Before we jump in to these macarons, I have been meaning to tell you guys that my amazing, wonderful and talented friend Kammie just published her first e-cookbook! It’s filled with healthy single serving recipes breakfasts, snacks and desserts. It’s really great, with tons of great, simple recipes, and some really smart healthy substitutions. And even better, she is offering you guys a discount through the month of October! You can receive 25% off by using the code BLOG25. I highly recommend checking it out and showing her some love!
Okay, so I have been dying to put one of those egg white pictures on my blog for a very long time. Meringue (OMG I spelled it right on the first try–who am I??) is just so…prettttty. Macarons are notoriously challenging, fussy, and easy to mess up. I have a bad history with recipes like that, and to be honest, I usually don’t like any recipe that I can’t save if I make a mistake, but these really weren’t that hard, and I’m here to tell you that if I can make them, anyone can!
Trust me, my macarons are not perfect. They don’t have perfectly flat tops, and they don’t all look exactly the same. I toyed with whether or not I should post them for months, but I decided that in the end, food comes down to tastes and textures, and on those accounts, these babies hit it out of the park. So I bring you some imperfection, to inspire you to make macarons, and be fabulously imperfect all the time. It’s so much more fun.
I started out with an incredibly helpful tutorial on Oh Sweet Day. I knew I didn’t want to use any food colorings in my recipe (I’m sure it will happen one day, but it’s just not really my thing), and I knew I wanted a chocolate cookie, because, well…duh. Anyway, I followed her recipe almost exactly, just swapping out some cocoa powder for some of the almond flour. I made them twice to make sure there was no fluke, and sure enough it worked like a charm! I added a creamy peanut butter filling to make it taste like a Reese’s cup, and voila! Challenging dessert success!
Chocolate macarons with a creamy peanut butter filling
Ingredients
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1/2 cup almond flour
- 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (preferably Dutch process)
- 2 egg whites
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
- 6 tbsp powdered sugar
- 1 tbsp coconut oil, melted
- 1 tbsp unsweetened almond milk (if needed)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
- In your food processor, combine powdered sugar, almond flour and unsweetened cocoa powder. Process until very fine. Sift mixture into a large bowl. You may need to reprocess any large chunks that can't make it through the sifter.
- In a stand mixer, beat egg whites using the whisk on medium speed until light and frothy. Reduce speed to low and slowly add sugar. Increase speed to high and beat until stiff peaks form. Be patient, it will take a few minutes. They should look like the top photo when you take the whisk out.
- Add the dry ingredients to egg whites and gently fold together using a spatula. Once ingredients are combined, fold for just an other few turns of the wrist--this is where you need to be very careful! Under-mix and you will have pointy shells, under-mix and you will have a soupy mess. You want the batter to just barely stream off the spatula when you remove it. I err on the side of caution and smooth out points later if they arise.
- Transfer batter to a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2" round tip. Carefully pipe mixture into circles about 1 1/2" in size. If tops are pointy, you may run your finger under water and gently smooth them. Let them stand for 30 minutes until tops are glossy and smooth to the touch.
- Bake until just set, about 10-12 minutes.Place baking sheets on wire racks and allow to cool completely.
- To make filling, beat peanut butter, powdered sugar, and coconut oil together in a medium mixing bowl or stand mixer until combined. If needed, add almond milk and beat until combined.
- Gently remove macarons from baking sheet and place a small spoonful of filling on one macaron. Top with a second macaron. Repeat with the rest of the batch. Store refrigerated in an airtight container for up to one week.