Green Shamrock Macarons with Baileys Ganache Filling are the perfect bite-sized treat to bring to your St. Patrick's Day festivities! The rich chocolate ganache is flavored with a touch of creamy Baileys liqueur and sandwiched between two crisp macaron shells. Finally, each macaron is topped with an edible shamrock made out of wafer paper - what could be better?!
⭐ Why You’ll Love This Recipe
So soft, fudgy, and sweet, these bright green macarons are the perfect addition to your St. Patrick's Day party! There is some practice involved when learning how to make macarons from scratch, but with my easy-to-follow instructions, you’ll be a macaron pro in no time!
If you're craving other variations of rich chocolate macarons, then you should try my Port Wine Ganache Macarons and Pumpkin Butter and Dark Chocolate Macarons!
❓ Macaron vs macaroon
Macarons (pronounced “mack-a-ruhn”) and macaroons, while they’re almost spelled the same, are very different! Macaroons are made with shredded coconut, eggs whites, and sugar, while macarons are made with almond flour and customized with various flavors.
🍴Ingredients
- Almond Flour - I usually use blanched almond flour when making macarons. The skins of the almonds have been removed in this flour variety, meaning you won’t end up with brown speckled macaron shells.
- Egg whites - To make a meringue with stiff peaks, the egg whites need to be at room temperature and whipped together with white granulated sugar.
- Powdered sugar - Sweetens the shells and helps to thicken the batter.
- Granulated sugar - You’ll need granulated sugar to transform the egg whites into a sturdy meringue.
- Baileys chocolate ganache - This creamy chocolate mixture comes together with heavy cream, dark chocolate, corn syrup, unsalted butter, and Baileys liqueur. Baileys is delicious and easy to find, especially close to St. Patrick's Day!
- Edible Shamrocks - I ended up cutting edible green wafer paper into small shamrock shapes to add a bit of whimsy! This is an optional, fun addition to your st. patrick’s day!
📖 Step-by-Step Instructions
These deeply luscious macarons can be a little tricky to make for the first time, but these detailed steps will easily guide you to macaron success:
Step 1: Make the meringue & sift dry ingredients. Whisk the egg whites in the bowl of a standing mixer using a whisk attachment. Slowly add the white sugar when it starts to foam. Keep whisking until stiff peaks form and mix in your desired green food coloring. Meanwhile, pulse the dry ingredients 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 pastry bag and pipe it into circle shapes on the parchment-lined baking sheets, 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 5: Make the ganache. Add the chopped chocolate to a bowl with the warm cream and corn syrup/glucose and stir to melt. Add the butter and use an immersion blender to emulsify the mixture. Finish by folding in the Baileys Irish cream.
Step 6: Assemble, chill, and enjoy! Pipe a nickel size amount of ganache onto each of the bottom macaron shells. Top each one with a top shell and place the assembled macarons in the fridge overnight. Enjoy the next day!
👩🏻🍳 Expert Tips
- Mise en place - Macarons are time-sensitive! Prepare your mise en place (meaning to set up your working space in preparation for an activity) before you get started so your ingredients and equipment are ready to go. Grab that wire rack, large bowl, piping bag, round tip, and stand mixer - then begin!
- Use a piping template - A foolproof way of making perfect macaron shells every time is to trace identical 1-inch diameter circles onto the parchment paper to use as your piping template with you piping bag.
- Use an oven thermometer - Baking the shells at the right temperature is important, so I highly recommend using an oven thermometer.
- Weigh the ingredients - While macarons only use 4 ingredients, if one isn’t measured correctly, your odds of macaron success are considerably lower. I highly recommend investing in a kitchen scale so everything is precise!
- Chill overnight - For the best texture, chill your macarons overnight. It helps dry the shells out further to achieve that light, crisp surface.
- Practice makes perfect - It’s no secret that making macarons can be tricky. Just keep practicing and experimenting with different macaron flavors, and you’ll be a pro in no time!
For more tips on making homemade foolproof macarons, check out my complete guide here!
