Mini Strawberry Vanilla Macarons

If one of your greatest pleasures in life comes from opening a box of fresh macarons, like mine, this recipe is for you. Except instead of one $15 box of six, we're going to make 3 trays of these beauties. Although these little almond-vanilla-sugar-super-fancy sandwich cookies look difficult to make, in actuality they are quite simple. With just few ingredients, a scale, a mixer, and some patience, you'll be on your way to La'duree status in no time! You'll save a freaking ton of money by making these yourself and all of your friends will be totally impressed.

This particular recipe is adapted from a Kosher Culinary baking class that I took in the Summer. It is a basic macaron recipe. Once you get the basics down, you can start mixing it up with any flavor or color you want. I had originally planned to make these macarons for my birthday lunch but we ended up getting too wrapped up in the food to even think about dessert. Last night, I finally got my chance. The girls in my family were up for some baking and this was just the thing. Making these macarons ended up being a really fun project and oh so delicious! Never thought I'd say this but Let's get Baking!

Strawberry Vanilla Macarons

You will need:

A Few Baking Sheets

Parchment Paper 

Piping or Gallon Ziplock Bag with 3/8 inch tip

Mixer

Food Scale

Ingredients:

225 grams Confectioners Sugar

125 grams Almond Flour

4 Egg Whites

30 grams Granulated Sugar 

Pinch of Salt

3/4 Tsp. Vanilla Extract 

3 drops of Red and 3 drops of Blue Food Color Gel (optional) 

Strawberry Jelly (or any flavor, for filling)

In a large bowl, sift together Almond Flour and Confectioners Sugar. 

Add the Egg Whites to your mixer with a pinch of Salt. Whip first on Medium until frothy, than raise to High until stiff peaks have formed. Just before the whites are totally whipped, add Vanilla Extract and Food Coloring, if using. 

Gently fold Almond Flour and Confectioners Sugar mixture into the Whipped Egg Whites with a spatula until completely dissolved.  

Transfer mixture into a Piping bag fitted with a 1 cm round tip (about the size of a straw opening)

Pipe mixture onto Parchement lined Baking Trays, leaving space in between each macaron. They will expand slightly after piping. 

Leave piped Macarons out for 20 minutes to an hour until they have formed a thin skin. When you gently touch the top of one and you finger comes away clean, they are ready for the oven. 

Bake at 325 degrees for 7-10 minutes. Keep an eye on them as they can get brown quickly. 

Once cooled, spread each Macaron with Jelly and top with another Macaron of equal size. 

Next, buy a safe and lock them up or share with friends. Your choice. Enjoy!!!