Buying macarons for an event, a wedding, a baby shower or even as a gift brings lots of questions. At Pastreez, we hear you!

I am a French chef from Le Cordon Bleu Paris, and sell / ship macarons daily. I consider myself a macaron expert.

And I am on a mission to help answer all of your legit questions such as: Do you need to refrigerate macarons? Or perhaps, can you freeze macarons?

Table of contents

• Do macarons need to be refrigerated?
• Can you freeze macarons?
• Best ways to eat macarons

• Do macarons need to be refrigerated?

Yes, macarons need to be refrigerated if they are made with butter.

There are two types of macaron filling: Buttercream and ganache. A buttercream macaron will have a butter base filling, where a ganache macaron is a chocolate base filling.

That makes a huge difference on the ways to store macarons.

So yes, buttercream macarons have to be refrigerated. But ganache macarons can stay at room temperature for 14 days.

An easy way to picture it is your supermarket. Butter is stored in a refrigerated aisle. Chocolate is stored in the dry storage area.

Macarons last over 14 days when refrigerated. The buttercream filling is more sensitive because of the butter.

It's not that the ganache filled macarons will turn "bad", only they will lose their usual texture.

And if you don't know what do macarons taste like, it is supposed to be crunchy outside and chewy inside.

• Can you freeze macarons? 

Yes, you can freeze macarons for 6 months.

But frozen macarons "sweat" water, according to my study of best macaron delivery in the US.

And you would be surprised: Most of the bakeries I tested freeze their macarons, store them, and ship it to your door.

At Pastreez, your macarons ship fresh to your door, wherever you are in the US. It is a very important point that makes a huge difference.

Freezing macarons is fine if you really need them later. But be aware that they will "sweat" water and most likely lose their outside crunch and the signature texture of a traditional macaron.

There is an easy explanation. When you freeze food, the water in it will turn from liquid to solid. Then, when you start to thaw, humidity (water in the air) will come in contact with the thawing item.

And this humidity will "wet" the macaron on its surface, causing the shells to absorb water. It is now a softer macaron shell, losing its crunch, and that is not what a macaron taste like.

• Best ways to eat macarons

The best way to eat macarons are at room temperature.

The reason is that the balance of texture is what makes a great macaron.

If you eat them straight out of your freezer or refrigerator, they will most likely be "harder" than it should.

But it also depends on the flavor, and how you wish to taste them.

Fruity flavors have fruit purées as principal ingredient. Creamy flavors use chocolate or butter.

Creamy macaron flavors like salted caramel or chocolate will be more sensitive to cold temperature. What it means is they will be harder if you refrigerate them.

That being said, lots our our customers at Pastreez love to refrigerate the macarons, and do not wait until they reach room temperature.

This is because they love to dip the macarons into hot tea or coffee. The warmth of this beverage will compensate for the cold of the macaron.