Blame It On The Eggs

When it comes to making French Macarons, the question I get asked the most is, "Why do I have to weigh the ingredients?"

Well, blame it on the eggs.

 You need egg whites to make French Macarons and the amount of white inside one egg varies considerably.  Even if the recipe called for just say "the whites of five large eggs" — this would not be a consistent measurement.

In my experience I've even seen a small egg sometimes yield more white than a large egg. It's just a guessing game unless you use a scale.

You need 150 grams of egg whites for a batch of macarons and from my testing it takes anwhere from four to seven eggs to obtain this amount.

And since you need a scale for measuring the whites, why not also measure the other ingredients for accuracy and success?

I swear I'm not trying to make things difficult. I'm just trying to help you make macarons.

Macaron Test Results

The results are in and making french macarons with fresh egg whites does work but using aged egg whites is still best.

The feet of the macarons with the fresh eggs didn't rise straight up but instead spread out a bit.

And, the tops of the macarons didn't have the matte look I prefer. They look a bit shiny.


In terms of taste they are the same. So in a pinch you can do it but aged egg whites are preferable.

The feet of these macarons made with fresh egg whites spread out a bit and the tops look shiny.

These coffee macarons were made with aged egg whites and have the look I prefer — feet that rise straight up and matte tops.