Description

Delicate chocolate shells made from almond flour, egg whites, and Dutch processed cocoa powder; press two shells together with buttercream in the center to experience a true French Macaron anytime you like! Recipe adapted from this one at Taste of Home Magazine.

Equipment needed:

Stand mixer, food processor, rimmed baking sheets, nonstick parchment paper, piping tips and piping bags

Ingredients

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Macaron shell:

1 & 1/3 cups almond flour
2 & 1/4 cups powdered sugar, divided
2 tablespoons Dutch processed cocoa powder
4 large egg whites (about 110 grams) room temperature
generous pinch of salt
2 tablespoon superfine sugar

Strawberry Buttercream filling

1/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons heavy cream
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon strawberry extract
a few drops of red gel food coloring

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Instructions

Line two rimmed baking sheets with non-stick parchment paper
Place the almond flour & 1/2 cup + 3 Tablespoons of powdered sugar in a food processor. Process until thoroughly mixed. Empty into a sifter and add the cocoa powder to the sifter. Sift the mixture into a medium bowl and discard any pieces left in the sifter.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk egg yolks and salt with the whisk attachment on medium-low until frothy. With the machine still running, slowly add the superfine sugar, followed by the remaining powdered sugar. Increase the speed to high and whip until stiff peak stage, about 2 to 3 minutes.
Using a spatula, fold 1/3 the almond flour mixture into the whipped egg whites until combined, repeat with another third of the almond flour, and then the final third. Scoop some of the mixture onto your spatula and allow it to slide off into the bowl. If it does not ‘drizzle’ off the spatula, smooth the batter up the sides of the bowl until the batter is smooth, shiny and will drizzle off the spatula long enough to draw a figure “8” in the batter. This process is called macronage.
Load the batter into a large piping bag fitted with a plain round tip. (See above for suggestions.) Holding the bag vertical, pipe small dollops of batter, approximately 1 & 1/2 inches wide and 1 & 1/2 inches apart, onto your prepared baking sheet. When the sheet is full, tap the rimmed baking sheet onto the counter gently to encourage bubbles in the cookie batter to come to the surface and pop. Leave the raw cookies on the counter until the tops have dried, approximately 30 minutes to 1 hour.
Make filling while cookies are drying by creaming butter with a hand mixer (or stand mixer) until fluffy. Slowly add powdered sugar until incorporated, followed by the heavy cream, vanilla, and salt. Beat for another 1-2 minutes, then load frosting into a piping bag fitted with a plain round tip. (Again, see above for suggestions for piping tips.)
Set an oven rack to the upper third of your oven and set the heat to 300 degrees F. Bake one tray of cookies at a time for 14-16 minutes, or until the cookies have formed a frothy layer underneath, rotating the tray half-way through baking. Let macarons cool completely before removing from the baking sheet.
Pipe a dollop of frosting/filling on the underside of a cookie, and press a second cookie on top. Repeat with the remaining cookies. Refrigerate covered for at least 24 hours for optimum flavor and texture.

Notes

Superfine sugar can easily be made with granulated sugar and a food processor. Add 1/2 cup granulated sugar and process for 10-15 seconds to make 1/3 cup of superfine sugar.

For vanilla buttercream filling: up the amount of vanilla extract to 1/2 teaspoon, and leave out the strawberry extract and food coloring.