French macarons can be a daunting challenge. A smooth, crack-less surface and puffy "feet" are the hallmarks of the perfect cookie, but can be very difficult to attain. I read tens of recipes and watched tens of videos to come up with what I think is a successful cooking protocol. Even so, variable factors like the humidity in your kitchen can lead your macarons astray. In this recipe, I used liquid blue food coloring, which unfortunately washed out during the baking process. Since the taste and texture of the cookies were optimal, I plan to explore the use of food coloring gels in future batches of this recipe.
Yield: 20 macarons
Ingredients:
1 ¾ cups powdered sugar
1 cup almond flour, finely ground
3 egg whites, at room temperature
¼ cup granulated sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
2 drops food coloring (I recommend using red to get a pink color. Blue is too pale)
1 pinch salt
Instructions:
1. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. In a large bowl, combine powdered sugar and almond flour and mix with a whisk.
3. In a large bowl, beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt until soft peaks form. Gradually add the granulated sugar and beat until stiff peaks form. Add the vanilla and beat until incorporated. Add the food coloring and beat until combined.
4. Sift 1/3 the almond flour into the egg mixture and fold in gently with a spatula. Repeat until all flour is added. The batter should fall into ribbons and you should be able to make a figure 8 while holding the spatula up.
5. Transfer the macaron batter into a piping bag fitted with a round tip. If needed, a ziplock bag with one corner cut off can be used as a substitute.
6. Pipe macarons onto a backing sheet lined with parchment paper. Tap the baking sheet on a flat surface 5 times to release any air bubbles.
7. Turn off the oven and let the macarons sit on top of the stove above the oven for 30 minutes until dry to the touch.
8. Re-heat the oven to 300 degrees 5 minutes before the macarons are dry.
9. Bake the macarons for 16-17 minutes until the feet are well risen and the macarons don’t stick.
10. Transfer to a rack to cool. Fill with buttercream or jam and serve.
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