Macarons are made with finely ground almonds, confectioners’ sugar, and egg whites. They are the most delicious soft cookies with crispy edges. I finally perfected the technique and wanted to share it. Pipe your choice of filling or frosting on a cookie and sandwich another cookie on top.
Preparation Details
Prep Time: 30 mins
Cook Time: 10 mins
Total Time: 2 hrs 10 mins
Servings: 16
Ingredients
- 3 egg whites
- ¼ cup white sugar
- 1 ⅔ cups confectioners’ sugar
- 1 cup finely ground almonds
Steps
- Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat.
- Beat egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment until foamy. Add white sugar and beat until egg whites are glossy, fluffy, and hold soft peaks.
- Sift confectioners’ sugar and ground almonds in a separate bowl; quickly fold almond mixture into egg whites, about 30 strokes.
- Spoon a small amount of batter into a plastic bag with a small corner cut off and pipe a test disk of batter, about 1 1/2 inches in diameter, onto the prepared baking sheet. If the disk of batter holds a peak instead of flattening immediately, gently fold batter a few more times and retest.
- When batter is mixed enough to flatten immediately into an even disk, spoon into a pastry bag fitted with a plain round tip. Pipe batter onto the baking sheet in rounds, leaving space between the disks. Let piped cookies stand out at room temperature until they form a hard skin on top, about 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 285 degrees F (140 degrees C).
- Bake cookies in preheated oven until set but not browned, about 10 minutes.
- Let cookies cool completely before filling, about 30 minutes.
