French Macarons!
Hey everyone! It’s Molly from my name is yeh here and over the weekend, I threw a macaron making party for my friends because when you live in a tiny town with not a macaron in sight, that’s just what you gotta do! It was so much fun. We put on French music, ate French-inspired snacks, sipped Kendall-Jackson Late Harvest Chardonnay (which was a total hit), and piped out dozens of macarons. When the macaron shells were done baking, we each mixed our own magical concoctions of buttercream, with various extracts, food colorings, and spices, and then made delightful little sandwich cookies, complete with lots of sprinkles. It’s true, making your own macarons can be a bit of work, but when you’re doing it with friends, it truly is a party.
To throw your own macaron party, use the recipe below, and then come on over to my blog for some party tips!
- 1½ c finely ground almond meal (I like the one from Bob's Red Mill)
- 2 c powdered sugar
- 4 egg whites
- a pinch of salt
- ¼ c granulated sugar
- a few drops of food coloring, optional
- ½ tsp of extracts of your choice
- 1½ c unsalted butter, softened
- 3 c powdered sugar
- a pinch of salt
- food coloring
- any desired mix-ins: extracts, cocoa powder, cinnamon, sprinkles, etc.
- Cover two baking sheets with parchment or a Silpat and set aside.
- Mix together the almond meal and powdered sugar and then sift them into a large bowl. This is a super important step, but it can take a while. Use a spatula or spoon to help the mixture through the sifter. Sometimes not all of the mixture is small enough to pass through the sifter, so if you're left with two tablespoons or less of the mixture, you can discard it.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat the egg whites and salt until foamy. With the mixer on medium, gradually add the granulated sugar. Increase the speed to medium high and beat to stiff peaks. Beat in any food coloring or extracts you'd like and then stop the mixer.
- Using a rubber spatula, gradually fold the dry mixture into the egg white mixture and keep folding until the mixture flows, almost like a thick cake batter. Pour the mixture into a piping bag fitted with a plain tip and then pipe 1-1½ inch circles, about an inch apart, onto your baking sheets. Pick the sheets up and then drop them from a few inches up back onto your work surface. Do this twice, to get the air bubbles out. Let these sit at room temperature for 15 minutes to an hour, until the tops form films on them and they are dry to the touch.
- Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 300.
- Bake your macarons for about 20 minutes, until they come easily off the parchment. Let them cool.
- To make your buttercream, beat together the butter, sugar, and salt. Add any desired food colorings and mix-ins.
- Fill a piping bag with buttercream and then pipe a dollop onto half of the cooled macaron shells. Top them with the other half of the shells. Roll them in sprinkles, if desired, and enjoy!
