These cute and festive Irish Cream Macarons are perfect for St. Patrick’s Day. Classic macaron shells dipped in melted chocolate and filled with a slightly boozy, but super creamy and irresistible Irish cream filling, these will be hard to stop at one! With a little time and patience, these Bailey’s Irish Cream macarons are perfect for an upcoming celebration.
Any excuse to make dessert for a holiday! These Irish Cream Macarons are only fitting for upcoming St. Patty’s Day. They are cute, festive and fun. Annddd, slightly boozy. The shell is your typical mixture of almond flour, egg whites, powdered sugar and granulated sugar with a little green food coloring thrown in. Pretty straightforward!
Now the filling, ohh the filling. It is a killer combination of cream cheese and butter mixed with Bailey’s Irish Cream and powdered sugar. It is SO hard to resist. I made sure to pipe a generous amount of filling between each macaron sandwich. When paired with the melted chocolate tops, oh my gawwwddd, it is simply divine. I feel like this is the new dessert that should be eaten year round. Sweet, addictive, and not to mention- cute! They are well worth the patience required when making macarons.
What you’ll need to make the Irish Cream Macarons
Just a few ingredients necessary to make epic St. Patty’s macarons.
- blanched, super fine almond flour
- powdered sugar
- egg whites
- granulated sugar
- full-fat cream cheese
- unsalted butter
- Bailey’s Irish Cream, or similar to
- semi sweet chocolate
- food coloring-optional
Let’s make the St. Patty’s macarons!
So, if you’ve ever made macarons before, then you are probably familiar with the process. If not, let me lay it out for you. This is definitely a trial and error sort of dessert. Sometimes I’ve made them perfectly, other times it’s been a disaster. It’s all about finding the sweet spot when folding the ingredients. So, don’t get discouraged, just keep trying!
To start, measure all your ingredients. This is a very important step! I only provide volume measurements instead of cups or teaspoons. Sift together the powdered sugar and almond flour, and preheat the oven. Place the egg whites with the granulated sugar in a heatproof bowl set over a pot of barely simmering water. Make sure the bottom of the bowl is not sitting in the water. Whisk the mixture until the sugar has dissolved. You can tell if you rub a little of the mixture between your fingers and it doesn’t feel gritty. If it still feels gritty, then continue to whisk, checking every few minutes. Next, whisk the mixture in the bowl of a stand mixer until the egg whites are foamy. Increase the speed to high and beat until stiff peaks form, 8-10 minutes. Beat in the food coloring in the last few minutes.
The folding part of the macaron process
Next, pour the sifted dry ingredients over the egg whites. This is where the tricky part can be. Using a rubber spatula, fold the dry ingredients into the eggs, just until combined. Knowing when the mixture is ready, you want to be able to draw a full figure eight with the batter running off the spatula, without it breaking. If it’s not ready, give it a few more folds and try again.
Once the batter is ready, pour into a piping bag fitted with a round tip. Pipe in small circles on a baking sheet lined with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper, leaving a couple of inches between rounds. Bang on the counter to release any air bubbles. Use a toothpick to pop any air bubbles if needed. Place one baking sheet into the center of the preheated oven and bake, rotating the tray for about 15 minutes, or until the shells are dry to the touch. Remove from the oven and let cool while baking the other tray. Let the macaron shells cool completely.
Don’t forget about the Irish Cream filling and chocolate coating!
Pair the macaron shells by size. Dip one shell from each sandwich into melted semi sweet chocolate, shaking off excess. Place back on the baking sheet and pop in the fridge while you make the filling.
This only takes a minute, and you can use a hand mixer if you prefer. Beat the room temperature cream cheese until soft and creamy. Then beat in the butter until smooth. Mix in the powdered sugar and Bailey’s Irish Cream and beat on high speed until it has increased in volume and is completely smooth, about 2 minutes.
Scoop the filling into a small piping bag fitted with a round tip. Pipe a circle of the filling onto the non chocolate coated shell. Place the top macaron shell on top of the filling, gently pressing down to secure and press the filling to the outer edge. Serve!
Notes & tidbits
I found that if I left these at room temperature, well wrapped over night, that they were still just as crispy the next day.
If you want to make these several days in advance, wait to fill the shells the day of serving.
Irish Cream Macarons
These cute and festive Irish Cream Macarons are perfect for St. Patrick's Day. Classic macaron shells dipped in melted chocolate and filled with a slightly boozy, but super creamy and irresistible Irish cream filling, these will be hard to stop at one! With a little time and patience, these Bailey's Irish Cream macarons are perfect for an upcoming celebration.
Ingredients
For the macaron shell
- 100 grams blanched super fine almond flour
- 100 grams powdered sugar
- 100 grams egg whites
- 100 grams granulated sugar
- green food coloring, optional
For the filling
- 4 ounces full-fat cream cheese, at room temperature
- 3 Tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 Tablespoon Bailey's Irish Cream
- 2 cups powdered sugar
Extra
- 3 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325ºF and line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats or parchment paper.
- Sift together the almond flour and powdered sugar. Set aside.
- In a mixing bowl set over a pot of barely simmering water, whisk together the egg whites and granulated sugar. Whisk until the sugar has dissolved and doesn't feel gritty when rubbed between your fingers, about 3-5 minutes.
- Pour the egg white mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Whisk on low speed until the eggs are frothy, then increase the speed to high and beat until stiff peaks form, about 8-10 minutes. Mix in the food coloring a few minutes before the end.
- Pour the dry mixture over the egg whites and using a rubber spatula, fold the mixture in until you can form a figure 8 with the batter without it breaking.
- Scoop the mixture into a piping bag fitted with a round tip. Pip into small circles, spacing a few inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. Bang the trays on the counter a couple of times to release air bubbles. Use a toothpick to pop any air bubbles.
- Place the tray in the center of the oven and bake for 15 minutes, rotating halfway through cooking, until dry to the touch. Remove from the oven and bake the other tray. Let cool completely on the trays before filling.
- Next, melt the chocolate in the microwave or over low heat on the stove. Pair up each macaron shell by size and dip one half of each sandwich pair into the chocolate, shaking off any excess. Place back on the tray and pop in the fridge for about 15 minutes to harden the chocolate.
- Meanwhile, make the filling. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or using a hand mixer, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Beat in the butter until combined and smooth. Then, beat in the Bailey's and powdered sugar. Beat on high speed until the mixture has increased in volume and is completely smooth. Place in a piping bag fitted with a round tip and pip on the chocolate free half shell in a circle. Gently press the top shell on to the frosting to secure and press the filling to the edges. Serve.
Notes
Store well wrapped in the refrigerator, bringing to room temperature before serving up to 3 days.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 15 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 228
Nutritional information is only an estimate.
