Chai Tea French Macarons with Vanilla Nutmeg Buttercream

Who else loves chai tea? It has been one of my favorite drinks for years now. I will always choose chai over coffee, hands down. I also have fallen in love with French macarons so I decided to try and combine the two! These are seriously delicious and a perfect cookie for the holiday season.

Prep Time: 1 hour ; Cook Time: 13-15 minutes ; Yield: 12-16 macarons

What you’ll need:

Piping bag

½ inch round tip 

French macaron piping template (optional) 

Parchment paper

Macaron Shells:

¾ cup almond flour 

1 cup powdered sugar 

2 large egg whites 

¼ cup granulated sugar 

¼ teaspoon vanilla 

¼ teaspoon nutmeg 

Cinnamon for dusting 

Vanilla Nutmeg Buttercream Frosting:

1/3 cup butter, softened 

1 tablespoon strong brew black tea 

1 1/2 cup powdered sugar 

¼ teaspoon nutmeg 

For the Macaron Shells:

1.     Combine almond flour and powdered sugar in a mixing bowl and whisk together. To be sure all clumps are out you can pass the mixture through a flour sifter. Add in nutmeg and whisk.
2.    In a large mixing bowl whip egg whites using a hand mixer until soft peaks form (about 3 minutes) Add in the granulated sugar gradually and beat an additional 2-3 minutes until stiff peaks form. Add in vanilla and beat until combined.
3.     Fold the dry ingredients into the egg white mixture and combine until there are no visible dry ingredients. You do not want to over fold but you want the batter to have a slightly runny consistency. When you pipe the macarons out you will want the batter to spread out smoothly.
4.     Line 2 baking sheets with your macaron template & parchment paper.
5.     Fill your pastry bag with batter (fitted with your ½ inch tip!) and pipe the batter into your template circles. *You can totally make these without a template but they may not be very uniform.
6.     Remove templates from underneath parchment paper and tap your baking sheet firmly against the counter to release any extra air bubbles.
7.     Sprinkle cinnamon over your macarons immediately after piping.
8.     Leave the macarons at room temperature for at least 30 minutes until they form a hard top and are not tacky to the touch.
9.     Preheat oven to 300 F, bake for 13-15 minutes, rotate them halfway through, and continue baking until the cookies have risen but remove before starting to turn brown on the edges.
10. Let cool completely on the cookie sheet before removing. They should be able to pop off of your parchment paper when you try to lift them.

For the Vanilla Nutmeg Buttercream Frosting:

1.     Cream your butter in a stand mixer until smooth.
2.     Brew a cup of strong black tea.
3.     Add powdered sugar, black tea & nutmeg, and mix until light and fluffy.

Assembling the Macarons:

1.     Place your buttercream frosting into a piping bag with your ½ inch round piping tip.
2.     Pipe a generous swirl onto one shell and then sandwich it together with another cookie.
3.     Enjoy!

These little cookies take lots of practice and patience but you seriously will never go wrong on taste. I mean who doesn’t love the taste of sugar, butter, and vanilla?!

About the Author

I’m Madison, a wife & momma who loves interior decorating, gardening and most importantly spending time with my babies. I am married to my high school sweetheart and we have 2 kiddos (so far!) Our son Hudson is 3 and our daughter Hazel is 4 months. My husband and I were both born and raised in Oregon and we love it here so much that we will probably never live anywhere else!