This recipe makes about thirty-six Macarons: light and crisp meringue sandwich cookies. If you looking for “Macaroons” (with two “O’s”), the disgusting coconut cookie that’s a waste of sugar, look elsewhere. (Coconut is shredded evil in my book!) These French confections are a little tricky to make, but once you’ve got the hang of them you’ll be addicted to creating different color and flavor combinations.
Ingredients
- 4 Large Egg Whites
- About 10-15 drops Food Coloring*
- 1-2/3 cups Powdered Sugar
- 1-1/3 cups Almond Flour
- 1/8 tsp. Salt
- 1/4 cup White Sugar
- 4 oz. Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
- 1/2 cup Whipping Cream
- 2 tbsp. Unsalted Butter, room temperature
*The macarons will be much lighter in color than the batter after they are baked, and since macarons traditionally have bright colors, you can go a little crazy with the food coloring.
Directions
- Place egg whites into a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, and allow the egg whites to come to room temperature.
- Preheat oven to 280 degrees.
- Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
- In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together powdered sugar and almond flour.
- Beat the egg whites with salt and food coloring at medium speed until foamy, about 1 minute.
- Increase speed to high, and gradually beat in sugar, about 1 tablespoon at a time, until the egg whites are glossy and hold stiff peaks, about 3 to 5 more minutes.
- Gently fold almond flour mixture into whipped egg whites until thoroughly incorporated. (You will know it is mixed enough when it turns shiny and has the consistency of molten lava.)
- Spoon meringue into a pastry bag with a round tip.
- Pipe 1-inch disks* of meringue onto the prepared baking sheets, leaving space between each cookie. (Be as consistent as possible, not only so that they all bake completely, but also to make them easy to pair up when you assemble them into little sandwiches.)
- After all macarons on a sheet have been piped, lift the baking sheet up a few inches, with your thumbs holding the parchment paper down, and slam the sheet down on the counter top several times. (This removes any air bubbles from the cookies, and creates the iconic macaron “foot”.)
- Let the macarons stand at room temperature until the shiny surfaces become dull and a thin skin forms, about 20 minutes.
- Place the baking sheets in the preheated oven and place a heat-proof spoon in the oven door to keep it open just a smidgen.
- Bake until the macarons’ surfaces are completely dry, about 16-20 minutes, rotating the baking sheets halfway through the bake.
- When baked, remove from oven and lift the entire sheet of parchment paper, with the macarons attached off the baking sheet, and place on a baking rack to cool. (Note: If re-using a baking sheet that has already been in the oven for another batch, ensure that it is completely cool before piping more macarons onto it.)
- Once all macarons are completely cool, gently peel the parchment paper from the cookies.
- Place the chocolate chips in a medium-sized bowl.
- Heat the whipping cream in a small saucepan over medium-high heat until it just starts to boil.
- Pour the heated cream over the chocolate and let it sit for 1 minute.
- Add the butter in small chunks, and whisk ganache until smooth.
- Chill the ganache in the refrigerator until it thickens to a consistency suitable for piping and not runny, about 45-60 minutes.
- Pair macarons of similar size.
- Remove the ganache from the refrigerator, stir briefly, and spoon into a pastry bag with a round tip.
- Pipe about a teaspoon ganache into the center of one of each pair of macarons. (Each blob of ganache should be about the size of a grape.)
- Put the second of each pair of macarons on the top of the piped ganache, and very gently press down, creating a sandwich.
- Cover and refrigerate for at least 24 hours before serving.
*I found a fantastic template for piping macarons at SouthernFatty.com. You can download it from their website here.