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Pumpkin Macarons with Pumpkin Butter Buttercream – if you’ve ever wanted to try making macarons – start with this delicious recipe!
I may need a macaron intervention. I can’t stop thinking about different flavors for these adorable little cookies. To satisfy my need to make egg white cookies I’m going to make these and the Cinnamon Apple Butter Macarons for an office Thanksgiving party. I’ll take half to the party and save half for our family’s Thanksgiving dessert. I have a plan, and that always makes me happy.
To make the pumpkin macarons all the same size, draw circles on a piece of parchment to use as a guide.
I didn’t make enough 1 1/4 inch circles drawn out so I filled in the empty areas with smaller cookies. No worries!
The buttercream filling is phenomenal.
I found pumpkin butter (similar to apple butter) in the organic aisle of our local Wegman’s grocery store. I think it would be great with canned pumpkin too. The pumpkin butter is lightly sweetened with sugar and apple cider and the buttercream is spiced with a mixture of cinnamon, ginger, allspice and nutmeg. Or make your own homemade pumpkin butter with our recipe found HERE.
Be generous with the filling! This is no time to be skimpy 🙂
The pumpkin macaron shells are also flavored with a blend of pumpkin pie spices.
I’m going serve a variety of small desserts to our guests including these pumpkin macarons and a Frozen Turkey adult milk shake. Can’t wait for that one!
Enjoy!
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Pumpkin Macarons with Pumpkin Butter Buttercream
Prep Time: 1 hour
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
Yield: 36 cookies
Course: Cookie
Delicious and light pumpkin meringue cookies.
Ingredients
For the pumpkin spice:
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon ground allspice
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
For the macaron batter:
- 4 ounces almond flour, sifted to remove large pieces
- 8 ounces powdered sugar, sifted
- 5 ounces egg whites, aged overnight at room temperature (about 5 eggs)
- 2 ½ ounces granulated sugar
- pinch salt
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon Pumpkin Pie Spice
- Orange gel food color if desired
For the pumpkin butter buttercream:
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 ounce cream cheese, room temperature
- ¼ cup Pumpkin Butter
- 1 teaspoon Pumpkin Pie Spice
- a few drops of vanilla extract
- 2 cups sifted powdered sugar, more or less as needed for desired consistency
Instructions
- In a small bowl mix together the cinnamon, ginger, allspice and nutmeg. Set aside.
- For the macarons preheat oven to 300°F. Prepare 3 baking sheets with parchment paper. Draw 1 ¼ to 1 ½ circles (I used a shot glass) on the parchment paper at least 1 inch apart. Turn the paper over and set aside.
- Prepare a large pasty bag, fitted with a plain tip. Set aside Whisk together the almond flour, confectioners' sugar and 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl of a stand mixer, combine the egg whites, granulated sugar and salt. Using the whisk attachment turn the mixer to medium (speed #4 on a Kitchen Aid) and whip for 3 minutes. The egg whites will not seem overly foamy at this point. Turn the speed to medium-high (7 on a Kitchen-Aid) and beat for another 3 minutes. Turn the speed to 8 and whip for 3 more minutes.
- Add the vanilla extract and food color if using, and beat on high for another minute or until stiff peaks form and the egg whites hold in the middle of the whisk attachment. Shake the meringue loose from the whisk and add all the dry ingredients at one time. Fold the ingredients together using a rubber spatula. Keep turning the batter until all dry ingredients are incorporated and the mixture is creamy. To test the consistency, drizzle some of the batter back into the bowl using the spatula. If the batter blends back into itself after about 1 minute, it's ready. You don't want it runny like pancake batter. If you think it needs another turn, do them one at a time until you reach the perfect consistency.
- Scoop the batter into the prepared pastry bag and pipe onto the cookie sheets. Do not fill the circles completely. Fill to about ⅔ full as the batter will spread a bit. Once the whole sheet is full, rap the pan on a hard surface to pop any air bubble in the cookies. Allow the unbaked macarons to rest for 30 minutes before baking.
- Bake about 20 minutes. To check you can pull up on a cookie and if the top separates from the bottom, they are not ready. Bake another minutes or two and test again. Remove from the oven and cool completely before removing from the parchment paper. I pick up the parchment paper with cookies intact and transfer it to a cooling rack to speed the cooling process.
- To make the buttercream beat the butter and cream cheese on medium speed of an electric mixer until light and creamy. Add the pumpkin butter, vanilla, and the 1 remaining teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice. Blend another minute until incorporated. Reduce the speed to low and slowly add the confectioners' sugar. Beat until fluffy and smooth.
- Pipe the buttercream in mounds onto half the macarons. Top with the other matching half and twist to distribute. Store the macarons in an airtight container and refrigerate until ready to serve. Allow them to rest at room temperature about an hour before serving.
Recipe Notes
(base macaron slightly adapted from Bravetart)
Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate. When multiple ingredient alternatives are given, the first listed is calculated for nutrition. Garnishes and optional ingredients are not included.
Nutrition
Calories: 93kcal | Carbohydrates: 16g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 3g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 4mg | Sodium: 10mg | Potassium: 13mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 15g | Vitamin A: 153IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 10mg | Iron: 1mg
Here are a few more recipes you might also enjoy:
Maple Pumpkin Butter – deliciously rich, velvety smooth, not too sweet, and perfectly wonderful slathered on toast, biscuits, muffins, pancakes, waffles or stirred into your morning oatmeal. Click HERE to get the recipe.
