Thanksgiving Turkey Macarons
These turkey cookies ingredients are almond‑flour macaron shells filled with pumpkin buttercream and decorated candy turkey faces. They're festive and fun.
Servings: 30 macarons
Equipment
- Spatula Large and Flexible
- Silicon Mats
- Pastry Bag with Round Piping Tip
Ingredients
For the Macaron Shells
- 140 Grams almond flour
- 125 Grams powdered sugar
- 1 Teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 105 Grams egg whites
- ¼ Teaspoon cream of tartar
- 105 Grams granulated sugar
- gel food coloring brown
For the Pumpkin Cream Cheese Buttercream
- 4 Tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
- 2 Ounces cream cheese at room temperature
- ¼ Cup pumpkin puree
- 2 Tablespoons brown sugar
- ½ Teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ Teaspoon pumpkin spice
- 2 Cups powdered sugar might need up to ½ Cup more
To Decorate
- ½ Cup butterscotch chips
- candy eyes
- 1 Bag candy corn
Other
- vinegar
Instructions
Wipe Equipment
- Before starting, wipe down bowls, attachments, spatulas, and baking mats with vinegar to eliminate any grease or residue. This is essential to help make sure your macarons come out correctly.
Make the Macaron Batter
- Sift together the almond meal, powdered sugar, and cinnamon into a medium bowl. Set bowl aside.
- Add the egg whites and cream of tartar to the bowl of a stand mixer. Turn on the stand mixer on low and mix the egg whites until foamy, 1 to 2 minutes.
- With the mixer running, slowly start to add the granulated sugar to the egg whites. Once all the sugar has been added, increase the stand mixer speed to medium speed and continue to mix until your meringue reaches stiff peaks. This takes around 5 to 6 minutes, but be sure to check it often to avoid over-mixing.
- Remove the mixing bowl from the mixer.
Start the Macaronage Process
- Add half of the powdered sugar/almond meal mixture to the egg whites. With a large flexible spatula fold until combined. Then add the remaining mixture to the egg whites and fold in until incorporated.
- Once all the almond flour is added, begin adding the green gel food coloring. I added 7 drops to the batter to get color in the photos. Note: you can add coloring during the meringue process too, but adding it during the macaronage process helps to get a deeper color.
- Continue mixing by scraping the batter against the side of the bowl. The batter is done being mixed once the batter flows in ribbons off the spatula. Test the batter for doneness by trying to make a figure 8 with the batter while is it falling off the spatula into the bowl. It’s done if the ribbon does not break. Be careful not to over-mix.
- Line an upside-down baking sheet with silicon baking mats, preferably ones with circle templates for macarons.
Pipe the Macarons
- Fill a piping bag with a round piping tip with the batter. Pipe the batter on the baking mat following the template on the mat.
- Once done piping, carefully rap or bang the pan on the countertop to get rid of any air bubbles. Using a toothpick or scribe, pop any air bubbles. Quickly then top with the crushed fruity pebbles on the macarons.
- Allow your macarons to dry for 40 to 45 minutes until a skin forms. This may take longer depending on humidity.
Bake the Macarons
- Preheat your oven to 300°F.
- Bake each tray separately for 13 to 14 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and allow macarons to cool completely on the mat. Don't remove until completely cooled, 15 to 20 minutes.
Make the Buttercream
- While the macarons are baking, start preparing the pumpkin cream cheese buttercream.
- Take a few paper towels and use them to squeeze the excess moisture our of the pumpkin puree. You can do this over a bowl or sink. You may need to do this twice to remove all the moisture. Please note this is a critical step for making the frosting otherwise you are going to have too much moisture and will use a ton of powdered sugar to get a thick frosting.
- Add the pumpkin puree, butter, cream cheese, and brown sugar to a bowl. Cream together for 2 minutes.
- Add the pumpkin spice, cinnamon, and 1 cup of powdered sugar. Mix until combined. Add another cup of powdered sugar and mix until combined again. Add more powdered sugar as needed to get the desired consistency. You want a nice pipeable consistency for the macarons.
Sandwich the Macaron Halves Together
- Put the buttercream into a piping bag.
- Before filling the macarons, match each up into pairs similar in size.
- Add the buttercream filling to a shell and then sandwich together.
Chill Them
- I recommend chilling the macarons for at least an hour in the refrigerator before decorating. Please note that macarons need a full 24 hours in the refrigerator to mature, so you can even decorate the next day just bring them to room temperature so that you can add the candy corns to the frosting.
Decorate Them
- To decorate, melt about ¼ cup of the butterscotch chips in the microwave. I recommend doing this slowly in 15 to 20-second increments.
- Once the butterscotch chips are melted, use a toothpick to apply a small amount of the melted butterscotch to the back of the candy sprinkle eye and then attach it to the macaron.
- Once both eyes are placed on the macaron, use the toothpick to add some melted butterscotch to a single butterscotch chip and just below the eyes.
- Next take a few candy corns and place them in the buttercream frosting to create a tail. I recommend using 4 or 5 candy corns.
Notes
Flip baking sheets: You want to flip your baking sheets upside down. I know this sounds weird, but this helps provide better airflow to the macarons and more even baking.
Oven temperature: Having the correct oven temperature for macarons is critical. I recommend having an oven thermometer. If you have problems with cracked shells or spreading macaron shells, consider lowering the temperature by 10 to 15 degrees. You could even pipe a few macarons on the mat to dry and test the oven temperature instead of doing a full pan.
Making the beak: For the beak, you can use butterscotch or caramel chips found in the baking section. Other ideas are melting some orange candy melts and piping on a beak or you could also cut orange Reeses pieces in half.
Turkey expressions: You could also take your turkey macarons to the next level by giving them expressions. Get a black edible marker and draw on a smiley face or even a scared face for fun! You could even give them eye brows. The fun you have decorating them can be a lot of fun!
Clean tools well: Vinegar wipe prevents greasy residue and helps shells rise.
Fold gently: Stop folding as soon as batter flows in ribbons to avoid overmixing.
Rest shells: Let shells dry before baking to prevent cracking.
Chill filling: A slightly chilled buttercream holds up better when piping and decorating.
Oven temperature: Having the correct oven temperature for macarons is critical. I recommend having an oven thermometer. If you have problems with cracked shells or spreading macaron shells, consider lowering the temperature by 10 to 15 degrees. You could even pipe a few macarons on the mat to dry and test the oven temperature instead of doing a full pan.
Making the beak: For the beak, you can use butterscotch or caramel chips found in the baking section. Other ideas are melting some orange candy melts and piping on a beak or you could also cut orange Reeses pieces in half.
Turkey expressions: You could also take your turkey macarons to the next level by giving them expressions. Get a black edible marker and draw on a smiley face or even a scared face for fun! You could even give them eye brows. The fun you have decorating them can be a lot of fun!
Clean tools well: Vinegar wipe prevents greasy residue and helps shells rise.
Fold gently: Stop folding as soon as batter flows in ribbons to avoid overmixing.
Rest shells: Let shells dry before baking to prevent cracking.
Chill filling: A slightly chilled buttercream holds up better when piping and decorating.
Nutrition
Calories: 179kcal | Carbohydrates: 34g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 6mg | Sodium: 64mg | Potassium: 19mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 31g | Vitamin A: 393IU | Vitamin C: 0.1mg | Calcium: 15mg | Iron: 0.2mg
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