This recipe has been a long time coming. I originally tried vegan macaroons and played around with aquafaba (chickpea brine) a few months ago. I was excited to experiment with it and see what this whole vegan meringue thing was about, so I just got out my mixer and started playing. I made this awesome batch of macaroons that looked just like the real thing and tasted right on point and I was so excited. The next day I went to make them again so I could create a filling and photograph them, but I kid you not, they actually disappeared in the oven. I whipped them up, put them in and looked in 20 minutes later to see just this flat, dark sticky circle where there once was a meringue. Fail.
A couple days later, I decided to try again and make it as Pavlova. Surely you couldn’t have an entire Pavlova disappear. I beat it like I did the other times, made the stiff peaks and scooped it into a piping bag, placing it in the oven to bake. It didn’t disappear, but it sure did just turn back to chickpea brine. I honestly could have poured it back over the chickpeas and returned them to their can and you would never know the difference. It’s a good thing I really like chickpeas, because now I was three cans deep in the fridge and no vegan macaroons to show for it.
After those few fails, I didn’t try again for several months. The thing with food blogging is you only ever see the wild successes show up on these pages, but sometimes it takes a lot of trial and error and complete flops before they reach that stage. And sometimes it’s really discouraging! So I left the chickpea brine with the chickpeas for a while, or poured it down the drain, just like I used to do, saying a few mean words to it as I let it go, and asking it when it may be ready to cooperate for me to try again. I don’t know what it said in return, but a few weeks ago, it sure did cooperate. And the result was these lovely macaroons, filled with a coconut chocolate center that just made my heart the happiest when they were completed and sitting on the counter. Sometimes it’s worth trying again and again.
Laura Peill
Yields 10 macaroons
These vegan macaroons are fun to make and are a great way to satisfy your craving for the typically egg filled traditional option.
20 minPrep Time
1 hr, 25 Cook Time
1 hr, 45 Total Time
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Ingredients
- Brine from one can of chickpeas, refrigerated
- 3 tsp raw cane sugar
- 1 tsp guar gum
- 1/3 cup coconut cream (top layer of a refrigerated can of coconut milk)
- 1 tbsp cacao powder
- 1/4 tsp stevia powder
Instructions
- Add the chickpea brine to a bowl and using an electric mixer, beat on medium to high. As the brine starts to turn white and get frothier, add in the sugar. When the brine starts to thicken, add the guar gum a bit at a time to help it hold its shape. Continue beating until stiff peaks form and the mixture looks like meringue and holds its shape well.
- Once it has been beaten enough, spoon the mixture into a piping bag and pipe onto a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Work quickly, as the mixture loses air and will get watery if you leave it sit for too long.
- Once all of the mixture has been piped onto the tray, place in the oven, preheated to 210 degrees fahrenheit for 40 minutes. After 40 minutes, turn the oven up to 250 degrees fahrenheit and leave in for an additional 30 minutes. Check the meringues regularly throughout baking - they should be firm to the touch, not sticky or squishy at all. Once they are firm, turn the oven off and leave them sitting in the oven for an additional 15 minutes.
- After the 15 minute resting time, remove the meringues and place them on a cooling rack. Allow them to completely cool before adding the filling.
- To make the filling, use an electric mixer to beat together the coconut cream, cacao and stevia powder until well combined and the consistency of a thick whip cream. Place in the fridge to chill and firm up.
- Once the filling is firm and the meringues have cooled, use a spatula to spoon the filling onto one of the meringues and then place a second on top to create your macaroon. Repeat until the filling and/or meringues are gone. Enjoy immediately!
Notes
The macaroons go soft quickly once the filling has been added, so be sure to only add in the filling right before you are going to serve them/eat them. The shells stay crunchy in an airtight container at room temperature without the addition of the filling. My suggestion is to make the shells and the filling, leave the filling in the fridge and place the shells in a jar, and then as you want a macaroon treat, simply assemble them together!
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