⏲️ Substitutions & Variations
- Food Coloring - A fun way to jazz up your macarons is to add color to your meringue. I prefer gel food coloring. Liquid food coloring is too moist and not as vibrant.
- Toppings -Edible shamrocks made out of wafer paper is an adorable decoration - you could always add cacao nibs, chocolate sprinkles, crushed Oreos, or chopped nuts as an alternative topping before the macaron shells have dried.
❄️ Storing macarons
Macaron shells can be frozen in an airtight container for up to a month. When it’s time to assemble, take the frozen macarons out of the freezer to thaw for 10 to 15 minutes before filling with ganache. They’ll taste as good as new!
Filled macarons are best kept in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
More macaron flavors you’ll love
If you try this recipe for Shamrock Macarons, please leave a 🌟 review and share your creation with me on social media! You can find me on Instagram, Facebook, Youtube and Pinterest - for more delicious recipes sent straight to your inbox, sign up for my newsletter! 📧
Shamrock Macarons with Baileys Ganache Filling
Equipment
Ingredients
Green Shamrock 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
- 150 g (1 ¼ Cup ) Confection’s Sugar, Powdered Sugar
- Gel Food coloring, optional
- Shamrocks made out of edible wafer paper, Optional
Baileys Ganache
- 100 g (⅓ Cup + 1.5 Tbsp) Heavy Cream
- 32 g (1.5 tablespoon) Glucose syrup, or corn syrup
- 175 g (1 Cup) Dark chocolate, Roughly Chopped
- 30 g (2 tablespoon) Baileys Liqueur
- 25 g (2 tablespoon) Unsalted Butter , room temperature
Instructions
Green Shamrock 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.76 g Granulated Sugar, 90 ml Room Temperature Egg Whites
- While your meringue is whisking away, grind together your measured powdered sugar 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, 150 g Confection’s Sugar
- 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 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.
Baileys Ganache
- Add cream & glucose to a saucepan and bring to a slight boil.100 g Heavy Cream, 32 g Glucose syrup
- Remove from heat and pour over the dark chocolate. Stir to combine as the warm cream starts to melt the chocolate.175 g Dark chocolate
- Add the butter into your warm chocolate mixture, using an immersion blender, blend ganache until the butter has fully incorporated and your mixture is smooth. Add Baileys and fold to combine.25 g Unsalted Butter, 30 g Baileys Liqueur
- Allow the chocolate ganache to cool completely before assembly.
Assembly
- Once cooled, the shells will peel easily off of your parchment paper. Find each shell's matching half and pipe a circle of Bailey' ganache into the middle. Finally, top with the matching half and add edible shamrock confetti. Place in the fridge overnight for the perfect texture before enjoying!Shamrocks made out of edible wafer paper
Notes
- Mise en place - Macarons are time-sensitive! Prepare your mise en place (meaning to set up your working space in preparation for an activity) before you get started so your ingredients and equipment are ready to go.
- Use a piping template - A foolproof way of making perfect macaron shells every time is to trace identical 1-inch diameter circles onto the parchment paper to use as your piping template.
- Use an oven thermometer - Baking the shells at the right temperature is important, so I highly recommend using an oven thermometer.
- Weigh the ingredients - While macarons only use 4 ingredients, if one isn’t measured correctly, your odds of macaron success are considerably lower. I highly recommend investing in a kitchen scale so everything is precise!
- Storing your macarons - Technically, allowing your completed macarons to sit overnight in the fridge allows for the best texture for consuming! If you have the patience, place your macarons in the fridge overnight and enjoy the following day. Macaron shells can be stored in the freezer in an airtight container for a month and still taste as good as new! Take the frozen macarons out of the freezer and let them sit for 10-15 minutes before enjoying, In the fridge, filled macarons should be stored in an airtight container for no more than 3 days.
- Practice makes perfect - It’s no secret that making macarons can be tricky. Just keep practicing and experimenting with different macaron flavors, and you’ll be a pro in no time!
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