Its Bastille Day and I made macaroons. That is serendipity if I ever saw it.

One of my best friends is coming to visit today.  I am super excited!  We don't get many visitors* from our hometown up to visit that often (even though its ONLY two hours away!  Come on people!), but when we do I like to go all out for my visitors.  So I wanted to make an extra special treat for my pal (we will call her Winnie).  So Winnie went to a French immersion school (yes, in the United States... we need more of these sorts of programs!) for elementary school.  I decided to honor this by having some french macaroons ready for her when she gets here.  And bonus its Bastille Day!  So to celebrate we should definitely eat something French.  Since I can't go to Ladurée to get some macaroons, I had to make them myself.

Yummy little sandwiches

If you have never had a macaroon, you are seriously missing out.  I had a macaroon for the first time when I went to Morocco for work last year.  Each tea break (over there its all about the tea) we had a giant spread of macaroons, biscuits and petit fours.  I braved a blueberry macaroon, and I have never been the same since.  They are chewy, rich, and indulgent. I had to learn how to make them as soon as I came back to the States, and found that while they are little involved, they are quite easy to make. This batch I made only came out with about 15 sandwiched cookies, but about 2 can fill a craving.  Of course, the last time I made macaroons my husband and I polished the entire batch off in about 5 minutes.  Oops.

Delicious tower of chocolate macaroons

And don't mistake these with the coconut macaroons that are commonly found in grocery stores.  While those are also pretty terrific (one of my hubby's favorite desserts in fact), I think these have them beat by a mile.  I tried to do research on why they have the same name when they are so different, but I had no luck.  I did find some interesting things about the history that you can read here.

There are a few tricks to a good macaroon (or macron if you want to be super French about it).  The first is to put your almond flour (what the heck is that?) and dry ingredients in a food processor and then sift them before using.

if you don't have a sifter, a colander or sieve will work  just fine.  Just watch for messes!

once sifted its light and fluffy

The next trick is to make sure the egg whites are whipped to the right stage.  Soft peak is the way to go.  You can tell its there when the whites are foamy and frothy but not still.  When you lift your mixer out of the bowl it should leave peaks that sort of fall back down.  Once you add in the sugar, the mixture will get thick and glossy.  It will almost be marshmallowy (note to self: learn how to make marshmallows).

its almost like fluff, but you probably shouldn't eat raw eggs...

Then when combining the dry and wet mixtures, work in thirds and fold the dry mix into the wet mix very gently.  If you are rough or just mix it as per usual, it will deflate the eggs and your macaroons won't develop the right "foot."  (The foot, in case you were wondering, is that crackly edge around the bottom of each half of the macaroon cookie.) Anyhow, just fold it as little as possible.  Folding requires using a rubber spatula and cutting down into the middle of the wet mixture and scooping up to one of the sides, while turning the bowl.  I found about 6 folds were enough to get the mixture combined.  The result will be the macaroon batter, which is pretty sticky.

so close to being a macaroon...

The next trick... piping those suckers. If you have never used a pastry bag, I encourage you to get one.  A Wilton 20 tip should work well for piping (or something larger can work too).  You can pipe about 32 half dollar sized circles onto parchment paper lined baking trays.  Once you are done piping bang the trays HARD on the counter to remove air bubbles.  Yes.  This is the time to take out that aggression.  But only bang it once, so make it count.

 Then let the macaroon wannabes rest for thirty minutes on the counter.  Yes, I realize there is egg in this recipe.  And maybe you shouldn't eat these if they are left out like that.  But in my own opinion (and I am not a doctor- I am a lawyer, so I hereby release myself of any liability) its not on the counter that long and so its fine.  Plus I eat raw cookie dough all the time and have not yet been stricken with anything (knock on wood).

Put the tray into the oven and set the timer and walk away.  It should only take 10-15 min to get them to cook up.  They should rise a little, creating the foot.  If they crack, then they cooked too long.  Take them out before that happens.  You want them to be moist and chewy.

perfectly cooked and ready for a coming out party

Allow to cool before pulling off the parchment paper or you might end up with ragged bottoms on the cookies.  You can then sandwich them with jam, ganache, frosting, whatever your heart desires.  I used nutella, because everything tastes better with nutella.  Once sandwiched try not to eat them all in one sitting.  I hope Winnie enjoys these treats!

for Winnie, with love

So are you ready to change your life?  Let's go!

Chocolate Macaroons

Ingredients
1 cup confectioners sugar
1/2 cup almond flour
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
2 large egg whites
5 tablespoons of granulated sugar

Mix almond flour, sugar and coca in a bowl.  Place in food processor and grind for 15 seconds, until fine.  Then pass mixture through a sifter to remove large pieces of almond.

In a separate bowl beat two egg whites with a hand mixer until they reach soft peak stage.  Then slowly add in the confectioners sugar while mixing until it forms a glossy thick meringue.

Carefully fold in the dry mixture into the meringue in thirds.  Line baking tray with parchment paper and pipe approximately 32 circles of batter onto tray.  Allow to rest for 30 minutes on the counter.

Preheat oven to 325F.  Bake macaroons for 10-15 minutes.  Allow to cool on trays for 10 minutes, then peel off parchment paper and finish cooling on a wire rack.  Fill cookies with filling of your choice.  Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

source: adapted from Dave Lebovitz

*Thank you Samantha and Charlotte** for coming to visit.
** Names have been changed, but you know who you are.