These robin's egg oreo macarons are coloured in a beautiful robin's egg blue colour, speckled with oreo crumbs, and filled with a creamy oreo buttercream.
Let's make oreo macarons
I'm obsessed with anything speckled, especially speckled ceramics. I need more of those in my life! These robin's egg blue oreo macarons are speckled with sprinkles of oreo crumbs. Super easy way to achieve the speckled look without splattering food colouring everywhere. It's also kind of fun smashing up the oreo cookies.
The oreo buttercream is meant to taste a bit like the middle cream layer of an oreo. You can adjust the amount of crushed oreo cookies in the buttercream to achieve a more or less oreo flavour.
I can't make macarons without my favourite Bob's Red Mill superfine almond flour. This stuff is truly super finely ground. I never have an issue with lumpy shells and there are very few large almond chunks to discard after sifting this almond flour.
Food colouring for robin's egg blue macarons
NEVER use liquid food colouring to colour macarons. Even a few drops will completely change the consistency of the batter and cause the meringue to deflate.
Only use gel, gel paste, or powdered food colouring for macarons. These don't add extra liquid to the batter and won't ruin your macarons.
How to make blue coloured macarons without browning or fading
Another common issue with macarons coloured with food colouring is fading colour once baked or browning of the shells which is especially obvious when you use colours such as blue or green.
Make sure your food colouring is meant for baking. Some food colouring is only meant for colouring buttercreams but don't hold up as well when subjected to the high temperatures of baking.
I've had good success with high quality gel colouring such as Americolor or powdered food colouring. I used a blue and purple powdered colour here from Bulk Barn, if you're Canadian.
If your macarons continue to brown, try baking on a silipat or silicone mat or slipping a piece of paper until the parchment to prevent the bottoms of the macarons from browning. If the tops of your macarons are browning, make sure you're baking on the middle rack of your oven or adjusting the baking time or temperature.
Even if your macarons don't brown, the colour can shift towards yellow. Blue can turn a bit green after they bake (blue + yellow = green!). For these blue macarons, I added a bit of purple colouring to counterract the green and keep the pretty blue colour blue.
More macaron recipes to try
Recipe
Robin's Egg Oreo Macarons
Ingredients
Macarons
- 85 g superfine almond flour
- 150 g powdered sugar
- 90 g egg whites, room temperature & aged for 24 hours
- 80 g granulated sugar
- 1 oreo cookie, finely crushed
- blue gel food colouring
Oreo Buttercream
- 60 g unsalted butter, softened
- 200 g powdered sugar
- 100 g cream cheese, softened
- 5 oreo cookies, finely crushed
Instructions
Macarons
- Line two baking sheets with parchment paper, cut to size so that it lies completely flat. Set aside.
- With a mesh sieve, sift almond flour and powdered sugar together onto a sheet of parchment paper. Discard any large pieces remaining in the sieve.
- In a stand mixer or large bowl & electric mixer, whisk the egg whites on medium speed until it becomes frothy like cappuccino foam.
- Add in the granulated sugar, ⅓ at a time, while whisking on medium-high speed until all incorporated.
- While the egg whites are at soft peaks, add in the food colouring. Keep whisking until meringue reaches stiff peaks.
- Add in half of the sifted almond flour mixture and gently fold with a rubber spatula until just incorporated.
- Add the rest of the almond flour mixture and continue folding. Smear the batter up around the sides of the bowl and scrape it back together in a folding motion to deflate some air out of the meringue. Stop folding when you can lift up the batter and drip it off the spatula in a figure 8 motion without the batter breaking.
- Transfer batter to a piping bag fitted with a round piping tip. Pipe small 1 inch circles onto the prepared baking sheets by holding the piping bag in the same perpendicular position close to the parchment paper and letting the batter move outwards from the tip. Leave about ½ inch to 1 inch space between each macaron.
- Firmly bang the baking sheet on the countertop a few times to bring air bubbles to the surface. Sprinkle a bit of crushed oreo over the shells to create a speckled look.
- Leave the baking sheets in a cool, dry area to rest macarons for 30 minutes to 1 hour or until you can brush the surface of a macaron with your finger and it doesn't feel sticky. Preheat oven to 300°F while the macarons are resting.
- Bake macarons one tray at a time, in the middle rack for about 15 minutes. Remove macarons from oven when the feet have set and the macarons peel cleanly off the parchment paper. Let cool completely before filling.
Oreo Buttercream
- In a stand mixer or large bowl, beat the softened butter and sugar together with a whisk attachment until it's light and fluffy.
- Add in the cream cheese and beat until smooth.
- Pour in the crushed oreos and whisk a few times until just combined.
- Transfer buttercream to a piping bag fitted with an open star tip. Pipe oreo buttercream onto a macaron shell and sandwich with another similarly sized shell.
- Let macarons sit in the fridge overnight and bring them back to room temperature before eating.
Ayanna
made these for Easter this year and they were fabulous! I used gluten free Oreos and added cocoa powder to the buttercream and they were an instant favorite for everyone!
Deb
Great recipe! I made these yesterday and they came out fantastic. My blue was a little too dark but they looked great! Filling tasted excellent as well.
Mel Daniels
What tip are you using for the filling? Very pretty
Kristin
These are so fun! Do you crush and mix in the Oreo filling part or just the cookie part? Into the macaron filling, I mean? Your other macarons look awesome, too!
Gail Ng
Thank you! Crush up the entire oreos, including the filling 🙂
Diane Klein
How are they gluten free if they have a crushed up OREO in it? I have celiac disease, Oreos are not gluten free.. Please fix your description.
Gail Ng
Hi Diane, maybe there has been some misunderstanding. Nowhere in this recipe does it say this is gluten free. It is not gluten free and I never claimed that it was. Please let me know where you saw this and I'll have it corrected.
Aubree
We made these with gluten-free chocolate sandwich cookies and they turned out great! Not quite as blue as we wanted but very tasty. It was our first time trying to make macarons.
Melissa
When do you add the crushed Oreos to the shells? Right after piping them? Thanks!
Gail Ng
Oops added this line to the recipe! Yes! Sprinkle them on right after piping before the "skin" has formed 🙂
Liz Adams
One of the best macaron recipes I’ve made yet! Can’t wait to share these with friends and family♥️
Gail Ng
I'm SO happy to hear that you love them!
JoAnna
These look absolutely beautiful! I have never made macarons and have never aged egg whites. I have read that some people leave them in a bowl in the fridge and some people at room temperature. What do you do? Thanks for this amazing looking recipe.
Gail Ng
I keep the egg whites in a bowl, cover it with plastic wrap, poke a few air holes in the plastic wrap with a fork, and leave it in the fridge overnight. About an hour before I start making the macarons the next day, I take the egg whites out and let it come back to room temperature before using them. Hope that helps, good luck with your macarons!
Amanda Smith
These are beautiful! My daughter is getting married, and I'm looking at things to add to the cake table. These would be ideal as they fit her color scheme and also look delicious. Since I'm the mother-of-the-bride, I don't want to take on too much the day of and the day before the wedding. Can they be made ahead of time at all? Have you ever tried freezing them?
Gail Ng
Ahh congrats!! These would be amazing at a wedding! You can absolutely freeze them (it works with or without the filling) several weeks in advance. Just make sure they're in an airtight container and thaw them for 30 minutes at room temperature. Have you made macarons before? If not, I would definitely recommend making a test batch well in advance since they can take a few tries to get the hang of.