I’ve been so nervous all week about making these because they were my first attempt at making macarons ever! BUT after scouring the internet for the best tips and tricks for making a perfect macaron shell, I got lucky for once and they came out really well!! Whew! (And I’m sharing everything I learned below) So let’s get down to business on the flavor of these babies because they taste like milk and HOLIDAY COOKIES. No joke, the shells are almond milk flavored and the inside is a creamy sugar cookie dough. And you can’t forget the sprinkles. There’s no need to leave Santa a plate of boring sugar cookies this year when you can up the fancy and leave him a plate of delicious macarons! Ha! Let’s get to it, I have a ton of macaron insight to share with you!
For the macaron shells:
2/3 cup almond flour
1 1/4 cup powdered sugar
3 large egg whites, at room temperature
1/4 cup sugar
For the cookie dough filling:
1/4 cup butter, softened
2 tablespoons sugar
3/8 cup flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons heavy cream
For the macaron shells:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine almond flour and powdered sugar. Sift the mixture to get out an large chunks.
2. Separate egg whites (make sure they are at room temperature) and place into a large metal bowl. It’s important that it’s metal because metal is less prone to grease and if even a small amount of grease gets into your mixture, it won’t work. Mix on medium speed until frothy and slowly add the sugar. Once the sugar is completely added, increase the speed of the mixer and whip until your meringue forms stiff peaks.
3. Pour half of the almond flour mixture into the meringue and fold together with a spatula. Do this very gently and only mix until they are just combined. Add the remaining flour and fold in once again until just combined and the batter falls off the spatula in thick ribbons.
4. Put the batter into a piping bag. Pipe circles onto parchment paper or a silicone mat. I used a silicone mat with circles drawn onto it to make sure my shells were all the same size. Do not grease what you are using to pipe onto.
5. Shake the sheet of macarons slightly to get out any bubbles. Sprinkle a few sprinkles on the tops of the batter. Leave to dry for 15 minutes. This will prevent the macarons from expanding in the oven and will help you get the feet on the bottom of your macarons.
6. Place the macarons in the oven and bake for 15 minutes. If the bottoms start browning, remove them from the oven. Let cool completely and remove the shells from the silicone mat.
For the cookie dough filling:
1. Beat butter, sugar, and brown sugar in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Mix in flour, salt, and vanilla until combined. Add heavy cream and beat until fluffy.
2. Put into a piping bag and pipe about a teaspoon of filling onto one macaron shell and top with the other shell. Roll the sides in sprinkles and enjoy!!
Before I photographed these I figured out how many I could spare that didn’t need to make it into the photographs and I devoured them all! Ha! Seriously, these might be one of the tastiest desserts I’ve ever made. And they definitely weren’t as daunting to make as everyone makes them out to be! Give macaron-making a try!!
