🍰 Desserts

Vegan Pistachio Macarons

These elegant French‑style macarons have crisp, delicate shells with a soft, chewy centre, coloured and flavoured naturally with ground pistachios, sandwiched with a rich, creamy pistachio filling. This 100% vegan version replaces traditional egg whites and dairy butter with plant‑based alternatives, achieving the signature smooth surface, perfect “feet”, and balanced nutty‑sweet taste without any animal products at all.

Shared by katty

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Time

100 min

Serves

Difficulty

medium

🛒 Ingredients

#Macaron Shells;
100 g blanched almond flour
50 g unsalted raw pistachios, finely ground into flour
150 g icing sugar (powdered sugar).. 90 g aquafaba (chickpea brine, chilled)
40 g caster sugar.. ½ tsp cream of tartar
1–2 drops natural green food colouring (optional, or use extra pistachio powder for natural colour)
#Vegan Pistachio Buttercream Filling;
80 g vegan butter, softened.. 150 g icing sugar
2 tbsp finely ground pistachio paste or finely milled pistachios
1 tsp vanilla extract.. 1–2 tsp plant milk (only if needed for consistency)
Extra chopped pistachios and dried edible rose petals for garnish

👩‍🍳 Instructions

1
Prep dry ingredients: Sift together almond flour, ground pistachios, and icing sugar into a large bowl. Discard any coarse bits left in the sieve. Set aside.
2
Whip aquafaba: In a clean, grease‑free bowl, beat chilled aquafaba and cream of tartar with an electric mixer until frothy. Gradually add caster sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating on high speed until stiff, glossy peaks form — the mixture should look like thick meringue and hold its shape when the whisk is lifted. Add food colouring (if using) and beat briefly just to combine.
3
Fold: Add the sifted dry mixture to the aquafaba in three batches, folding gently with a spatula using a “scrape and turn” motion. Stop folding when the batter flows like thick lava and falls from the spatula in a slow, continuous ribbon — do not over‑mix, or the shells will spread too much.
4
Pipe & rest: Transfer batter to a piping bag fitted with a round tip. Pipe equal‑sized circles (approx. 3–4 cm wide) onto baking‑paper‑lined trays. Tap each tray firmly on the counter 2–3 times to release air bubbles. Leave to rest at room temperature for 30–60 minutes until a dry, firm “skin” forms on the surface — touching gently should leave no batter on your finger.
5
Bake: Preheat oven to 140 °C (280 °F). Bake one tray at a time for 12–15 minutes. Test by gently wiggling the top of a shell — if the base does not move, they are done. Let cool completely on the tray for 15 minutes before carefully peeling off the paper.
6
Make filling: Beat softened vegan butter until smooth and creamy. Gradually add icing sugar, pistachio paste, and vanilla, beating until light and fluffy. Add a tiny splash of plant milk only if too stiff.
7
Assemble: Pair shells by size. Pipe a small dollop of filling onto the flat side of one shell, press gently with its pair until the filling reaches the edges. Garnish with chopped pistachios and rose petals. Refrigerate in an airtight container for 24 hours to let flavours develop — bring to room temperature 15 minutes before serving for the best texture and taste.