Macarons

"Definition of Macaron:

1. :  a light, often brightly colored sandwich cookie consisting of two rounded disks made from a batter of egg whites, sugar, and almond flour surrounding a sweet filling (as of ganache, buttercream, or jam)" (Merriam- Webster Dictionary). 

French macarons may be mixed up with the word macaroons, a coconut cookie. They are very, very good.

I got my recipe from Food and Wine. I altered it slightly to change the coloring and the filling when I feel like it. This recipe is how to make the macaron shells, which are tricky. This recipe will be how to make a regular macaron shell, with food coloring to give the color.

Macarons

Raspberry Macarons with raspberry jam filling.

Ingredients
1 cup almond flour*
1 cup powdered sugar
3 egg whites
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons water
Food coloring of your choice (optional)**
Candy thermometer
Parchment paper
Piping bag and large circle piping tip

*Almond flour is hard to find, so I just ordered it off of Amazon.
**If you choose not to use food color, that is okay, because it will still taste the same, it just will look less pretty colored.

1. Preheat oven to 400°, and put parchment paper on 2 cookie pans.
2. Mix together almond flour, powdered sugar, and 1 egg white until evenly combined.
3. Beat other 2 egg whites until small peaks form.
4. Heat granulated sugar and water over medium heat until 240° on a candy thermometer. Then add into beaten egg whites and mix on high speed immediately.
5. Add in food coloring to egg whits and syrup mixture, if choosing to use any (I recommend using a color, they come out so pretty!). Beat on high speed until glossy and firm.
6. Beat about 1/4 of the mixture into the almond flour mixture. Then fold in the rest until combined.
7. Pipe with piping bag and circle piping tip 1 1/2 inch circles of the batted until you run out.
8. Tap tray and let the batter sit for 15 minutes.
9. Place in oven and immediately turn off the heat. Bake for 5 minutes. Then turn heat back onto 400° and turn timer on for 8 minutes right away.
10. When your take them out of the oven, take them off the cookie trays (and take the whole parchment paper off, not the individual cookies. This will cause them to crack). Take them off as soon as possible, the sooner the better!
11. After they cool, peel the cookies off the paper and fill them with frosting, ganche, or jam. I find that jam works the best.

Hope they came out good! They can be hard to master, so if you don't succeed, try try again! Thank you!