Macarons are the best kind of afternoon tea snack to pair with a cup of tea or coffee. So instead of spending your money on buying them, why not just make your own?

While macarons might need some trial and error to ensure they come out perfectly, once you master them you’ll be baking non-stop. These lemon flavoured macarons are a great place to start as they aren’t too fancy but still taste light and delicious.

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cups almond meal (ground almonds)
• 1 1/2 cups pure icing sugar
• 4 egg whites
• 1/4 cup caster sugar
• 3 drops yellow food colouring
• 2/3 cup lemon butter

Method

1. Grease three large baking trays and line with baking paper. Sift almond meal and icing sugar and mix in a bowl.
2. Beat egg whites with electric beaters until soft peaks form. Add sugar slowly and beat until it is dissolved. Add food colouring and beat until just mixed together. Add half the almond mixture and fold in until just combined. Add the rest of the mixture and fold in until glossy.
3. Place mixture in large zip lock bag and snip 1cm off one of the bottom corners. Pipe the mixture into circles about 4cm wide with 3cm distance in between. To remove bubbles from mixture, tap the tray on the bench until smooth. Set aside for 1 hour.
4. Preheat oven to 130C or 110C fan forced and bake 1 tray at a time. Each tray baked until tops are firm for about 18-20 mins. Leave to cool on trays then transfer to wire rack.
5. Apply 1/2 teaspoon of lemon butter to flat side of half the macarons. Sandwich together by pushing the top half on. Serve.