Plain ol' macarons are a thing of the past, as impeccably decorated ones [1] have started to flood bakeries and our social media feeds. We thought we'd already seen the most Instagram-worthy variations out there (like magical unicorn macarons [2] and those dreamy mermaid-inspired ones [3]), but boy, were we wrong. Our eyes have just been opened up to the beauty of galaxy-themed macs, and they're sure to leave you absolutely mesmerized (oh, and hungry, too).
These intergalactic treats look like they're straight off the space station featured in our favorite Disney Channel movie, Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century. Although they may seem too complicated to make at first glance, they're actually quite simple, as you just add a few more steps to your basic french macaron recipe [4]. Make sure you have some colorful food dyes or gels on deck because those are the pièce de résistance in making that signature swirly pattern on your galaxy macarons. After whipping up your batter, you have two options for approaching your dye work. You can either mix different colored dyes into separate bowls of batter and then layer them onto plastic wrap before piping out the macarons, or you can simply squeeze lines of dye on the plastic wrap before globbing on the plain batter, rolling the wrap, and sticking it into a piping sleeve.
Then comes the fun part — the toppings! These are totally optional, but if you want to take your galaxy-themed desserts to the next level, try adding a sprinkling of edible luster dust [5], shiny stars [6], or tiny beads [7] before popping those macs in the oven.
And just like that, galaxy macarons can be your new favorite DIY [8] treat. Read on for a step-by-step YouTube tutorial for creating these picture-worthy goodies, followed by a look at the most glorious ones we've seen on Instagram so far.