Change it up this year and thrill your holiday guests with this light and creamy Pumpkin Cheesecake with Turtle Topping. Click HERE to get the recipe.
Soft Ginger Molasses Cookies with Pumpkin-Butter Buttercream filling – these simple cookies have amazing flavor and an incredible texture! Click HERE to get the recipe.
Thanks so much for stopping by! Tricia
Christine Arnold
I made these over the weekend. Your instructions were spot on and they came out perfect (this was only the second time I attempted to make macarons). To make it a little less sweet, I piped a ring of buttercream and added a little bit of homemade apricot freezer jam in the middle. Thank you for this great recipe!
Tricia Buice
That’s terrific Christine! The freezer jam sounds wonderful. So glad you made these and enjoyed them 🙂
Susan
Where can I buy pumpkin butter?
Tricia Buice
I have found pumpkin butter near the jams and jellies (like apple butter) but it is seasonal. You might also try Amazon. You are welcome to make your own – the recipe is posted here at the bottom of THIS post. Thanks! Good luck
Sandy
I was able to find pumpkin butter at Trader Joe’s. Good luck!
Tricia Buice
Yeah! I bet they have good pumpkin butter 🙂 Best of luck with the cookies!
Susan
Is it possible to substitute the almond flour for something else? It’s so expensive to buy a $12 bag for this one recipe!!
Tricia Buice
Hi Susan. You can make your own almond flour if you want. I don’t have the instructions but you can find it on the internet. You can also substitute finely ground hazelnuts for the almond flour but again, it is probably a little more expensive to make. Macarons must be made with very fine ground nuts or they will not have the beautiful smooth tops. If you have never made macarons, I suggest reading about them from as many sources as you can before beginning. I have only made them with almond flour which keeps very well in the refrigerator by the way!
Sandy
I made these over the weekend. They were SUPER delicious! Can’t get enough of them! Do you have a suggestion on how to make the filling a little less sweeter? For instance, if I wanted to lessen the confectioners sugar to 1 and 1/2 cup instead of 2, how much more of the other ingredients would I use to balance it? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks Tricia!
Tricia Buice
Hi Sandy – so glad they turned out for you. For a less sweet filling, I suggest using pumpkin instead of sweetened pumpkin butter. Buttercream is a sweet filling not matter what you do, so chocolate ganache is often popular in macarons. I suggest more butter and cream cheese and less sugar. As long as it is refrigerated it should be okay. Thanks for the great question – and thanks for reading and commenting, and especially for trying the recipe.
Hadeya
Can you make it without pumpkin butter?
Tricia Buice
Hi Hadeya – yes you can! I would add a touch of canned pumpkin (unsweetened) to give it the pumpkin flavor. Enjoy and thanks for stopping by!
sprinklesandsauce
Macarons are one dessert we have yet to attempt to make! Thanks for the inspiration!
Sue/the view from great island
Now I really need to get around to making macaroons, how can I resist a pumpkin version? Pinning these!
Kitchen Belleicious
i love macarons- let alone pumpkin ones! LOVE IT
Abbe@This is How I Cook
Oh my. You are getting really good at these. I want to come to the party!
Elena Haskew
These look delicious, Tricia! I just came home from eating my way through every patisserie in Northern France and had every macaron you could imagine. I brought the girls some home from the bakery, Laduree, that has been in business since1862 and is considered to have the best macarons in Paris. Yours look just as beautiful! Great job!
Daniela Grimburg
What a beautiful pstWhat a beautiful post, Tricia.<br />The picture are gorgeous ,so are the delicate macarons.<br />They are one of my favorite sweets. The pumpkin flavored filling is new to me and looks delectable.
Angie Schneider
These look so gorgeous, Tricia. The pumpkin buttercream looks amazing.
Chris Scheuer
You are becoming the Macaron Maven Tricia! Wow, these look amazing I love your creativity with all these fun flavors. It seems like the possibilities are endless.
Monica
Tricia, there will be no intervention when you continue to make beautiful macarons like these. : ) I tend to want to make macarons in phases, too. It doesn't help that I always screw mine up a bit – I always make them too big, etc so I keep wanting to "fix" it. Yours look gorgeous. Those are some lucky guests who'll get your desserts.
Juliana
OMG! These macarons look perfect, and I love the flavor. They are to delicate and elegant.<br />Thanks for the recipe Tricia and have a wonderful week ahead 😀
Mary Callan
Oh Tricia! these are SO perfect!!! simply beautiful – You are VERY clever!<br />Mary x
Mallory Frayn
Macarons are so addictive to make, aren't they? I love all of your fall flavour combos!
Anna and Liz Recipes
Wow these look so beautiful and I too have some pumpkin butter in my pantry. Now I know what to do with it.<br />Thanks for a great recipe! >3
Tanna at The Brick Street Bungalow
Oh, my goodness, these are soooo beautiful… too beautiful to eat… almost!! Tricia, you spoil the folks in your life with all these beautiful and delicious treats! Sure wish we lived closer! LOL! blessings ~ tanna