How to Make DIY Hand-Painted Macarons for the Festive Season
Difficulty Level: Easy
PROJECT MATERIALS
• Homemade or store-bought French macarons
• Clear colorless vanilla extract
• Gel food coloring
• Metallic gold edible food paint
• Parchment or baking paper
• Food safe fine tip paint brushes
• Small dessert plate
• Small pinch bowl
• Pencil and paper
A FEW ARTIST TIPS
Just like watercolor painting, you will want something to help apply your gel food coloring to your cookie canvas! Depending on your local options, you may need to find your clear vanilla online. You won't want to use regular brown vanilla extract as this will muddy your colors, and water will make your macarons’ shells soft. If you can't find or would prefer an alternative to clear vanilla, you can also use almond extract or vodka. The common denominator with all of these is alcohol content which evaporates quickly and lets your food coloring dry faster. If you choose to use the gold food paint, you don't need to use the vanilla extract to water down as it’s already paint-ready. No dull shimmer here!
When creating your macaron designs, try to stick to using no more than 3 colors (unless intentionally going rainbow!) and do repeat these colors on each macaron to help your cookies look like they are part of a cohesive collection. Whether gold or silver, a metallic will also help tie all of your designs together and add that festive touch.
INSTRUCTIONS
1. To help you easily with your painted creations, sketch out your design ideas on a scrap piece of paper. If you're not as experienced with painting, keep it simple and choose designs that you're confident in. Look online for iconic Christmas, holiday, or winter symbols. At the end of the day, it’s always the thought that counts!
PICTURE, SYMBOL, & NON-PICTURE IDEAS FOR YOUR MACARONS
PICTURE/SYMBOL IDEAS: Hanukkah menorah, holly berries and leaves, Christmas tree, snowflake, Santa hat, Kwanzaa kinara, reindeer face, stars, wreath, snowperson, ornament, dreidel, mistletoe, gift bow, Santa belt, gold bells, Star of David, stocking, candy cane, New Year’s fireworks, peppermint candy, British Christmas pudding, pine branch, mittens
NON-PICTURE IDEAS: Monograms, letter initials, paint splatters, Kwanzaa fabric pattern, paint streaks, the words ‘Fa la la’, meaningful calendar date to you, Christmas sweater lines, the word ‘Joy’, New Year numerals (e.g., 2026)
2. On your dessert plate, put dabs of the gel food colors you want to use. Less is more in this situation, so keep it minimal to start. You can add more as needed. You won't need a lot of food coloring for this project! Pour a tiny bit of your clear vanilla into a pinch bowl, and lay out your macarons onto parchment paper.
3. Doing one color at a time throughout your whole project, dip your brush into the clear vanilla and create a watercolor-like consistency with your gel color. You need to help thin out the gel for the best application. When switching between colors with the same brush, rinse your brush and dry thoroughly before use. Ensure there is no water in your brush as this may make your macarons soggy and colors weak!
4. With your sketches as your guide, paint those macarons! To darken your gel colors, just like watercolor paint, allow each layer to dry before applying another layer on top of the other. It's an exercise in patience, but you'll see it's totally worth it when you've finished all of your hand-painted beauties.
5. Let your macarons dry before placing in cute gift boxes and then tie a lovely little bow on top!
Love this project? Our other edible DIY wedding favors from the past include applesauce, sand castle-shaped sugar cubes, and Virginia peanut butter, so you've got foodie inspiration everywhere!
TUTORIAL CREDITS
Photography & DIY Tutorial: Chelsea Barton (originally created for Jen of Something Turquoise)
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