Pumpkin Spice Macarons
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These Pumpkin Spice Macarons are a perfect fall dessert! Delicate almond flour macaron shells are filled with creamy Pumpkin Spice Ganache and Pumpkin Spice Confit in the center. They are elegant, festive, and packed with cozy autumn flavor.
Table of Contents
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Perfectly crisp shells with a soft, chewy center.
- These macarons are loaded with pumpkin spice, like Pumpkin Mousse.
- Beautiful fall-inspired color.
- Can be made ahead of time. Try also Cheesecake In A Jar or Viral Banana Dessert.
- These macarons taste delicious. Try also Cranberry or Wine Macarons.
Ingredients Note
- Pumpkin Puree: Make sure you are using pumpkin puree and not pumpkin pie filling.
- Chocolate: White chocolate. Use good quality chocolate.
- Cream: Heavy cream. Do not substitute with half and half or milk.
- Glucose Syrup: It can be substituted with inverted sugar or honey.
- Flour: Almond flour. Make sure you are using almond flour and not almond meal.
- Sugar: White granulated sugar and powdered sugar.
- Egg: Egg whites at room temperature. I do not “age” egg whites.
- Pectin NH: This is an important ingredient. Do not substantiate with corn starch.
- Pumpkin Spice Powder: Use any of your favorite brands.
- Butter: Unsalted butter was used in this recipe.
- Citric Acid: It can be replaced with a few drops of lemon juice.
How to Make Pumpkin Spice Macarons
- Prepare pumpkin spice ganache. This takes time for the ganache to stabilize.
- Make pumpkin spice confit. Can be made the same day as the ganache.
- Bake macaron shells. I used my Easy Macarons Recipe for shells and added orange food coloring. I also have a recipe for making macaron shells using the no-rest method.
- Assemble macarons.
How to Make Pumpkin Spice Ganache
In the plastic cup, semi-melted white chocolate is in the microwave. In a small saucepan over medium heat, bring the heavy cream, glucose syrup, and pumpkin spice to a simmer. Do not boil! Add the hot cream mixture to the melted white chocolate in 3 parts, mixing with a spatula the entire time.
Add the pumpkin puree, stir with a spatula, then emulsify with a hand blender.
Cut butter into small pieces. Add butter and salt to the ganache and emulsify again.
Stir with the spatula, ensuring nothing is left on the bottom and sides of the cup. Transfer the ganache into a flat container and cover it with plastic wrap “to contact.” Refrigerate the ganache for 6-8 hours or overnight.
How to Make Pumpkin Spice Confit
In a small bowl or cup, mix sugar with Pectin NH. Set aside. In the small saucepan, warm up the pumpkin puree. Drizzle the sugar mixture and mix with a whisk.
Add pumpkin spice and bring to a boil. After boiling for 20-30 seconds, turn the heat off and add citric acid.
Transfer to a plastic bag and let it cool on the countertop, then refrigerate until used.
How to Make Macarons
Prepare the Dry Ingredients. In the mixing bowl, sift the almond flour and powdered sugar. Remove larger pieces of the almond flour; this will help your macarons to have a smooth top.
Make the French Meringue. In the mixing bowl, whip the egg whites until foamy, then gradually add the granulated sugar. Continue whipping until the meringue is glossy and forms stiff peaks. This may take 10-15 minutes. Add gel water-based food coloring. I used Chefmaster.
Sift almond flour and powdered sugar once or twice.
Add the dry ingredients to the French Meringue.
Fold the Batter. Using a spatula, gently fold the batter. The batter should flow slowly from the spatula and form ribbons that disappear back into the mixture. This is very important when making macarons.
Do not overmix the batter, and don’t leave large pockets of dry ingredients.
Transfer the batter into a pastry bag with a round tip and pipe small, evenly sized circles onto a baking mat or parchment paper.
Pipe the Shells. Move the mat or parchment paper onto the baking sheet tray. Tap the baking tray firmly against the counter a few times to release air bubbles. Using a toothpick, pop any visible bubbles from the shells.
Rest and Bake. Let the shells rest on the countertop for 15-30 minutes or until the top of the shell feels dry to the touch. Bake the macarons in a preheated oven to 300OF (150OC) for 14-16 minutes. Remove from the oven and let the shells cool completely on the baking tray. After that, pair shells with similar sizes and fill with ganache and confit.
How to Assemble
Pair macaron shells of similar size and place them on the parchment paper or cooling rack. Pipe ganache on one flat side of the macaron shell, then pipe pumpkin spice confit in the center of the ganache. Sandwich the macaron with another shell and press lightly. Make sure the ganache is not coming out from the sides of the macarons. Place filled macarons into an airtight container and refrigerate for 12-24 hours. Macarons need to mature before you can enjoy them. Happy Baking!
