French macarons are sweet and perfect for birthday parties, bridal showers, family events, weddings, and baby showers. Their bite-sized nature, bright colors, and tempting textures make them hard to resist.

Made with meringue, sugar, and almond flour, these cookies have a crunchy exterior and a soft filling, typically made of a ganache, buttercream, or jam. These cookies are available in a variety of flavors. Here are some reasons why French macarons enjoy so much popularity:

1. Simple Ingredients. Complex Recipe.

Macarons are very, very hard to make. It is one of the most complex dessert recipes, but I tried to make it simple for you.

Ingredients are Almond flour, egg white, cane sugar and powdered sugar. Then for the filling it can either be a “ganache” or a buttercream.

Buttercream is made with butter and usually has more fat. As opposed, a “ganache” is lighter and made with white chocolate.

People often ask what are the best macaron flavors out there. It’s not much about the flavor itself. I would describe its taste as crunchy on the outside, chewy on the inside.

What makes a macaron perfect is the balance of texture.

2. They are a light desert

The calorie count of a macaron is between 70 and 100 calories. However, the calorie count largely depends on the size and recipe. For instance, a filling that is rich in cream and butter will substantially increase the calorie count of a macaron. On the nutritional front, these cookies have small amounts of dietary fiber, carbohydrates, as well as vitamin A, iron, and calcium. They also have very low sodium and cholesterol levels.

3. Macarons go well with many beverages

Macaron is one such dessert that can easily go with beverages such as coffee, tea, and champagne, depending on the time of day. With coffee, it is best to eat macaron flavors like vanilla and pistachio. For mild and refined coffees, floral flavors like lavender work well. Classic flavors like chocolate and hazelnut are most preferred with tea. Fruity flavors like raspberry, passion fruit, and cherry work nicely with green tea.

4. Perfect for all seasons

Some pastries are best eaten during particular times of the year, like summer or winter. For instance, Tikvenik, a sweet Bulgarian pumpkin pie, is associated with winter and is commonly served on Christmas Eve. Likewise, pumpkin spice and apple cinnamon are meant for autumn. However, macarons can be enjoyed any day of the year.

5. Available in a myriad of shapes and flavors

Macarons are available in a wide variety of flavors and colors, making them suitable for the preferences of many. Some of the most common flavors include salted caramel, coffee, hazelnut, pistachio, coconut lime, rose, and raspberry. Innovative pastry chefs have further experimented with unique flavors to come out with lemon caviar, hazelnut praline blueberry cheesecake, creme brulee, eggnog, coffee and nutella, butter beer, and cake batter macarons. With fillings, the possibilities to create unique macarons are absolutely endless.

6. They are fancy

Macarons are prepared and sold like works of art. Macarons are now found all over France, and other parts of the world, with many variations. These delicate cookies are elegant, making them the perfect treat for fancy parties and gatherings. It is the star of French pastries that gives people a taste of the Parisian experience. They are colorful, delicious, and unbelievably precise in flavor. According to a study by recipe box company Gousto, French macarons are the most Instagrammed European food. People take photos of macaron towers at weddings, gift packages, bouquets, and at café and restaurants.