Since becoming vegan, I can honestly say that I have not missed any non-vegan foods. I have, however, often wished that my favorite cookie, French macaroons, were vegan. I’ve not missed them. I’ve just been bummed that there were no vegan versions.
Well, I am bummed no more! Feel Good Desserts has created vegan French Macaroons that so closely resemble the original pastel-hued cookies that I had to double-check their website to make sure they were vegan. Right now, they are sold at Backstage Café in Burbank (though, they don’t seem to have any other vegan offerings. I could be wrong about this, but I wouldn’t go there expecting a vegan meal).
I discovered Feel Good Desserts and their wonderful little creations a few months ago on Instagram. I doubted that they could taste as good as the non-vegan version and I was positive that there was going to be some weird texture issue. I didn’t make it an immediate priority to try them. When I started my new job, just minutes from Backstage Café, I knew I had to try them. Once I arrived and was asked what flavors I wanted to try: Chocolate, Pistachio, Raspberry, Blueberry, Hazelnut, or Banana, without skipping a beat I replied with “Two of each, please.” To do a full review, I felt that both Chris and I needed to try each of the flavors. To be fair and scientific and all of that.
We were absolutely blown away after the first bite. These cookies are legit. They taste and have the same mouth feel as the originals but the flavors of each cookie are so much more intense! The chocolate is soooo chocolatey and the banana (yes, banana!!!) tastes just like a banana but even better. All of the flavors were wonderful, though the Chocolate, Pistachio, and Hazelnut were definitely the front-runners.
The day I finally got to bite into a vegan French macaroon was one of the happiest days I’ve experienced since becoming vegan. Not only was I ecstatic to be reunited with my favorite cookie, it was pretty uplifting to see that yes, vegans can and will find a way to make vegan versions of everything. If you don’t live near Burbank, don’t fret. Feel Good Desserts is working on making shipping possible so hopefully soon everyone can try them. If you are near Burbank, don ‘t walk, RUN to Backstage Café and pick some vegan French Macaroons up for yourself.
You can follow Feel Good Desserts on Facebook, Twitter, & Instagram.
Photography by Chris Miller & Kristy Turner
Ashlee Piper
AHHHHH! I've been toiling away trying to make vegan macarons for awhile now, tweaking the recipe just so. Not to sound like a quitter - but they require a lot of work - and these, THESE are so flawless looking. Can't wait to get my hands on some. 🙂
Caitlin
i remember seeing these on your insta and how delicious they looked! i love that you got two of each, i don't blame you!
Cadry
Oh, I'm sorry I missed out on trying these when I was in town! I'm sure it's hard to believe, but I've never had a macaroon of any sort. I was surprised when I was in LA at what a macaroon craze there is going on right now. In Iowa, they're only just now getting the frozen yogurt craze (like Pinkberry, but there's no Pinkberry here). There's also one gourmet cupcake place locally, and so that's a tiny version of that trend that was so big in SoCal about four years ago. Anyway, I'll be interested to hear when Feel Good starts shipping, because if I have to wait for vegan macaroons to become available here, it may take 6 or 7 years! 😉
Abby @ The Frosted Vegan
Ahh these look so good! I was just thinking about making vegan macaroons and I think I might need to research with these : )
Alexandra @ Delicious Knowledge
Yes! I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE macaroons. When we were in Paris I looked everywhere to find vegan macaroons, with no such luck. Temptation has never been greater than walking around Paris and not being able to eat Macaroons at every occasion. I am really hoping that feel good desserts delivers! 🙂 Vegan Desserts has a recipe for macaroons that I always think about making, but haven't tried it yet.
rika @ veganmiam
Yes, when it comes to egg-based desserts in Paris, it gets harder to find veganized ones, but there are few personal vegan bakers who have made them as well.
♡ rika, vegan miam
http://www.veganmiam.com
★ we travel + eat vegan blog ★
FoodFeud
Not sure I've ever had a real French macaroon but I've always thought they were beautiful! I love the colors and delicate look.
Jean
These do not look at all like macaroons to me, the dessert with coconut. They look very much like French meringues, however...
keepinitkind
The American macaroon is the coconut-based version. The French Macaroon (or "Macaron" as it is said in French) is the meringue sandwich cookie like you see here. 🙂
rika @ veganmiam
Interesting!
♡ rika, vegan miam
http://www.veganmiam.com
★ we travel + eat vegan blog ★
Food and Loathing
Oh,man, when I saw this on Pinterest, I thought it would be a RECIPE for these perfect-looking macarons! What a let down. Haha. It's OK, though, someday, OH SOMEDAY, we vegans will expert the French macaron, and then we will take it over, just like we did with cupcakes.
keepinitkind
Haha! Sorry to let you down like that. I agree with you, though- Someday vegan macarons will take over the world! 😉
Ashlee
I believe there is a vegan patisserie cookbook out there and that hannah kaminsky of the bittersweet blog posted one awhile back. may want to check the interwebs for that, but it does exist. It's just more unicorn-like (and tedious) than a regular old cookie recipe. 🙂
rika @ veganmiam
I thought so, too, haha.
♡ rika, vegan miam
http://www.veganmiam.com
★ we travel + eat vegan blog ★
Richa
oh how i need these in my life.. so perfect and so like the real ones!
Melissa
Wow, how pretty! I love that you got 2 of everything... for science, duh! 😉
Annie
The color of these alone hooks me! They certainly LOOK like the real deal. Beautiful!
rika @ veganmiam
I would love to try some vegan french macaroons someday! I never had macaroons (the non-vegan ones, so I imagine if I had these vegan ones, I wouldn't even notice the similarity. Thanks for sharing...
♡ rika, vegan miam
http://www.veganmiam.com
★ we travel + eat vegan blog ★
rika @ veganmiam
I'm not sure if it's my Google Chrome browser, but I'm having trouble reading your fonts. 🙁 I can show you a screenshot if needed. Sorry for my peeve, I design websites for a living.
♡ rika, vegan miam
http://www.veganmiam.com
★ we travel + eat vegan blog ★
keepinitkind
Huh. You're the first person to have said something about the fonts. I'm actually looking to redesign my site and I'm sure I'll be using google fonts on the next go since they're more user-friendly. 🙂 Thanks for the heads up!
Jayme
Hello! Those Macarons look beautiful! I love a good French Macaron. You should check out the Macarons that Sweer Maresa's upstate cupcakes makes for the Vegan Choco shop, Lagusta's Luscious in New Paltz NY. They even do shipping! Enjoy!
keepinitkind
Thanks for the tip! I will definitely check them out!
Jasmine
Wow! Thanks for posting about these!! Very excited, especially since I work in Burbank, and it will be easy for me to stop by and grab some 🙂 Hope they still carry them!
keepinitkind
No problem- I hope you like them as much as we did! And I think they're being carried in more places now too- it's very exciting! 🙂
Bambi Kṛṣṇā Dāsī
AHH! These look like Heavenly creations! I muuuuust buy. Thank you so so so so much for sharing!
Maayan
Does anyone have a recipe to share? 🙂