Is It Possible to Make French Macarons Without a Scale?

Faith Durand
Faith DurandSenior Vice President of Content at AT Media
Faith is the SVP of Content at Apartment Therapy Media and former Editor-in-Chief of The Kitchn. She is the author of three cookbooks, including the James Beard Award-winning, The Kitchn Cookbook. She lives in Columbus, Ohio, with her husband and two daughters.
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published Mar 1, 2011
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Q: I want to try making macarons (the French ones, not the Italian ones
with coconut) but all the recipes I’ve read say I need a scale to measure out the ingredients.

Is it possible to make French macarons without a scale?

Sent by Esther

Editor: Esther, it depends on how precise you want to be. With a little research online you can convert the weight measurements in a macaron recipe into volume. But this will be less precise than the weight measurements, and honestly, it’s a lot of work. Why not pick up a scale? It’s an easy way to know that you have your measurements right, and they’re quite inexpensive. Here are a couple that are only $10:

• Terraillon 4-Pound Add and Weigh Kitchen Scale, Silver, $9.99 at Amazon
• American Weigh Black Blade Digital Pocket Scale, $10.35 at Amazon

Readers, any advice for Esther?

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Related: Kitchen Experiments: First Attempt at Macarons!

(Image: Leela Cyd Ross)

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