I'm planning on making french macaron gifts for my family and friends this Christmas.  I'm a big fan of making ahead and freezing but I'm not sure how that works with macarons.  I'm planning on making them with ganache, so would they be good frozen assembled?  Or would you all recommend just freezing the shells?  Also, how long do they stay fresh?  Do you heat seal them?   Thanks!  Any tips/recommendations would be great!  I've made them once and loved them.  They all disappeared pretty fast so I didn't get a chance to see how long they stay good.  :)

AI normally freeze my macarons filled, and some of my fillings are ganache so you shouldn't have a problem. I transfer them to fridge to thaw overnight and then they're good to go. They probably have a shelf life of a week or so (in the fridge that it) but I think they're at their best in the first few days.

I don't heat seal the packages, I just pack them in pretty little boxes. In the freezer they're in Tupperware so they don't get soggy of course!

AI've done both, assembled and then just the shells. One caterer I worked for, we would stack the parchment sheets of the baked shells on sheet pans and freeze. Then pull and assemble when we needed them. Probably depends on how much space you have. But, either way, they freeze just fine.

If you freeze them (I like to freeze them filled if I can so I don't have to wait for maturation - ganache isn't a problem - low water content), they can be frozen months ahead if kept in airtight container =) 

The last ones I did I filled with SMBC which froze beautifully and tasted very fresh when they thawed.