If you love sugar, spice, and everything nice, you’re going to fall head over heels for my Cinnamon Macarons. These delightfully dainty, warmly spiced French sandwich cookies are made with just 10 basic ingredients and are naturally gluten-free!
Of the many French recipes I learned to master in pastry school, macarons consistently top my Favorites List. Between their gorgeously smooth appearance, crisp-but-chewy consistency, rich fillings, and endless color and flavor combinations, they check all the boxes this baker could hope for.
And when it comes to herbs and spices, cinnamon is by far the most popular in my kitchen. It adds warmth and sweetness to everything it touches—from spicy orange cinnamon hot chocolate to cozy vin chaud, sourdough raisin bread to brown butter cinnamon rolls, pear compote to apple spice donuts, and so much more.
So when I set about developing a new recipe for fall-flavored macarons, I thought to myself, “Why not make it cinnamon?” My friends, I couldn’t be happier that I did. Adding a hefty dash of spice to my foolproof macaron recipe and then stuffing the cinnamon macaron shells with cinnamon cream cheese frosting might’ve been one of my best ideas yet!
⭐ Why You’ll Love This Recipe For Cinnamon Roll Macarons
- Light But Rich - Melt-in-your-mouth almond meringues are so delicate, they have an almost ethereal quality. But when you pair them with a decadent cream cheese frosting and add plenty of spice to the mix they become a cinnamon roll macaron mash-up that’s nothing short of magnificent.
- Beautifully Basic - Just 10 easy-to-find ingredients are all you need to make these impressive-looking treats.
- Budget-Savvy - French macarons cost a pretty penny when you buy them from a bakery, but with my step-by-step recipe you can make a batch for just a fraction of the cost!
🍴Ingredients
- Granulated Sugar - The neutral pH and low moisture content of white sugar are essential for creating perfect snickerdoodle macaron shells. You’re welcome to use superfine/caster sugar instead, which is simply white sugar that has been pulverized to a finer grain.
- Room Temperature Egg Whites - Room temperature “aged” egg whites create a more stable meringue than fresh, cold ones. Note that liquid egg whites will not work here, as they don’t properly whip into a meringue consistency.
- Almond Flour - Make sure you’re reaching for fine blanched almond flour rather than coarser almond meal in order to achieve a perfectly smooth, glossy exterior.
- Powdered Sugar - This blend of white sugar and starch provides stability to both the cinnamon macaron shells and the frosting filling. If you’re out, you can make your own by blitzing granulated sugar with cornstarch or potato starch in a food processor. The ratio is 1 cup of sugar to 1 Tablespoon of starch.
- Cinnamon - There are many varieties of cinnamon to choose from, so have fun experimenting to find your favorite. Hard cassia cinnamon is the most widely sold as it is the most inexpensive to source, but you may prefer mild Ceylon cinnamon (a.k.a. Mexican cinnamon), sharp Saigon cinnamon, and sweet Korintje cinnamon’s unique flavor profiles.
- Gel Food Coloring - Optional, for coloring the macaron shells and/or filling. I recommend gel coloring over liquid as the pigmentation is more potent and the lower water content ensures you don’t throw off the meringue’s stability. You can also use natural powdered food coloring (e.g. beet powder, butterfly pea powder, matcha, etc.) if you prefer, but note that they often impart some flavor to whatever they are dyeing.
- Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting - In addition to more powdered sugar and cinnamon, you’ll also need unsalted butter, block-style cream cheese, and salt.
See the recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.
⏲️ Substitutions & Variations
- Almond-Free - If you want to try this recipe for churro macarons but can’t eat almonds, you have options. You can swap in other nuts (pistachios are a great option), or you can use sesame seeds or ground tiger nuts for a wholly nut-free version.
- Dairy-Free - Simply swap in your favorite plant-based butter and cream cheese for all the creamy, cinnamony flavor without the dairy.
- Different Filling - Cinnamon is a flavor that plays well with lots of other flavors. Try brown butter buttercream, chocolate buttercream, almond buttercream, dark chocolate ganache, salted caramel, or any other filling that strikes your fancy!
- Chai Macarons - For an aromatic twist, swap the cinnamon for chai masala, a warming spice blend with cinnamon, cloves, ginger, black pepper, cardamom, star anise, and nutmeg. You can also use any other cozy spice blend like pumpkin pie spice or haiwaj if you prefer.
This recipe has not been tested with other substitutions or variations. If you replace or add any ingredients, please let us know how it turned out in the comments below!
