No Rest Macarons

Learn how to make no rest macarons with a Swiss-style meringue. This no rest macaron guide is perfect if you want to skip the resting (drying) step when baking macarons.

If you enjoy baking macarons, but hate waiting around while your macarons dry (rest), then this is the recipe for you!

This guide will teach you everything you need to know about baking macarons that don't have to rest, including the special equipment, an AirBake tray, that you'll need in order to successfully bake your first batch of crack-free no rest macarons.

Learning how to successfully bake no rest macarons will be especially helpful if you sell macarons and need to save time, so you can churn out larger quantities of macarons for your clients.

If you've been looking for the best no rest macaron recipe, these macarons have been tested well over 30 times, so you can know they are reliable.

Before we jump in, it’s important to remember that this type of macaron shell is going to take some experimenting on your end. The type of oven you’re using, as well as the environment you live in, can vary the results of no rest macarons.

• How to make macarons faster by skipping the resting (drying) step.
• My secret piece of equipment that results in successful no rest macarons.
• Troubleshooting steps to try if your macarons aren't turning out correctly.

Enjoy learning tips about making macarons? Sign up for my free macaron template and email series. You'll learn my favorite tricks for achieving perfect macarons.

With no rest macarons, the goal is to skip the drying or resting process. Meaning immediately after you’ve piped the macaron shells and banged out any air bubbles, you can place the macarons in the oven to bake.

Oftentimes, if you bake macarons on a generic sheet tray without resting, you’ll experience large cracks that resemble a volcano that has erupted. This is because the heat of the oven abruptly cooks the macaron shell, and the inside of the macaron pushes up and out through the top.

Because a skin hasn’t yet formed, there’s not a sturdy layer to stop the macaron from cracking when it pushes through the top of the shell.

To combat these issues, we use an AirBake sheet tray for no rest macarons.

The AirBake tray helps to slowly bake the macaron shell, so there’s not an abrupt rush of heat that causes this cracking.

Super fine almond flour: This ingredient is made from almonds that are ground into a fine powder. Almond flour adds a subtle but delicious flavor to macaron cookies. Make sure to sift the almond flour to remove any large clumps which could lead to bumpy shells.

Confectioners' sugar: This is another one of the dry ingredients used in macarons. Confectioners' sugar is sifted together with the almond flour to create a smooth shell.

Egg whites: Egg whites are the base of the meringue. As air is beaten into the egg whites, some of the egg proteins unfold. These unfolded proteins turn into a strong network of air bubbles. This ingredient provides a strong base for the macarons.

Cream of tartar: Adding an acid to the meringue helps to stabilize the egg whites. This is especially important in this macaron recipe since it leads to a firmer, more stable meringue.

Granulated sugar: While making the meringue, you'll add in granulated sugar. The sugar helps to build up the structure of the egg whites.

Gel food coloring: Liquid food coloring will not work. Be sure to use a gel or powdered food coloring. These types of food coloring won't add too much liquid to your macaron batter, and they create bright and vibrant colored shells.

If you're interested in learning more about the science of macarons, check out this article about macaron ingredients.

Here's a step by step photo guide to making a no rest macaron recipe:

Before you start baking the macarons, there's some prep work you need to complete. This will help set you up for success:

• Separate the egg whites from the egg yolks.
• Measure all of the dry ingredients using a digital kitchen scale. Measuring by weight ensures your ingredients are accurately weighed.
• Sift the almond flour and confectioners' sugar together. Discard any large pieces of almond flour that may cause your shells to be bumpy.
• Wipe down the stand mixer bowl and whisk attachment with a little white vinegar on a paper towel to remove any leftover oils. Fats interfere with the aeration of the egg whites and can ruin your meringue.
• Print off a macaron template. Place them on a light-colored sheet pan underneath a piece of parchment paper. You can also opt for a silicone baking mat or Teflon mat.
• Prepare your piping bag with a ½ inch round tip. Push part of the side of the piping bag into the piping tip to ensure nothing leaks out. Set the bag inside a tall glass, and pull the remaining top of the piping bag out over the outside of the glass to make pouring the batter easy and clean.
• Heat oven to 330°F (165°C). Since these macarons don't require drying, you need to get a jump start on heating your oven.

First, you’ll need to find a saucepan that’s small enough that you can rest your stand mixer bowl on it. The goal is to make a double boiler (or bain marie), so the saucepan should perfectly allow the stand mixer bowl to sit on top.

Once you’ve found a saucepan that will work, fill it partway with water and bring the water to a boil. You don’t want the water too high in the saucepan. We’re just using the steam from the water, so make sure the water will not touch the bottom of the stand mixer bowl once it’s boiling. 

Next, add the egg whites, granulated sugar, and cream of tartar to the stand mixer bowl, and whisk together.

Once the water is boiling, reduce the heat to medium-high, so we can ensure the boiling water doesn’t become too aggressive and start boiling high enough to touch the stand mixer bowl.

Place the stand mixer bowl on top of the water to create a bain marie (double boiler). Whisk the egg mixture, stirring constantly, until the mixture reaches 100°F (38°C) on an instant-read thermometer.

This is a quick process, around 30 seconds to 1 minute. The goal of this process is to dissolve the sugar, which you can actually double check that you’ve done correctly by pinching some of the mixture between your fingers to see if you feel any sugar granules. Remember, it will still be hot.

Once that’s done, carefully remove the hot bowl from the heat, and transfer it over to the stand mixer. Turn your mixer on medium-high speed. For my KitchenAid, this is speed 8. 

With Swiss meringue, at the soft peaks stage, the meringue is glossy but very runny and flimsy. There’s not very much structure in the meringue quite yet. Remember to add in some gel food dye at this stage, and continue mixing the meringue.

