So Yesterday I attempted the FRENCH MACAROON- and I tink it was a success (although I’ve never had a real French macaroon before so I really didn’t have anything to go by…)
I’ve watched enough videos on Youtube to know that the sign of a good macaroon is the presence of “feet” (or, as us regular people know them as, those ridge things at the bottom of the cookie š ) and I was so excited to see that mine had feet!
For those of you who have never had a French Macaroon, they’re VERY similar to meringue cookies. They’re pretty good, I must say š
Finished Product! š
The Ingredients
How the dough looks after the food coloring has been added & when it’s ready for piping.
After they’ve been piped onto the cookie sheet
I was so excited when I saw feet that I had to take a picture!!
Once they came out of the oven
Next comes the frostting
Just pipe it on!
They look like Oreo’s
I had a TON of left over frosting so I decided to get creative š
French Macaroon with Strawberry Buttercream
1 Cup Confectioners Sugar
3/4 Cup Almond Flour/Meal (This stuff is a little expensive and can be found in the Gluten Free section)
2 Egg Whites (TIP: Keep eggs at room temperature/Put in a cup of warm water for 5 minutes to get at room temperature)
Pinch of Cream of Tartar
1/4 Cup Sugar (TIP: Sift sugar prior to putting it in mixture- thats what I did- or send it through a food processor to break it up more. Mine still looked a little grainy, which could be because the sugar was too big)
Parchment Paper
Directions:
1. Sift together almond flour, and confectioners sugar- set aside.
2. In a stand mixer, beat egg whites until foamy, then add cream of tartar and continue mixing until soft peaks begin to form. Then add the sugar and mix until stiff peaks form.
3. Once the egg mixture if beaten, take it off the stand mixer and fold in the flour mixture. This is a very important step, over/under mixing will not get the desired consistency of cookie. Mix just until the “dough” is smooth and the batter drips off the spoon in clumps.
4. Put batter into a piping bag and pipe out 1 inch circles onto a parchment paper lined cookie sheet
5. Bang the cookie sheet against the counter/table to remove all of the air bubbles and peaks.
6. Let sit for 20-30 minutes prior to putting in the oven
7. I experimented with time and found that the best time was 7:30 seconds on each side (just flip the cookie sheet to the other side for even baking). Do one tray at a time only.
8. I followed the recipe above with temperatures: 375 degrees until the cookies go in, then reduce it to 325 degrees – I did this for each batch. (So I set the oven for 375, then, when I put the first tray in I reduced the temperature to 325. Once the first batch was done, I put the oven back up to 375 and waited until the oven beeped at 375, then I reduced it to 325 and put the second batch in, and so on and so on.. any questions feel free to email or comment here- it sounds confusing-sorry!)
9. Let the cookies sit for 2-3 minutes on the cookie sheet then transfer to a wire rack.
Frosting:
I used a strawberry buttercream (I wanted to use the same buttercream base recipe and make 3 separate frostings but that didn’t go as planned…) This is half of the recipe I would normally use for cupcakes and I still had waaayyy too much
1 stick of softened unsalted butter
3 cups confectioners sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
a little less than 1/4 cup strawberry jam (or you can use any flavor jam for a different flavor buttercream)
1 tbsp milk (fat quantity doesn’t matter- but I used 1%)
less than a pinch of salt
1. In a stand mixer, whisk together the butter and vanilla extract until creamy.
2. Add the confectioners sugar a little bit at a time
3. Add the jam of preference, the milk, and the salt
4. I like to let the mixer do its thing for a while so the buttercream is extra light and fluffy (mmmmmmm)
5. Once the buttercream is all mixed, put it in a piping bag and pipe it onto the cookie!
P.S: I just used a plastic bag and cut a hole in the corner (you really dont even need decorating tips) for both the buttercream and the cookie.
Enjoy!
Thanks for stopping by!!
