Larousse Gastronomique, the ultimate encyclopedia of French cooking, first published in 1938, refers that macarons originated in Venice during the Renaissance period with the word macarons derived from the Italian “maccherone,” which means fine dough or paste and which subsequently gave it the name of macaroon in French. The Venetian word was “macerone.”
Macaroon recipes have appeared in cookery books since at least the late 17th century.