Fancy yet Easy French Macaron Recipe

French macaroons or macaron is very different from the usual macaroon pastries that most of us have eaten. For one thing, French macaroons are primarily made of egg whites, icing and granulated sugar, and ground almonds. This meringue based pastry is filled with buttercream or jam sandwiched between two cookies. Here is an easy French macaron that anyone can try. You can serve this treat for your guests of even make these as tokens or giveaways to friends and neighbors. Anyone who would taste this sweet treat would truly appreciate its sweet and delicate flavor.

French Macaroon Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 c. slivered almonds (you can also substitute with peeled hazelnuts or pistachios)
• 2 c. confectioner’s sugar (divided into half)
• 3 large egg whites
• Pinch of salt
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp. almond extract
• 6 – 8 drops of food coloring (color depending on your choice)

Preparation:

Pre heat oven to 325F for 30 to 45 minutes. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper. Set the prepared cookie sheet aside. Mix the almonds and half of the icing sugar in a food processor. Pulse these 5 to 6 times to break down the nuts before continuing to finely ground the nuts.

In a mixing bowl, mix together the egg whites, salt, vanilla and almond extract. Beat these ingredients on medium speed for about 3 minutes or until soft peaks have formed. Increase the mixing speed on high and slowly add the remaining confectioner’s sugar to the egg white mixture one tablespoon at a time.

Continue to beat the egg whites until stiff peaks have formed. Add the food coloring, five to six drops at a time to get the right shade that you want for these cookies.

• Add the ground nut mixture into the beaten egg whites, one quarter at a time. Fold this into the egg whites until well combined.

  Repeat the processing of adding a quarter of the ground nut mixture into the beaten egg whites until all both ingredients are mixed.

  To continue with this easy French macaron recipe, place a food storage plastic bag in a glass to allow it to stand in an upright position and create about 4’ cuff from the edges of the plastic bag. Pour half of the meringue into the bag and close the cuffs of the plastic bag to seal this.

  Use a scissor to snip one of the corners of bag to create your own piping tool.

  Hold the piping bag upright allowing about an inch space between the prepared cookie sheets. Pipe out 1” mounds onto the cookie sheets.

  Once these cookies are piped out onto the prepared sheets, place these in the pre-heated oven and back for about 10 minutes.

  After baking, place the cookies into a wire rack and allow them to cool.

  You can now finish these cookies by making a filling.

  For the filling, you can use whatever you like. You can make your own batch of jam or use store bought ones. You can even use chocolate ganache or spread as filling. When making this easy French macaron recipe, the fillings that you want would totally depend on your imagination and taste preference.

  Here are also some tips when making these French macaroons:
  
  If you don’t have any peeled almonds, what you can do is placing the nuts in boiling water and few table spoons of baking soda. Let this sit in the pot for 3 – 4 minutes. Once done, you can drain these and rinse it in cold water. Rub them dry and you would see the skin of the nuts falling off easily.
  
  You can store these cookies in the freezer up to three months. Simply store these unfilled cookies in between wax paper sheets and store in an airtight container. Once you need them just thaw these are room temp and spread with any fillings.

  These treats are lovely to look at and even yummier to eat. You can serve these during parties or even place them in small plastic bags or pouches for giveaways.

  Photo Credit: weirdoplace.blogspot.com