French Macarons – Olivia's Kitchen

Unlike the American version of macaroons , this French cookies are super cute and has nothing to do with coconut . They’re pretty in color and light and airy , though i can’t really say they’re low in calories , depending on the filling . But for the longest time , this cookies have been my arch enemy . I remember , the very first time i made this was back in 2008 .. or 2009 . I thought this was pretty good , the ingredients are only egg whites , sugar , ground almond and powdered sugar . How hard can this be ?

Well it is by far the HARDEST cookie i ever ran across . It was a pain to make because it took me many many trials and many many times i had failed . Not to mention ground almond isn’t cheap btw !! My macarons either had no feet or the top wasn’t smooth , or too burnt , or the batter too runny .. etc . Many problems .

So i decided to take it break from it , and i don’t even care to try it anymore . Until , today . I decided to give it another try . I have to say , i tried to do my research , and everything , all the tips and tricks that i need to know before tackling this macarons . There i was this afternoon after church , i weighed all the ingredients , except i needed more powdered sugar and i didn’t feel like run to the store just for that . I ended up grinding my sugar with cornstarch to make enough powdered sugar , then i let the eggs sat on the counter right before i left to church . Then i made some i weighed everything to T , and the sifted the ground almond and powdered sugar , and grind more sugar to be a little bit finer .

So , after all those tips that i kept in mind while making macarons .. i STILL ran into problems .. and you see , this is from the same batch of cookies i made . Yet .. the 2nd sheet , was a total fail !! The 1st sheet turned out well and the 2nd sheet was all cracked and no feet . See this picture ..

I really don’t know what the problem was .. although i guess .. it could be the ones with no feet and cracked , was because it was on the bottom rack and it might be too hot ? Next time i might have to try to double the cookie sheet , to protect it from the heat better . But anyway , i am pretty happy with how most of the turned out .. 90% have feet and smooth top . I ended up making lemon curd for the filling , it was quick and easy and i happened to have the egg yolks , from making the macarons , i didn’t want to waste it .

Here is the recipe that i use for macarons :

100 grams of egg whites , save the yolks for lemon curd

200 grams powdered sugar

50 grams of super fine sugar

110 grams ground almond

1. Preheat oven to 280 F

2. Prepare everything , line baking sheet with parchment paper , if you need to make the circle to make sure your macarons are the same size , i suggest use a pencil on the back side of the parchment paper , so it won’t stick to your cookies once it’s done .

3. Sift powdered sugar and ground almond .

4. Beat the egg whites in standing mixer until it’s foamy , add the sugar little at a time , add the food coloring , keep an eye on the egg whites , keep beating until stiff peak reached .

5. Once the stiff peak reached , add half of the sugar almond mixture , and FOLD using wooden spoon / spatula , whatever works for you . I used wooden spoon and it worked . CAREFULLY , until just combined . don’t over fold , your batter will be too runny . Your batter should be a thick enough , and not too runny . You want to test it by using a spoon and it should fall off your spoon slowly .

6. Transfer your batter into piping bag , use the round tip , about 1 cm . And start piping it on the parchment paper .

7. Once you’re done , bang the cookie sheet few times on the counter , and then let it sit for an hour . Or elss .. depending how humid your area is .. you can touch the top of the cookie , and if it sticks to your finger , you need to let it sit longer , if it doesn’t stick then it’s time to bake it .

8. Bake for 7 minutes then turn the baking sheet for even baking , and bake another 7-8 minutes until it’s done , but not brown on top . If you do this right , you should see the feet and smooth top . GOOD LUCK