French Almond Macarons
- Comments()
- Yield Makes about 30
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar
- 1 1/2 cups (4 ounces) sliced almonds, finely ground, or almond flour
- All-purpose flour, for dipping
- 3 large egg whites
- Pinch of salt
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 recipe Swiss Meringue Buttercream
Directions
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Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Sift confectioners' sugar into a bowl. Whisk in almonds; set aside. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or nonstick baking mats (such as Silpats), and mark circles using a 1 1/2-inch cutter dipped in flour.
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Put egg whites in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat on medium speed until foamy, then beat in salt. Beat in granulated sugar, 1 teaspoon at a time, until medium-soft peaks form. Transfer mixture to a large bowl.
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Using a rubber spatula, fold half the almond mixture into the egg white mixture until just incorporated. Fold in vanilla and remaining almond mixture until just incorporated. Firmly tap bottom of bowl on counter to eliminate air pockets.
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Transfer mixture to a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch plain tip (such as Ateco #806). Pipe mixture into marked circles on prepared baking sheets. Bake, rotating sheets halfway through, until macarons are slightly firm and can be gently lifted off parchment (bottoms will be dry), 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool on sheets 5 minutes. Transfer macarons on parchment to a wire rack; let cool completely.
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Spread 2 teaspoons buttercream on flat sides of half the macarons, then sandwich with remaining halves, keeping flat sides together. Refrigerate until firm, about 20 minutes, before serving.
I wanted to come up with something exciting and elegant for my daughter's baby shower - and I've always been curious about the macaron's but didn't have the courage. Martha's recipe is not only easy, it is tasty! They were so good I decided to try the Swiss Merengue and OMGoodness - perfection! My son (the pickiest child of all time) can't get enough! Thank you, thank you, thank you!
I'm not very fond of this recipe. I've attempted it twice now and the macaroons have been nothing of the consistency that they should be. To be fair I've always had a bit of a problem with baking and I do not have an electric mixer. This is not an easy recipe.
These are amazing! When do you add food coloring to make them colored??
Have heard from yummy mummy blog this is the recipe she uses.her blog and her food looks so wonderful..plus saw on your show the pumpkin macaroons y.m. did.can't wait to try it! Mary Kay Abblett
@juliabobulia92, do you even know what slander means? I guess this recipe "spoke" to you...LOL! Baking and cooking take technique and a multitude of trial and error, this one may be on the difficult side (in order to get it right the first time around).
This recipe is full of LIES and SLANDER. Not only did it only make about ten macaroons, they were enormous based on the instructions provided, and they were not fluffy and delicious. LIES. Do not attempt.
prettypatty: hitomi22 IS correct!
To hitomi22:
I do believe the correct wording should be: whomever, not whoever.
Since this a correction of the recipe, shouldn't the grammar be correct, too?
I made these with hazelnut flour because I couldn't find almond flour and they were AMAZING.
THe cookies take a little practice to make but it's worth it. I made all three varieties for a party and they were great. I had no problems with them sticking to the parchment paper, but the key is to make sure the egg whites are beaten just right (my first batch was too stiff and the cookies weren't flat, the last batch I made was just right). Give the recipe a try and even if they don't look great they will still taste great.
While this recipe's good, I'm a bit disappointed with whoever wrote the title of the recipe - isn't it supposed to be macaron and not macaroon? There's a huge difference between the two. And also, traditional French macarons are not filled with buttercream, but should be filled with a bit of cream or butter!
Once the cookies are done, if you remove the parchment (with cookies on it) from the hot pan, place a wet dish towel on the pan, and then replace the parchment on top of the dish towel, it will create a steam which will loosen the cookies beautifully.
According to Bruce Healy in the French Cookie Book, you need to bake the macarons on newsprint and on two sheet pans ("glue" the newsprint down in the corners with some of the batter before piping the cookies) and as soon as you take them out of the oven, put the pan in the sink on a slant and lift up a corner of the newsprint; pour a half cup of water under the newsprint immediately and it will, according to him, steam off the macarons- let cool til you can handle and gently slide them off.
These are modernised french macaroons, Martha..
Swiss Meringue Buttercream is never used in the middle! It's a flavoured creme!
=b
Well, I've tried making these twice, and it's been a disaster both times trying to take the macaroon off of the baking sheet, even with parchment paper. The cookie is baked all the way, tastes great, but it falls apart and won't keep its form when I try to remove it from the sheet. It's so frustrating because I've wanted to make these for so long when I have parties, but it never works out.
http://www.marthastewart.com/portal/site/mslo/menuitem.fc77a0dbc44dd1611...
Here's a link to Martha's "Parisian Macaroons" with the flavor variations. I haven't tried either recipe yet but am planning to this weekend.
I was wondering the same thing myself, but then i realized that the outside part of the cookie just needs to coloring adjusted, so for example if you wanted to make green ones then you just add green food coloring and put pistachio paste in the buttercream instead of almonds.
Did I miss something? How do you make the chocolate ones and the pink ones? The writeup by the photo says all three batches, but the instructions are for only one kind of "batch".
Have not made these cookies yet but I will.
Have not made these cookies yet but I will.
Have not made these cookies yet but I will.
Have not made these cookies yet but I will.