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Megans Cookin: The Daring Baker’s French Macaron Cookie

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

The Daring Baker’s French Macaron Cookie

macarons

The 2009 October Daring Bakers’ challenge was brought to us by Ami S. She chose macarons from Claudia Fleming’s The Last Course: The Desserts of Gramercy Tavern as the challenge recipe.

macarons

It seems like such an easy cookie with few ingredients, but the French Macaron is an art! What makes it such an art is getting the infamous “feet” at the base of the cookie. My friend Barbara gave me a few tips that helped me achieve my success.

  1. Age your egg whites. Set them out on the counter, loosely covered for 3 days.
  2. Beat your egg whites till stiff and hold a peak.
  3. Sift your almond flour. ( I forgot to do this!)
  4. Weigh your ingredients.
  5. Use double pans stacked on each other. (I used airbake pans)
  6. Use this template

And I’ll add another tip.

   6. Use a Silpat liner so your cookies wont stick. I used one pan lined with wax paper, and every single cookie stuck to it. They came off the Silpat liner with no problem. I love my Silpat. :)

macarons 005

I must say, this is an addicting little cookie. With a lot of room for improvement, I cant wait to give it another try. The flavors could be endless. With a little love, patience, and practice, I think I could master this macaron!

 macarons

        Look at those “Feet”!

 

French macaron

Ingredients
Confectioners’ (Icing) sugar: 2 ¼ cups (225 g, 8 oz.)
Almond flour: 2 cups (190 g, 6.7 oz.)
Granulated sugar: 2 tablespoons (25 g , .88 oz.)
Egg whites: 5 (Have at room temperature)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 200°F (93°C). Combine the confectioners’ sugar and almond flour in a medium bowl. If grinding your own nuts, combine nuts and a cup of confectioners’ sugar in the bowl of a food processor and grind until nuts are very fine and powdery.
2. Beat the egg whites in the clean dry bowl of a stand mixer until they hold soft peaks. Slowly add the granulated sugar and beat until the mixture holds stiff peaks.
3. Sift a third of the almond flour mixture into the meringue and fold gently to combine. If you are planning on adding zest or other flavorings to the batter, now is the time. Sift in the remaining almond flour in two batches. Be gentle! Don’t overfold, but fully incorporate your ingredients.
4. Spoon the mixture into a pastry bag fitted with a plain half-inch tip (Ateco #806). You can also use a Ziploc bag with a corner cut off. It’s easiest to fill your bag if you stand it up in a tall glass and fold the top down before spooning in the batter.
5. Pipe one-inch-sized (2.5 cm) mounds of batter onto baking sheets lined with nonstick liners (or parchment paper).
6. Bake the macaroon for 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and raise the temperature to 375°F (190°C). Once the oven is up to temperature, put the pans back in the oven and bake for an additional 7 to 8 minutes, or lightly colored.

Note:

These cookies were sandwiched with Nutella Hazelnut Spread. I also added 2 Tablespoons of cocoa to the cookie batter.

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19 Comments:

Blogger Barbara Bakes said...

I'm so happy your macs turned out beautifully for you on the first try! I'm definitely trying a Nutella filling soon! Can't wait to see what's up next!

October 27, 2009 at 9:16 PM  
Blogger Mary Bergfeld said...

These are gorgeous, especially if you consider this was your first try. I'm really impressed. They look delicious.

October 27, 2009 at 9:26 PM  
Anonymous Nutmeg Nanny said...

You have such beautiful little feet:) This months challenge was my first attempt at macs...so glad it turned out well for the both of us:)

October 27, 2009 at 10:17 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

These look gorgeous, I am such a fan of Nutella. I'm really enjoying all these Daring Bakers macs!

October 28, 2009 at 2:54 AM  
Blogger Coleens Recipes said...

OH YUMMMMMMM!!

October 28, 2009 at 3:14 AM  
Blogger April said...

Look how pretty they are!!!

October 28, 2009 at 6:40 AM  
Blogger Carol said...

Megan, these look wonderful! Thanks for posting all the tips. I've been wanting to try making these. I didn't know that those were feet, cool! They would be fun for Christmas.

October 28, 2009 at 9:21 AM  
Blogger stephchows said...

what a great job! The first time I made these I had no clue they were supposed to have feet haha but they sure tasted great so I was happy!

October 28, 2009 at 10:47 AM  
Anonymous Kate @ Savour Fare said...

I really want to make them again too! Yours look delicious!

October 28, 2009 at 11:22 AM  
Blogger Delicious Dishings said...

I think you did a great job! They look beautiful.

Did you really leave your egg whites on the counter for 3 days? I have some in the fridge right now for another attempt, but leaving them on the counter seems a little risky to me... were they okay?

October 28, 2009 at 12:24 PM  
Blogger Katy ~ said...

Well done!! Applause! Applause!

October 28, 2009 at 1:37 PM  
Blogger Rosa's Yummy Yums said...

Great job! Your macarons are lovely and look delicious!

Cheers,

Rosa

October 28, 2009 at 3:58 PM  
Blogger Reeni said...

Your feet are so pretty! I bet they were scrumptious with Nutella in between.

October 28, 2009 at 5:03 PM  
Blogger teresa said...

how pretty! i'm going to have to try them sometime, sounds like a fun challenge!

October 28, 2009 at 5:40 PM  
Anonymous Karen said...

Oh, I'm so jealous! I've always wanted to try these and yours look beautiful! Well done.

October 28, 2009 at 6:48 PM  
Anonymous noble pig said...

Okay you did so good here!

October 29, 2009 at 8:51 AM  
Anonymous Jen @ My Kitchen Addiction said...

Your macarons look great... Such great feet! Glad the recipe worked for you!

October 29, 2009 at 4:35 PM  
Blogger Ingrid_3Bs said...

You go Megan! You did a great job!
~ingrid

October 29, 2009 at 7:00 PM  
Blogger Tiffany @ Lattes And Life said...

Macarons are on my to-do list for when I get back in the kitchen. I've been wanting to try them for years!!!

November 10, 2009 at 5:05 AM  

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