I'm hoping on the band wagon for this one. Macaroons are all the craze right now, and after making them, I know why! They are not only adorable, but delicious and really fun to make. When I was looking up recipies and tips for making macaroons, I was intimidated by repeatedly hearing phrases like "very advanced" "hardest cookie to make" and "now this part is easy to mess up by over or under stirring..." but if you follow these tips that I have gathered from experience and different sources, you should be fine!
Tips and tricks for the perfect macaroon!
1) Sift, sift, sift! Sifting our powdered sugar and flour makes a huge difference. This will give you light, fluffy cookies. If you don't, you will end up with unattractive and bumpy cookies that are more prone to cracking.
2) Use a piping bag. Using a piping bag is necesary for both the cookie itself, and the frosting. If you don't own a piping bag, you can pick one up at any craft store and most grocery stores for just a few dollars. (My bags and tips are from Wilton) Or, you can make one out of a Ziplock bag!
3) Use parchment paper. I would recommend not spraying or greesing the pan that you will be placing the macaroon shells onto because you don't want any added greese. Also, make sure to use parchment paper and not wax paper. The outcome will be much better!
4) Tap out air bubbles. After your cookies have set for a bit on the trays, hit the tray against a couter or table top to release all air bubbles. This is more of a cosmetic step for the cookies but will still help a lot.
5) Every recipie I have come across has called for almound flour, which I didn't have. So I used King Aurthur whole wheat flour and it worked just fine!
This seems like a lot- I know, but by following these five tips you will be a macaroon pro in no time!
I'm not going to list the actual recipe here because that would make this an extremely long blog post, but I will direct you to the sources I used.
Nerdy Nummies on youtube - HOW TO MAKE KIRBY MACAROONS
Pinterest - Various pinners (just look up macaroon recipie)
Entertaining with Beth on youtube - Beth's foolproof French macaroon recipe
Hope that this helps!
Until next time,
XOXO
~Sophia
*DISCLAIMER I realize that my macaroons (pictured above and below) do not have "feet" or "ridges". This was my first try and I'm actually really happy with how they turned out! If you can get the feet then that proves you truly are a pro, but they are really hard to perfect. Happy baking!