📖 Step-by-Step Instructions
Step 1: Make the meringue & sift dry ingredients. Whisk the egg whites in the bowl of a standing mixer at medium speed in a large bowl. Slowly add the white sugar when it starts to foam. Keep whisking until stiff peaks form and mix in your desired food coloring. Meanwhile, pulse the dry ingredients including the ground cinnamon in a food processor and sift into a medium bowl.
Step 2: Macaraonage! Pour your sifted dry ingredient mixture into the bowl with the meringue and slowly fold the two together. The batter should be thin, drippy, and slide easily off of the rubber spatula. Overmixed macaron batter is impossible to salvage, so don’t fuss with it too much.
Step 3: Pipe the batter & rest. Transfer the batter to a piping bag and pipe it into circle shapes on the parchment-lined baking sheet, leaving space in between each. Tap the baking sheet a few times to pop any air bubbles or use a toothpick. Allow the shells to set for about 30 minutes or until they feel dry to the touch.
Step 4: Bake and cool. Bake the meringues in a 310ºF oven for 9 minutes. Rotate the pan and bake for 2 minutes more. Your shells are done when they’re dried out and firm. Let the shells cool completely before removing them from the parchment paper, and finding each matching half.
Step 6: Assemble, chill, and enjoy! Pipe a nickel size amount of cinnamon cream cheese filling onto each of the bottom macaron shells. Top each one with a top shell and place the assembled macarons in the fridge overnight. Then, enjoy the next day!
👩🏻🍳 Expert Tips
- Separate Cold, Whip Warm. It’s much easier to separate eggs when they’re still cold from the fridge, as the yolks are less likely to break. However, “aging” the yolks at room temperature ensures a stronger meringue, so let them sit out for about an hour or so after separating before making your cinnamon macaron shells.
- Use 3 Bowls. When separating your eggs, you want 3 bowls—one for the current egg you’re separating, one for the yolks, and one for the whites. After each egg is separated, empty the working bowl. This ensures that if one yolk breaks during separation, your whole batch of whites doesn’t get wasted.
- Keep Your Whites Fat Free. Even the slightest bit of yolk or oil residue can cause your meringue to deflate. I recommend cleaning your equipment thoroughly before starting. If you hand-wash your dishes, consider dipping a cotton ball in lemon juice or vinegar and wiping down your beaters and bowl to remove any lingering grease.
- Waste Not, Want Not. If you don’t have any immediate designs for your egg yolks, they can be frozen for up to 3 months. If you’re looking for ways to use them up, fruit curd, creme anglaise, and ice cream are all great places to start!
- Use A Template. I have a Silpat macaron mat with circles drawn on it; this helps me pipe out perfectly round, equally-sized shells. For a cheaper DIY version, simply trace circles onto a piece of parchment paper using a small round biscuit cutter or cookie cutter.
- Don’t Rush The Rest. After piping the cinnamon macaron batter onto your lined cookie sheets, you need to let them rest for 45 or so minutes before baking. This allows a “skin” to develop, resulting in perfectly smooth shells with the signature macaron “feet.”
❄️ Storage
You’re welcome to make, bake, and freeze empty macaron shells for up to a month in advance. The cinnamon frosting can likewise be prepped and frozen ahead of time. Once assembled, I recommend allowing them to rest overnight in the fridge for the best texture.
Assembled cinnamon bun macarons should be kept under refrigeration for no longer than 3 days. To serve, allow them to rest at room temperature for 10-15 minutes to take some of the chill off. Assembled macarons can also be frozen for up to 2 months.
💭 Recipe FAQs
Just because a cookie is crumbled doesn’t make it any less tasty! I usually just nibble on any broken shells while I fill the rest, but they’d also make excellent ice cream inclusions and sundae toppers.
It typically takes me about an hour and a half to make a batch from start to finish, but around half of that is just waiting time while the batter rests. In terms of active time, you’re looking at about 45 minutes to an hour, unless you do more detailed decorations.
Macarons do take a bit of practice, and your first batch or two probably won’t come out quite perfect, but if you follow along with my step-by-step instructions and photos, I’d bet they’ll be pretty close. Beginners can absolutely make them—everyone is a beginner at some point! And I’d say the best time to make them is whenever you get a hankering to try!
Ooops! Sounds like you may have forgotten to rap the cookie sheet against the counter after piping out the batter. By firmly tapping the sheet against your work surface a few times, all the air bubbles should get knocked out, removing any chance of making pockets.
It depends on the recipe! If you don’t add any food coloring to these churro macarons, they’ll be a pale tan color on account of the cinnamon. Whatever flavoring you use (spices, cocoa powder, matcha powder, freeze-dried fruit powder) will contribute some color to the macaron shells, but for the most vibrant-looking shells, a bit of gel food coloring is the way to go.