After a few more minutes of whipping, you'll arrive at medium peaks. Similar to the other types of meringue, once it hits medium peaks you’ll notice the meringue still feels slightly flimsy and doesn’t have much resistance when you run the whisk through it. There’s not enough resistance to bake up good quality macarons.

If you were to stop at this stage and finish making the macarons, they would turn out very fragile with tops that break easily and ruffled feet.

Be sure to also lift the whisk off of the mixer, and scoop up a bit of meringue to check it. Medium peaks fold over on themselves, rather than standing straight up like stiff peaks.

Continue whipping! Be sure you’re checking for the visual indicators that will show you the meringue has whipped to stiff peaks.

You’ll know you’re ready to check for stiff peaks once you see noticeable indentations left in the meringue from the whisk as well as see the meringue balling up inside the whisk.

Here’s how your Swiss meringue will look once it’s reached stiff peaks:

1. You’ll notice that parts of the egg whites stand straight up (no curl on the end)
2. You’ll see these pointy off-shoots of egg whites on the whisk and mixing bowl
3. Finally, when you whisk the meringue, it feels sturdy and has some resistance. 

Now, remember, it is possible to overwhip the meringue past stiff peaks. If this happens, the meringue starts to look curdled. Parts or all of an overwhipped meringue start to take on a rough looking texture and a more dull coloring.

Grab a heavy-duty silicone spatula, and fold the sifted almond flour & confectioners' sugar into the meringue.

Continue until all the meringue is fully incorporated, and no dry bits of almond flour remain on the bottom of the bowl.

Next, it's time to macaronage the batter. This is another important step to correctly perform.

Macaronage is a term that refers to folding the dry macaron ingredients (almond flour and confectioners' sugar) into the meringue. This process smooths the mixture and helps the macarons bake with proper structure.

To properly macaronage, you will continue folding the batter until it reaches a lava-like consistency. You can test this by lifting your spatula and seeing if the batter drops almost like lava. Once it drops off the spatula, the batter that was dripped should fade back into the batter within 10 - 15 seconds (not immediately).

Additionally, the almond flour should look blended into the meringue (not lumpy).

Many home bakers who are new to baking macarons will over macaronage the batter. If you're unsure if your batter has been properly macaronaged, it's better to under macaronage a bit since the batter will still be worked in the piping bag.

Pour the batter into the prepared piping bag. Hold the bag vertically, and gently pipe 1.5 inch (3.8 cm) circles. Once you have reached the desired size, release the pressure on the bag and twist your wrist without lifting up.

Here are some tips for improving your piping technique:

• Try not to move the piping bag to ensure you pipe an even circle.
• The macarons will spread slightly once they're piped, so pipe them .25" smaller than you want them to be after they have been baked.
• Flick your wrist after you've piped the desired size to cleanly finish off each macaron.

In order for these no dry macarons to work, you'll need to pipe the macarons onto an AirBake tray. This special tray helps to slowly bake the macaron shell so there’s not an abrupt rush of heat that causes cracking.

Tap the sheet pan down the counter a few times to release any air bubbles. You can tap the pan fairly aggressively, so don't be scared! Failure to do this could result in cracked macarons.

You can pop any large air bubbles that rise to the top with a toothpick.

Since these macarons don't require any drying time, you can place the Airbake tray with the piped macarons straight into the oven.

I should warn you that in order for this no rest macaron recipe to be successful and result in crack-free macarons, you may have to adjust your oven temperature. You can read more about how to conduct an oven temperature experiment to find the best temperature range for your home oven.

To check that the macarons have fully baked, use these visual indicators:

• The feet and the edge of the macarons feel firm when you gently touch them.
• It feels like you could forcibly lift the macaron shell off the parchment paper if you needed to (don't actually do this, just use it as a test).
• If you touch the shell and it wiggles, is still sticky, or is wet, you know the macarons need longer to bake.

Finally, allow the macarons to fully cool, then it's time to pipe your filling of choice on the inside. Check out this list of my favorite macaron filling recipes if you need some inspiration.

Some of my favorite fillings include this five-ingredient vanilla buttercream, a 20 minute chocolate ganache, or white chocolate ganache.

Don't forget to be creative, and decorate your macarons, or use different macaron piping tips to make fun designs with the filling.

Mature the macarons with the filling in the refrigerator overnight. This will allow the macarons to slightly soften and develop a deeper flavor. Be sure to pay attention to the storage instructions of each filling to see how long they will last.

After you've mastered this base no rest recipe, try inventing your own flavor combinations. I've got lots of ideas about how to flavor macarons for a unique taste.

The oven, equipment, and environment you live in can all affect no rest macarons. If you're struggling with perfecting this style of macarons, here are some things you can try.

1. Make sure you purchase an AirBake tray. This method will not work without it.
2. Next, make sure to adjust your oven temperature. You can read more about how to conduct an oven temperature experiment to find the best temperature range for your home oven.
3. Similarly, you may need to bake the macarons slightly longer or shorter than the time listed in the recipe. This will depend on what oven temperature are using.
4. Always remember to preheat your oven before you start the macaron baking process. Your oven will still need sufficient time to preheat, even if you’re using the AirBake tray. I’d plan on about 30 minutes to preheat if you’re using a standard conventional oven.
5. Finally, if you live in a humid or rainy environment, you may need an extra layer of protection with no rest macarons. Instead of using cream of tartar, substitute it for 3 grams of dried egg whites. Whisk the dried egg whites and the granulated sugar together in a small bowl. Then, add the liquid egg whites and granulated sugar/dried egg white mixture into the stand mixer bowl.