The original French Macaron cookie in a recipe you can make at home!
Ingredients
100gground almond flour
200gpowdered sugar
100-110gegg whites (about 3)
4tbspgranulated sugar
~food coloring (gel or powder)OPTIONAL
1cupchocolate chips
1/2cupheavy cream
Instructions
Prepare the pans with parchment paper. To create uniform circles, use macaron mats that already have circle outlines or take time to draw uniform circles on the backside of your parchment paper. (Or you can wing it for the circles, but you'll still definitely need parchment paper either way.)
Mix powdered sugar together with the almond flour until mixed well, then set these dry ingredients aside.
In medium-large bowl, whip the egg whites with a handheld mixer to begin creating the meringue. As the egg whites start foaming, add the granulated sugar one tablespoon at a time. Continue whipping until the mixture is glossy and stiff. (Check to complete: When you pull the mixer out, it should create a small peak in the mixture that holds its shape. Also, if the bowl was upside down, the meringue will not slide out.)
Add the dry mixture into the meringue. This is also when you will add food coloring if you choose to do so. (I did not use food color in the cookies pictured.)
Using a spatula, fold the dry mix into the meringue. Move your spatula in a circle around the edge of the bowl, then pull the spoon down through the middle gently. You will continue this folding motion until fully mixed. (Check to complete: Pour the mixture from the spatula, it should flow like a ribbon. It's important to not over or under-mix. If you drop a bit of the mixture on parchment paper, it should slowly flatten instead of keep its shape.)
Fill piping bags with macaron mixture, then fill in the circles on the parchment paper. Leave room between the cookies, because they'll flatten a little.
Leave the cookie sheets out in room temperature for about 1 hour, so the cookies will form a dry skin. (This is what makes the cookies puff up in their signature way instead of flattening more while they bake.)
Heat the oven to 300 F. Bake for 10-12 minutes. The cookies are done when they don't jiggle and they are slightly golden brown. Let them completely cool before removing the from the baking sheet.
Slowly melt chocolate chips in the microwave. Gently stir in cream until you have a thick, creamy ganache that is pipe-able. Fill a piping bag with the ganache.
Arrange the cookies in pairs upside down on the parchment paper. Put a good size dollop of ganache on one of each pair. Then, sandwich the two sides together.
Refrigerate to help the middle solidify. Also, cookies will last a while in the refrigerator when covered. This is just a theory, though, because everyone loves these and eats them too fast to really know how long they'd last.