Irish Cream Macarons

A recipe for Irish Cream Macarons! Vanilla bean macarons are filled with an Irish Cream frosting and topped with a brushing of green glitter.

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This recipe contains alcohol. It is intended only for those over the age of 21 (in the United States). Please drink/eat responsibly.

Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day or any time of year with Irish Cream Macarons! This almond flour-based cookie has a crisp shell that gives way to a chewy interior paired with a creamy and decadent Irish Cream frosting for quite the festive and indulgent treat.

I recently picked up some green edible glitter dust and thought this would be the perfect opportunity to try it out for the first time. I still need to work a bit on my technique, but had such fun playing around with different designs. After the macaron shells completely cooled to room temperature, place about 1/4 teaspoon of the green glitter in a small bowl and mix with a couple drops of almond extract to get the desired consistency. Use a food-safe brush to decorate the tops of the macaron shells and allow to dry.

Looking for more recipes with Irish Cream?

Try my

• Irish Cream Chocolate Chip Ice Cream
• These Irish Cream Scones
• Irish Cream Dark Chocolate Pudding

Adjust the strength of the Irish Cream in the buttercream as desired by adding more or less compared to the heavy cream. 

Macaron Tips

• I recommend using the metric measurements for the macaron shells for best results, but have also included the US Customary conversions.
• If possible, bake these on a day with lower humidity. Rain is not your friend here.
• For the ground almonds, I generally use almond meal/flour. You can also process whole almonds in the food processor. Just make sure the almonds and powdered sugar are very fine to create smooth macaron shells.
• Aged, room temperature egg whites are best for whipping into stiff peaks.
• My previous failures have generally been attributed to overmixing- easy to do with overzealous young helpers. You want to gently fold in the beaten egg whites until they are completely combined, but not to the point of being runny. I have seen the resulting texture described as “molten lava” and others have listed an average of 40-65 folds.
• If you want to make sure every macaron shell is the exact same size, use a silicon macaron mat or make your own by drawing circles using a circular cookie cutter on parchment paper, then flip it over so the drawn part is on the bottom (use white translucent parchment paper so the circles can be seen through the top). When piping, hold the pastry bag and tip completely vertical.
• Putting the baking sheets filled with piped macarons under my ceiling fan works well on helping create the shells before baking. They should be dry enough that the tops don’t stick to the finger when lightly touched. Make sure the fan is evenly overhead and not blowing air from the side. This may create uneven and oval macarons.
• If your oven bakes unevenly, it helps to rotate the sheets halfway through baking.
• Refrigerate the macarons for about a day to allow the flavors to settle. Quite a few of mine didn’t make it that long. They can be refrigerated for up to a week. Bring to room temperature about 15-30 minutes before serving for the best texture.

Irish Cream Macarons Recipe

Adapted from A Classic Twist

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5 from 6 votes

Irish Cream Macarons

A recipe for Irish Cream Macarons! Vanilla bean macarons are filled with an Irish Cream frosting and topped with a brushing of green glitter.

Course Dessert

Cuisine N/A

Keyword buttercream, cookie, dessert, Irish cream, macaron

Prep Time 30 minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes

Resting Time: 1 hour

Total Time 1 hour 45 minutes

Servings 24 Macarons

Ingredients

Vanilla Bean Macarons:

• 100 grams (1 cup) ground almond flour
• 200 grams (2 cups) powdered sugar
• Pinch salt
• 100 grams (~3 large) egg whites
• 50 grams (1/4 cup) granulated sugar
• 1 vanilla bean

Irish Cream Frosting:

• 113 grams (1/2 cup) unsalted butter softened at room temperature
• 380 grams (3 1/2 cups) powdered sugar
• 37 milliliters (2 1/2 tablespoons) Irish cream
• 30 milliliters (2 tablespoons) heavy cream
• 5 milliliters (1 teaspoon) vanilla extract
• Edible glitter dust mixed with 2 or so drops of almond extract for topping, optional

Instructions

To make the vanilla bean macarons:

• In a food processor or blender, pulse the almond flour and powdered sugar a few times until fine. Do not over pulse. Sift into a bowl with the salt.
• In another bowl, beat the egg whites with a hand or stand mixer until frothy. Continue beating while slowly adding the granulated sugar and seeds from the scraped vanilla bean until stiff peaks form.
• Gently fold the beaten egg whites into the ground almond and powdered sugar mixture until combined, but be careful not to overmix. It should be the consistency of “molten lava” but not runny, about 40-65 folds. Transfer the batter to a piping bag fitted with a 0.4 inch (10 mm) circular tip.
• On a parchment lined baking sheet, pipe 1 1/2 inch (4 cm) circles at least 2 inches apart. Repeat with remaining baking sheets. If your oven runs hot, place an empty baking sheet under each baking sheet with the macarons to offer some protection against the heat.
• Firmly tap the baking sheets against the counter to remove excess bubbles. Allow to rest uncovered 30-60 minutes to form a shell.
• Preheat oven to 300˚F (150˚C).
• Bake the macarons in preheated oven until the tops become firm, 15-20 minutes. Allow to cool before removing from baking sheet.

To make the Irish cream frosting:

• In a medium bowl, beat softened butter on low speed until smooth. Mix in the powdered sugar and increase speed to medium and continue to beat until smooth and creamy. Slowly drizzle in the Irish cream, heavy cream, and vanilla and beat until combined.
• If too thick, add additional heavy cream or a little Irish Cream until pipe-able. If too thin, add a little more powdered sugar. Transfer the buttercream into a bag fitted with a number 8-10 tip.

To assemble:

• If desired, top the macaron shells with glitter dust for decoration. In a small bowl, place 1/4 teaspoon of the green glitter in a small bowl and mixed with a couple drops of almond extract to get the desired consistency. Use a food-safe brush to decorate the tops of the macaron shells.
• Pair together the cooled macaron shells that are similar in shape. Pipe the filling onto half of the bottom side of the shells. Top, bottom side towards filling, with remaining shells. Gently twist until the buttercream filling reaches the edges. Repeat with remaining pairs.
• For best results, refrigerate for 24 hours before serving.