Expert Tips
- Make sure you are using pumpkin puree and not pumpkin pie filling. They are two different things.
- I used canned pumpkin puree for this recipe. If you are using homemade, make sure it is not very runny, as this will affect the consistency of the ganache.
- Use good-quality white chocolate.
- When you have everything ready (macaron shells, ganache, and confit), only then assemble macarons.
Common Macaron Problems
Why are my macarons cracking?
Cracked shells can be caused by trapped air bubbles, overwhipped meringue, or an oven temperature that is too high.
Why are my macarons hollow?
Hollow shells can result from an overly stiff meringue, incorrect macaronage, or baking temperature. Properly mixing the batter and finding the right oven temperature for your particular oven are key.
Why don’t my macarons have feet?
This can happen if the batter is overmixed, the meringue wasn’t whipped enough, or the shells weren’t rested properly. Oven temperature can also affect the development of feet.
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Recipe
Pumpkin Spice Macarons
Equipment
- 1 stand mixer or electric hand mixer
- 1 small sauce pan
- 1 spatula
- 1 whisk
- 1 immersion blender
Ingredients
Pumpkin Spice Ganache
- 200 gr White chocolate 32%-34%
- 60 gr Heavy Cream
- 15 gr Glucose Syrup
- 50 gr Pumpkin Puree
- 28 gr Unsalted butter 2 Tbsp
- 3 gr Pumpkin Spice 1/2 tsp
- 2 gr Salt 1/4 tsp
Pumpkin Spice Confit
- 50 gr White Granulated Sugar
- 6 gr Pectin NH
- 150 gr Pumpkin Puree
- ½ tsp Pumpkin Spice
- ¼ tsp Citric Acid
Macaron Shells
- 100 gr Egg whites room temperature
- 105 gr White Granulated Sugar
- 140 gr Almond flour
- 125 gr Powdered sugar
Instructions
How to Make Pumpkin Spice Ganache
- In a plastic cup, semi-melt white chocolate in the microwave.
- In the small saucepan over medium heat, bring to a simmer heavy cream, glucose syrup, and pumpkin spice. Do not boil!
- Add the hot cream mixture to the melted white chocolate in 3 parts, mixing with the spatula all the time.
- Add pumpkin puree, stir with the spatula, and emulsify with a hand blender.
- Cut butter into small pieces. Add butter and salt to the ganache and emulsify again. Stir with the spatula, making sure there is nothing left on the bottom and the sides of the cup.
- Transfer the ganache into a flat container and cover it with plastic wrap "to contact." Refrigerate ganache for 6-8 hours or overnight.
How to Make Pumpkin Spice Confit
- In a small bowl or cup, mix sugar with Pectin NH. Set aside.
- In the small saucepan, warm up the pumpkin puree. Drizzle the sugar mixture and mix with the whisk. Add pumpkin spice and bring to a boil.
- After boiling for 20-30 seconds, turn the heat off and add citric acid. Transfer to a plastic bag and let it cool on the countertop, then refrigerate until used.
How to Make Macaron Shells
- In the mixing bowl, sift together almond flour and powdered sugar. Set aside.
- In the mixing bowl of a stand mixer, add room-temperature egg whites and start whisking on low speed. Start adding sugar one tablespoon at a time. Add red food coloring. Increase speed to medium-high and whip until stiff peaks. This will take 10-15 minutes.
- Add dry ingredients and start folding the butter when macaronage drips down from the spatula “like lava,” transfer it into a piping bag with a round tip.
- Pipe macaron shells on the baking mat.
- Top the baking sheet pan with piped macaron shells a few times. Let the shells rest on the countertop until no batter sticks to your finger when you touch it.
- Bake macaron shells in the preheated oven to 275°F (134oC) for 12-14 minutes. Oven temperature and baking time may vary, depending on your oven.
- Remove baked macaron shells from the oven and let them cool on the baking mat with a baking sheet pan. When shells are cooled, completely remove them from the baking mat and pair them with similar sizes.
How to Assemble Pumpkin Spice Macarons
- Pipe ganache on one flat side of the macaron shell, then pipe pumpkin spice confit in the center of the ganache.
- Sandwich the macaron with another shell and press lightly. Make sure the ganache is not coming out from the sides of the macarons.
- Place filled macrons into an air-tight container and refrigerate for 12-24 hours. Macarons need to mature before you can enjoy them. Happy Baking!
I used the ganache part of this recipe and it was a hit! Filled macarons with my usual macaron recipe. Thanks for the tasty filling!
I am so happy to hear that! Thank you for the review!