Vanilla Macaroons
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To me, this is one of those to-may-to/to-mah-to things…I like maca-roon, but many say maca-ron. Either way is fine, and really makes no difference as the macaroon is simply a tasty treat!
We had wedding cakes, then wedding cupcakes and now wedding macaroons are coming…in every flavor and every color. That delightful chewey/crunchy treat screams “gourmet” but is really pretty simple to make as long as you remember the golden rule: keep your eggs room temperature!
Vanilla Macaroons
Ingredients:
- 2 C powdered sugar
- 1 C almond flour or almond meal — beyond easy to make if you don’t want to buy it!
- 1/4 tsp Sea Salt
- 3 large egg whites, room temperature
- Pinch cream of tartar
- 3 TBSP granulated sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Special equipment:
You will need a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch tip. If you don’t have one, you can either spoon round dollops of batter onto the baking sheet or make a pastry bag by snipping off one corner of a large resealable plastic freezer bag.
Directions:
-Preheat oven to 350°F.
-Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.
-Put powdered sugar, almond flour, and salt in a food processor pulsing several times. Continue for about 30 seconds or pulse until the ingredients are fine and well combined.
-Using a flour sifter, sift the above ingredients into a large bowl. This sifting step is important as you do not want lumps in your batter!
– Place the 3 egg whites in the clean bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Beat on medium speed until opaque and foamy, about 30 seconds. Now add a pinch of cream of tartar, increase the speed to medium high, continue to beat until the egg whites are white in color and hold the line of the whisk, about 1 minute.
-Continue to beat, slowly adding the granulated sugar, and vanilla extract…until the sugar is combined, the peaks are stiff, and the whites are shiny, about 1 minute more. Do not over whip. Transfer the meringue to a large bowl. If you over whip, you won’t end up with the crunchy “feet” on the bottom of your cookies.
-Take a rubber spatula, and now gently fold the dry mixture with the egg whites in four different scoops until the dry ingredients are just combined. If you aren’t familiar with what “folding” is, it is simply scooping up some batter and then “flipping” it gently off back into the bowl. You need to do this until you no longer see any “streaks” of the egg white mixture.
-Spoon half of batter into pastry bag fitted with 1/2-inch plain round tip. Pipe batter onto each prepared sheet in 12 walnut-size mounds, spacing mounds apart because cookies will spread slightly. Let the cookies set about 30 minutes BEFORE baking them.
-Bake cookies, 1 sheet at a time, until firm to touch in center and dry and cracked on top, about 7 minutes ….. pull the pan out and then rotate and bake for another 7 minutes.
While they are cooling, you can make the vanilla buttercream filling!
Whip together:
- 1/2 cup salted butter
- 1 3/4 cup powdered sugar
- 1/2 tsp milk
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Simply pipe or spread it between 2 cookies and pop them together.
Now, rip into them like a monkey on a cupcake! (or, let them live for up to a week int he fridge)
