These pistachio macarons are bursting with pistachio flavor without a drop of imitation extract. Triple because pistachio flour in the shell, chopped pistachios embedded in white chocolate, and pistachio paste in the cream.
If you’ve never made macarons before, I highly suggest you watch a tutorial video on the technique. I am a macaron intermediate at best, so I recommend checking out Preppy Kitchen’s macaron tutorial before getting started. And you might notice that my video below is a bit out of order from the printed directions. That’s mostly for a more seamless viewer experience, but it is true that many of these steps can be done ahead of time or out of order.
You might notice that macaron ingredients are listed primarily in grams. This is because I highly recommend you weigh your ingredients rather than use measuring cups. Macarons are finicky creatures, so the more exact the better.
Triple Pistachio Macarons
Ingredients
Macarons
- 50 grams ground unsalted pistachios or pistachio flour scant ½ cup
- 80 grams almond flour a bit less than 1 cup (0.85)
- 130 grams powdered sugar 1 cup
- 100 grams egg whites 3 large egg whites
- 90 grams granulated sugar scant ½ cup
- ¼ tsp cream of tartar optional
- ½ cup white chocolate chips
- ½ cup chopped, unsalted pistachios
Pistachio Cream
- 1 cup unroasted, unsalted pistachios (or ½ cup pistachio paste)
- ¼ cup butter room temperature
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- ½ cup heavy whipping cream
Instructions
Macarons
- In a food processor, grind pistachios. Pulse processor sparingly to ensure the pistachios don't turn into butter. Sift out pistachio flour, and return larger pieces to the food processor to repeat the process. If using store-bought pistachio flour, you can skip these steps, but don't forget to sift the flour.
- Sift powdered sugar and almond flour into a bowl. Combine with pistachio flour.
- Using a stand or hand-held mixer, whisk egg whites. Once whites start to become foamy, slowly add granulated sugar. Beat whites until they form stiff peaks.
- Carefully fold in 1/3 of the dry ingredients into the egg whites. Repeat with the next third, and then the final third. Continue to fold until the batter is the consistency of lava or loose pancake batter.
- Spoon batter into piping bag with a medium round piping tip (I like to use Wilton #12). Pipe 1 ¾" – 2" circles onto a baking sheet lined with parchment or silicone mat.
- Tap prepared baking sheets onto counter several times to release any potential air bubbles. Allow macaron shells to sit until the surface is dry enough to run a dry fingertip over without destroying the shell. This time will vary depending on the temperature and humidity, but in most cases it's about 30 minutes.
- Bake at 300° F for 12-15 minutes. Rotate baking sheet after 7 minute. Macarons are done when they stand their ground and no longer wobble when the tops are touched.
- While macaron shells cool, chop ½ cup roasted pistachios. You can use a food processor for this, but be careful not to chop the pieces too small.
- Melt white chocolate chips slowly over a double boiler, or in 30 second increments in the microwave. Be careful not to overheat, as overheating causes the white chocolate to seize up and become stiff.
- Once cooled, dip HALF your macaron shells in first the white chocolate, then the chopped pistachios. Because these will be the bottom of your macaron, I like to choose any less attractive or even cracked macaron shells for this.
Pistachio Cream Filling
- To make pistachio paste, blanch about a cup of unroasted, unsalted pistachios for 1-2 minutes in boiling water. Drain and place pistachios in a bowl of ice water. Peel skins off pistachios, and place in a food processor. Blend until pistachios have become a paste.
- Measure out ½ cup pistachio paste. Cream together with butter and sugar.
- In separate bowl, whip heavy whipping cream to stiff peaks. Carefully fold whipped cream into pistachio/butter mixture.
- Bag and pipe pistachio cream onto a white chocolate-dipped shell. Top with an undipped shell.
These were just one of five bakes on our Christmas goodie tray this year, and this was after a full spread of Christmas Animal Cookies. But these holiday bakes are getting easier and easier since the kids are getting really good at helping out! But these pistachio macarons were, without question, the stars of the show. Not even the flourless chocolate cake could compete.
I hope you enjoy these pistachio macarons as much as we did. I’ve not been great about getting recipes up on my site, since there are so many amazing ones already out there. But for this recipe, I just had to share the love. Happy baking, friends!