More Fall Recipes You’ll Love
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Cinnamon Macarons
Equipment
Ingredients
Cinnamon Macarons
- 76 g (⅓ cup + 1 teaspoon ) Granulated Sugar
- 90 ml (About 3 egg whites) Room Temperature Egg Whites
- 80 g (¾ Cup + 1 Tbsp) Almond Flour, Blanched
- 135 g (1 ¼ Cup ) Powdered Sugar
- 15 g Ground Cinnamon
- Gel Food Coloring, optional
Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting
- 56 g (¼ Cup) Unsalted Butter
- 227 g (1 Cup) Cream Cheese
- 120 g (1 Cup) Powdered Sugar, sifted
- 3 teaspoons Ground Cinnamon
Instructions
Cinnamon Macarons
- Line each baking sheet with your prepared parchment templates and prepare your piping bags along with your piping tips. I like to use a small, round piping tips for piping.
- Pour your egg whites into the bowl of a stand mixer and start whisking on medium speed. Once they start to foam, slowly add your sugar and bring up your speed to medium for about three to four minutes.90 ml Room Temperature Egg Whites, 76 g Granulated Sugar
- While your meringue is whisking away, grind together your measured powdered sugar, ground cinnamon, and almond flour using a food processor for one minute. Sift these dry ingredients into a large bowl with a fine sieve and set aside.80 g Almond Flour, 135 g Powdered Sugar, 15 g Ground Cinnamon
- Your meringue is complete when it holds stiff peaks - add desired food coloring and gently whisk for a few additional seconds to incorporate.Gel Food Coloring
- Now it’s time for the ever so important Macaronage! This is the act of mixing your dry ingredients into your french meringue and folding these ingredients enough to allow for the perfect desired consistency. To start, pour your dry mixture onto the meringue and slowly start to fold with a spatula. While rotating the bowl, continue to fold ingredients together. Press mixture on the side of your bowl until the mixture of the batter flows off your spatula rather slowly and smoothly. You should see that the batter will drip off the spatula back into the bowl, and rest on top for a moment. Then, the batter from your spatula will slowly sink back into the mixture. One too many folds and your batter could be over mixed leading to it being impossible to work with, so be careful not to overmix!
- Pour your macaron batter into your prepared piping bag and pipe in circles onto your templated parchment paper. In order to get rid of any air bubbles within your piped shells and to even out your tops, tap your baking sheet firmly on a flat surface. You can always use a toothpick to gently pop any extra air bubbles that you see hovering on top of your shells.
- Allow the shells to rest for approximately 30 minutes. Once the top of your shells are dry to the touch they are ready to bake!
- Place your macarons in your oven that has been preheated to 310 degrees Fahrenheit. Bake for 9 minutes, then rotate the baking tray and bake for an additional 2 minutes.
- You will know that your macarons are ready to remove from the oven when you gently touch the upper shell, and it barely moves, while the developed foot of the macaron stays set to the parchment paper. Remove from the oven to cool completely before removing shells from the parchment paper.
Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting
- Beat together the softened butter and cream cheese on medium speed until it’s smooth and somewhat fluffy.56 g Unsalted Butter, 227 g Cream Cheese
- Scrape down the sides, then add in the powdered sugar slowly and ground cinnamon.120 g Powdered Sugar, 3 teaspoons Ground Cinnamon
- Place cream cheese frosting in a plastic bag or pastry bag with a piping tip and set aside.
Assembly
- Once cooled, the shells will peel easily off of your parchment paper. Find each shell's matching half and pipe a circle of cinnamon filling into the middle. Finally, top with the matching half. Place in the fridge overnight for the perfect texture and taste!
Notes
- Use a kitchen scale. Working with weights rather than measuring cups is the easiest way to ensure consistently delicious macarons.
- Parchment paper is your friend. Not only can you draw out your circles on it so your macarons are even, but it also makes cleanup a breeze.
- Don’t rush the rest. Once you pipe out the macaron batter, you need to let it rest for 30 minutes. This helps to create a “skin,” which means they’ll look shiny and smooth. It’s also essential for getting your macaron shells to have “feet.”
- Storage: Unfilled cinnamon macaron shells can be left in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days, or frozen for up to a month. Likewise, the cinnamon buttercream can be stored in the fridge for up to 2 weeks, or frozen for up to 3 months. Once you’ve piped on the frosting and assembled them, they will keep for up to 3 days in the fridge. Filled macarons can also be frozen for up to 3 months.
Lauren
Absolutely beautiful!! I love cinnamon and spice and everything nice. These are so perfect for fall!!