Macarons 4 Ways

1. Neapolitan Macarons

Makes 20 macarons

INGREDIENTS

1⅓ cups almond meal, super-fine

1¾ cups powdered sugar

4 egg whites, cold

½ cup sugar

2 teaspoons cocoa powder

2 teaspoons raspberry jam, strained

¼ teaspoon red liquid food coloring

1 cup white chocolate chips, melted

4 ounces cream cheese

PREPARATION

1. Preheat oven to 300˚F (150˚C).

2. Add almond meal and powdered sugar to a bowl and mix to combine.

3. Using a hand mixer, beat the egg whites until they stick to the bowl.

4. Add the sugar to the whipped egg whites and beat until stiff peaks form.

5. Gently fold the powdered sugar with almond meal into the whipped egg whites.

6. Divide the batter in half. In one bowl, gently fold in cocoa powder. In the other bowl, add in the strained raspberry jam and red liquid food coloring and stir to combine.

7. Transfer the batters into separate piping bags and pipe directly onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet.

8. Bake for 20 minutes.

9. In a bowl, add the melted white chocolate chips and cream cheese, and stir to combine.

10. Put the chocolate filling in a piping bag and pipe filling onto the macaron shells.

11. Sandwich the macarons together.

12. Refrigerate macarons for another 2 hours before serving.

13. Enjoy!

NOTE

This recipe contains higher dry ingredients to wet ingredients ratio, so macarons do not need to form a “shell” before baking into the oven.

2. Strawberry Cheesecake Macarons

Servings: 16

INGREDIENTS

3 eggs whites, room temperature

¼ cup sugar

1¾ cup powdered sugar

1 cup superfine almond flour

3 drops red food coloring

Filling:

1 8-ounce package of cream cheese

1 cup powdered sugar

2 tablespoons milk

Strawberry jam

PREPARATION

1. Preheat oven to 285ºF/140ºC.

2. In a medium bowl, beat the egg whites until frothy.

3. Keep beating and slowly add sugar until stiff peaks form.

4. Sift powdered sugar and almond flour over the egg whites.

5. Fold the dry mixture into the egg whites, giving the bowl a quarter turn every third fold. Make sure to not overmix or the macarons will not rise.

6. Once the batter reaches a lava-like consistency, transfer half the batter to another bowl and add the food coloring. Mix until just combined. Do not overmix!

7. Working quickly, put the white and pink batters into separate sandwich bags.

8. Cut the corner off of each bag and squeeze the two batters evenly into a larger gallon-size bag or piping bag to create the multicolor effect.

9. Pipe 1½-inch dollops onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper (Tip: take a little batter to “glue:” down the edges of the parchment paper so it stays put).

10. Let the cookies rest for 30 minutes to an hour, until they are no longer wet to the touch and a skin forms on top.

11. While resting, make the filling by mixing the cream cheese, powdered sugar and milk in a bowl until smooth. Transfer to a piping bag and set aside until ready to fill.

12. When the cookies are dry to the touch, bake for 13 to 15 minutes until they have risen to form a “foot.”

13. Let rest for 10 minutes before filling. To fill, pipe a circle of the cream cheese mixture around the edge of one cookie and place a small dollop of jam in the center. Sandwich with another macaron.

14. Macarons are best kept refrigerated until serving.

15. Enjoy!

3. Cookies And Cream Macarons

INGREDIENTS

3 eggs whites, room temperature

¼ cup sugar

1¼ cups powdered sugar

¾ cup superfine almond flour

¼ cup crushed chocolate cookies

2 tablespoons dark cocoa powder

½ teaspoons black food coloring

2 cups of powdered sugar

1 cup of softened butter

1 teaspoons of vanilla

2 tablespoons of milk

½ cup cookies and cream filling

PREPARATION

1. Preheat oven to 285ºF/140ºC.

2. In a medium bowl, beat the egg whites until frothy.

3. Keep beating and slowly add sugar until stiff peaks form.

4. Sift powdered sugar, cookie crumbs, almond flour, and cocoa powder over the egg whites.

5. Fold the dry mixture into the egg whites completely, but make sure to not overmix or the macarons will not rise.

6. Once the batter reaches a lava-like consistency, add the food coloring. Mix until just combined, without over mixing.

8. Place the mixture into a piping bag or zip-top bag. Cut of the tip to pipe.

9. Pipe 1½-inch dollops onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Tip: take a little batter to “glue” down the edges of the parchment paper so it stays put.

10. Let the cookies rest at room temperature for 30 minutes to an hour, until they are no longer wet to the touch and a skin forms on top.

11. While resting, make the filling by mixing the butter, powdered sugar, cookie cream filling, vanilla, and milk in a bowl until smooth. Transfer to a piping bag and set aside until ready to fill.

12. When the cookies are dry to the touch, bake for 15-18 minutes until they have risen.

13. Let rest for 10 minutes before filling. To fill, pipe about about a tablespoon of the buttercream onto one macaron and place another on top.

14. Macarons are best kept refrigerated until serving.

15. Enjoy!

4. Macchiato Macarons

Servings: 16-18 macarons

INGREDIENTS

For the cookie:

3 large egg whites (100g), room temperature

¼ cup granulated sugar (50g)

1 ¾ cup powdered sugar (200g)

1 cup superfine almond flour (110g) (if unable to find "superfine" it is recommended that you pulse the almond flour in a food processor first)

2 tablespoons instant espresso powder

For the buttercream filling:

½ cup butter, room temperature

2 cups powdered sugar, sifted

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Cocoa powder for dusting (optional)

PREPARATION

1. Line a large baking tray with parchment paper.

2. Using a fine mesh strainer, sift together the almond flour, confectioners sugar, and espresso powder in a medium bowl. Discard any large pieces that remain in the strainer.

3. In a medium mixing bowl, beat the egg whites with an electric hand mixer on medium speed until soft peaks form. Add ⅓ of the granulated sugar and with mixer on high, continue to beat until egg whites are stiff peaks. Add another ⅓ of the sugar and beat again until egg whites are back to stiff peaks. Repeat with last ⅓ of sugar, beating until whites are shiny and fluffy.

4. Add the sifted ingredients to the bowl with the egg whites. With a rubber scraper, fold the mixture into the egg whites, about 35-45 strokes, or until the batter falls on itself but a slight peak remains (Do not overmix or batter will be too thin and runny).

5. Fill a piping bag fitted with a round tip. Pipe batter onto prepared baking tray into 1 ½ inch disks.

6. Lift and drop the baking tray onto a hard surface 2-3 times to smooth out the batter and knock out any air bubbles. Allow cookies to rest at room temperature for one hour, until a skin forms on the surface of the cookies.

7. Preheat oven to 285˚F (140˚C)

8. To make the filling, beat the butter, confectioners sugar and vanilla extract until light and fluffy. Set aside.

9. After about one hour, gently brush the top a cookie with your finger to check that a skin has formed. The batter should not stick to your finger, if it does, allow to set for an additional 15 minutes.

10. Bake cookies in preheated oven for 15 minutes, or until the cookies peel away from the parchment when lifted.

11. Allow the cookie shells to cool completely.

12. Pipe the buttercream frosting onto the bottom side of a cooled shell and sandwich together with a similarly sized cookie.

13. Dust with optional cocoa powder. Enjoy!