Bake Club Macarons

Bake Club: (Strawberry-Rose) Macarons

Makes 1 dozen

2 ea egg whites, large, room temperature ALWAYS for macaron’s

¼ cup sugar

½ cup almond flour, the finer the better

1 cup confectioner’s sugar

Pinch salt

+food coloring to play off the flavor story of your filling choice (for my pink ones it’s 4-5 drops)

+piping bag and tip (a Ziploc bag will do, too!)

+print this out x 2

+filling: jams! icings! ganaches! Caramels! (I’m a strawberry rose)

1. Heat oven to 325F, stack 2 baking sheets on top of each other, and line the top pan with parchment paper, sneaking your 2x printed round piping guides below each so you can “trace” over them in step 5.
2. In a super clean and dry bowl (any sediment or water will kill your masterpiece!), whisk the egg whites on high until foamy. Slowly stream in granulated sugar and continue whisking on high until stiff, glossy peaks form. 
3. In a small bowl, whisk together the almond flour, confectioners' sugar and salt. With a spatula gently fold the almond mixture into the egg white mixture, until the mixture is slightly deflated but gains a thick, sandiness to it. Fold in the food coloring color and depth of your choice.
4. Test the batter’s consistently by lifting some up with a spatula then dropping it back into the bowl. You are looking for the batter from above to disappear into the batter already in the bowl in 10 seconds or so. If it is still holding shape rather than disappearing, continue folding the batter another minute or two to test again.
5. Transfer the batter to a piping bag or ziploc bag fitted with a small tip (I prefer ½”) and carefully pipe batter into twelve 1 ½” rounds (following the guide rounds you printed) on each sheet pan, leaving a little space between each (they don’t run much).Tap the sheets against the counter to remove air bubbles and let sit out for 1 hour for a skin to form.
6. Bake the macarons 325F 10-12 minutes, until the puff a tad at the bottom creating a little “foot” and hollow out, but do not take on much color (feel free to do a tester macaron round if you aren’t feeling confident about the consistency  of temperature in your oven). I like to rotate my macarons top to bottom and front to back halfway through to ensure a consistent bake.
7. Cool completely on baking sheets, then peel macarons off of parchment, pairing the most consistent diameters with one another. Sandwich cookie style, spoon or spread filling onto the bottom of one side, and top with another, using a little pressure to encourage the filling to peek out just to the edge. Though most cookies are best eaten the day they are baked, I find a new love affair with Macarons on day 2, 3, even 5- they’re crunchy on the top, yet marvelously gooey in the center.