Matcha Macaron Ice Cream Sandwiches

Matcha macaron ice cream sandwiches that you can make at home! Macarons are an easy-to-make treat at home, no need to buy those fancy boxes from the store. Plus, soft and chewy macarons are the best thing to turn into epic ice cream sandwiches. You’ll want to make these ASAP and impress all your friends and family!

Why this Recipe Works

Macarons have a firm, yet chewy texture when you bite into them. I find macarons are the best texture match for ice cream sandwiches.

The matcha flavor is infused in the ice cream AND in the macarons – it’s just the right amount of subtle, earthy green tea flavor paired with sweetness from the ice cream and macarons.

This recipe uses a classic French macaron recipe that you will find pastry chefs and bloggers using regularly. I have just adapted it slightly to account for the added matcha.

If this whole recipe is a little ambitious for you, you can just start with the matcha macarons and use store-bought ice cream. To make your own matcha ice cream, find the in-depth matcha ice cream recipe here as well as below.

Ingredients & Substitutions

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Used in Both the Ice Cream and Macarons

Granulated sugar – This is my preferred sugar for this recipe but you could sub in finely ground turbinado sugar.

Matcha powder – There’s no need to use anything but culinary-grade matcha powder for this recipe. This is matcha I like on Amazon, and here is the brand of matcha I usually use in my recipes.

Ice Cream

Egg yolks – The egg yolks are thick and help form the custard-like base of ice cream. These contribute to the creaminess of the ice cream.

Whole milk – you must use whole milk in this ice cream as it has the highest fat content, and will create the right creamy consistency.

Vanilla – you can use vanilla bean or liquid vanilla extract, and try to use the highest quality ingredients that you can.

Heavy cream – This is essential to give ice cream its smoothness when frozen.

Macarons

Almond meal – Use fine, blanched almond meal. You have to use almond meal and not any other flavors for this macaron recipe to work.

Confectioners’ sugar – also known as powdered sugar and has a light, fine texture. Do not substitute with other sugars.

Egg whites – at room temperature so that when whipped to form a meringue they maintain a firm, steady structure that rises properly in the oven.

How to Make this Recipe

We start by making the matcha green tea ice cream because it needs time to chill and set. I usually make the ice cream 1-2 days in advance.

Shortcut: You can purchase store-bought matcha green tea ice cream, let it sit at room temperature until soft enough to transfer to the molds, and freeze it to set it.

Matcha Green Tea Ice Cream

Before starting the ice cream process, put the bowl of your ice cream maker in the freezer overnight.

Warm the milk and vanilla through until the liquid just barely simmers. In the meantime, whisk the egg yolks and turbinado sugar together until the mix turns pale yellow.

Temper the egg yolk/sugar mixture with the milk/vanilla mixture. Tempering is when you slowly add two liquids, one hotter than the other, together to avoid the hot liquid cooking the contents of the cool liquid. In this case, we don’t want the warm milk/vanilla to cook our egg mixture.

Return the whole mixture to the saucepan over medium heat, stirring slowly and constantly. Once it has reached 170F, remove it from the heat. You can check this with an instant-read thermometer.

Sift the matcha powder into the mixture and whisk to break up any remaining clumps. You can also blend it on low speed (you don’t want to whip it). Then add the heavy cream and chill the whole mixture in the refrigerator overnight.

The next day, add your chilled ice cream to the ice cream maker. Churn (on the stir setting) until it is the thickness of soft serve ice cream, which should take about 20 minutes.

Note: I use this ice cream maker attachment for my stand mixer, but you can also purchase a stand-alone ice cream maker. I like this one better than other ice cream makers I have tested.

Transfer the ice cream to your molds. If you don’t want them as thick, you can cut them in half lengthwise after they have set, or you can use shallower molds.

Bang the molds on your countertop to remove air bubbles and freeze for a minimum of 6 hours, but preferably overnight. They are easier to handle and assemble when firmer.

Matcha Green Tea Macarons

Add the almond flour, matcha powder, and confectioners’ sugar to a food processor and pulse to remove all the clumps.

Separately, beat the egg whites thoroughly until they begin to form soft peaks. Continue to beat, slowly incorporating the granulated sugar until firm peaks form.

Fold the almond mixture into the egg whites in 3 batches, mixing steadily with a rubber spatula.

You want to remove the air from the egg white meringue by continuing to mix, and by pressing the batter against the walls of the bowl. You will know that the batter is ready when it starts to move towards the bottom of the bowl on its own. This is called slouching.

Note: If the batter is holding its shape, you’re not there yet, but DO NOT OVERMIX! An overmixed batter will result in your cookies spreading.

Use your ~2-1/4-inch cookie cutter to draw circles on the parchment paper. Use a cookie cutter or jar lid that matches the size or is just barely smaller than the ice cream molds.

You can fit 11 cookies on a quarter baking sheet or 22 on a half baking sheet. You will need 16-24 cookies total depending on which mold you are using. Make a couple extra for testing readiness.

Flip the parchment upside down and add it to your baking sheet (you don’t want to bake on the pencil marks). Using a pastry bag, pipe the batter into the circles you drew. Stay inside the circles because the batter will slightly expand.

Once you finish a tray, bang it on the counter 4-5 times to flatten the macarons and remove any air bubbles.

Let the macarons rest at room temperature until the tops are dry when you touch them, 1-2 hours. Preheat the oven to 325F.

Bake for ~12 minutes. You do not want the macarons to get brown, but they are ready when the foot/base of the macaron just barely get a golden hue.

Let cool for at least 15 minutes, but they are easiest to handle after an hour.

Assemble the Ice Cream Sandwiches

Remove your ice cream discs from the molds and place a macaron on each side. If you used the deeper molds and changed your mind, you can slice the discs lengthwise with a sharp knife at this time.

Store the assembled ice cream sandwiches in the freezer for up to 1 month!

Top Tips to Prevent Macaron Mistakes

Macaron cracking: This is where the drying stage is crucial. Macarons that have not been left to dry at room temperature until the tops are dry when you touch them will be prone to cracking in the oven. It is also possible that your oven temperature is too high.

No macaron feet: These refer to the tiny ruffled ring circle seen on the edges of macarons when they bake. Ideally, the feet are fluffy and rise straight up in the oven.

Having no feet may mean the macaron batter rested too long, or the macarons did not get enough heat to rise properly. On the other hand, if the macaron’s feet have spread out onto the parchment too much this is a sign the batter has been over-mixed.

More Matcha Recipes

I’m not done with the green tea goodness…these matcha recipes will blow your mind!

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