Corrie's French Macarons

When you think of a macaroon, what comes to your mind first? Most people think of those ooey gooey mounds of coconut, which is all fine and dandy, coconut is delicious!  However, when I think of a macaroon, I think of the French variety- the macaron. 

Author & Editor at Notre Dame, Paris

I first got to try them a few years ago when I took a trip to Paris with my sister. They were the most amazing cookie I've ever tasted, if you even want to call it that. It doesn't really even fall into the "cookie" category, it should be in a category all of it's own. The outside shells are so light and airy, but then you bite into them and they're soft and chewy. They're made with almond flour so they have a light nutty taste, but the fillings dominate the taste. They come in so many different colors too so they're tons of fun!

Beautiful, colorful macaron display at Ladurée, Paris

I never realized until recently just how difficult they are to perfect. I have a new found respect for French bakers for creating such a perfect little treat!  The first batch I made didn't look so good, but at least they were still edible. By the time I put the last batch in the oven I was just starting to get the hang of it. That last batch was far from perfect, but they looked a lot nicer than the first one! In the end, it was completely worth it.

The shells of the macaron only consist of these 5
ingredients (the food coloring is optional)

There are many books you can find for the French macaron
recipe, but this is the book I used.

The book goes into step-by-step details with colored
pictures so you can tell if you're doing it right

Gel food coloring...I chose violet, as per my sister's request :)

Beating the egg whites. They're not quite done in the
picture yet, but this was a big difference from where they started!

Sifting the powdered sugar and almond flour together

This is what the batter should look like-glossy and smooth
with few lumps (though mine did have more lumps than picture in the
book!)

The piped shells ready for the oven!

 Aren't they so pretty?

The "perfect" shell should have a good foot to it (that
rough looking edge at the bottom of the shell) Not many of mine had
those, but this batch did!

Filling the macarons. I chose to keep it simple and use Nutella

Once filled, place a second shell on top to form a sandwich.

This is what a bad batch looks like....the wax paper I
used was too big for the tray and the excess moisture in the oven made
the paper collapse and ruin some of the shells...

Enjoy!

-Corrie