good match for the green apple lotus/jolly rancher vibe I was going for! I’ve heard that the other flavors in this product line are substantially stronger.
While your green apple ganache is setting, match up your shells with a partner of equal size and line them up on a piece of parchment paper. Melt down 2 oz of white chocolate to drizzle over your shells and sprinkle on a few white non pareils for the finishing touch. Snag some sprinkles at the link below. This is easily one of my most used sprinkle styles!
Pipe a generous dollop of the ganache on one shell in each pair, and sandwich the partner shell on top to finish your assembly. Make sure to mature your macarons by placing them in an airtight container in the fridge for a full 24 hours to allow them to reach the optimum flavor and texture!
This flavor is tasty on its own, but I’d love to see someone run with it and pair it with something fun! Let me know what you think if you give it a go.
Green Apple Macarons
Ingredients
Macaron Shells
- 130 grams egg whites
- 120 grams granulated sugar
- ½ tsp cream of tartar
- 200 grams almond flour
- 200 grams confectioner's sugar
Green Apple White Chocolate Ganache
- 15 oz white chocolate chips
- 5 oz heavy whipping cream
- 1 TBS Green Apple Super Strength Flavor (Loranns Oils Brand) https://amzn.to/3Nga9op
Decoration
- 2 oz white chocolate chips
- White non pareils for garnish
- 14 drops Americolor lemon yellow gel food coloring
- 9 drops Americolor leaf green gel food coloring
- 3 drops Americolor chocolate brown gel food coloring
Instructions
Macaron Shells
- Line 2 baking sheets with either parchment paper or a silicone mat (circle template optional but recommended).
- Place a medium/large 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 very large 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. Whisk well to fully blend the two together.
- Place egg whites, granulated sugar, and cream of tartar into a large mixing bowl, and 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 gel food coloring.
- 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. (See photo in post) Once the peaks can hold their shape flipped upright, your meringue is ready.
- Pour half of your almond flour/confectioner’s sugar mixture into the bowl with your meringue, and fold 15 times. 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 30 more folds) until dry ingredients are fully incorporated, your batter is no longer clumpy and stiff. 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 a few soft subtle peaks and lines remaining, it should be ready.
- 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, releasing 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.
- Begin preheating your oven to 295 degrees, using an oven thermometer 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.
Green Apple White Chocolate Ganache
- In a medium size glass bowl, stir together the white chocolate, heavy cream, and green apple flavor oil.
- Microwave for 20 seconds, and stir.
- Continue microwaving in 10 second intervals, stirring gently but thoroughly each time with a spoon or silicone spatula. Do not use a whisk. Repeat until all of the chocolate has been melted and incorporated.
- Cover ganache with plastic wrap and set it aside to cool gently stirring every ten minutes or so until ganache has reached a good piping consistency and is able to hold it’s shape and peaks well, but isn’t too stiff to be piped through a bag.
Assembly
- Match each shell with a partner shell of equal size, and lay out on a piece of parchment paper.
- Using a small bowl, melt down 2 oz of white chocolate by microwaving in 10 second intervals and then stirring until the chocolate has completely melted.
- Load melted chocolate into a small plastic ziploc bag, and cut a small corner off to create a piping opening.
- Carefully drizzle two parallel lines on a few rows of shells, and then sprinkle non pareils on top immediately. Repeat until all shells have been decorated.
- Wait to fill macarons until chocolate decoration has set, and the green apple white chocolate ganache is no longer warm.
- Load ganache into a piping bag with a large round piping tip, and pipe a generous dollop of ganache on one shell in each pair.
- Sandwich the partner shell on top to finish assembly.
- Mature in an airtight container in the fridge for 24 hours to reach optimum texture and flavor.
Leave a Reply