Vanilla Bean Macarons
- Yield: About 24 sandwiched cookies, 48 total 1x
Ingredients
Units Scale
- 1 3/4 cups + 2 1/2 tablespoons almond flour/meal (I use Bob's Red Mill)
- 1 3/4 cups + 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
- 1/4 cup + 1 1/2 tablespoons egg whites (for almond mixture)
- 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons egg whites (for the meringue)
- 1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
- 1 cup + 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
- pinch of sugar for meringue egg whites
- 2/3 cup water
- food coloring, if desired
Necessary Equipment:
- Candy thermometer
- Silpat baking mat, or parchment paper
- Pastry bag and 1/2-inch round pasty tip
- Filling of your choosing: French buttercream, ganache, raspberry jam, Nutella, have fun!
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Line baking sheets with Silpats, or parchment paper. (If using parchment paper, it is helpful to trace out circles as a template for piping so that all of your macarons turn out exactly the same size.)
- Sift almond flour and powdered sugar into a large bowl and whisk together. Make a well in the center and pour in the 1/4 cup + 1 1/2 tablespoons egg whites into the center and combine with a rubber spatula. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean and add them to the mixture, stirring until evenly distributed.
- Combine the granulated sugar and the water in a small saucepan and heat over moderate heat until the syrup reaches 248 degrees F.
- While the sugar is heating, place the remaining egg whites (for the meringue) into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Add the pinch of sugar and beat on medium speed until soft peaks form.
- When the sugar syrup reaches 248 degrees, remove from the heat.
- Turn the mixer to medium-low speed and slowly (and carefully!) pour the syrup mixture into the meringue. The meringue will deflate--don't be alarmed. Increase speed back up to medium and whip for 5 about 5 minutes, until you achieve stiff, glossy peaks. The meringue should have cooled by now, if not, continue whipping until it has cooled.
- Fold one-third of the meringue into the almond mixture, and then continue adding meringue in small increments until a very slow-moving ribbon remains when you fold the batter over itself with a spatula. You won't necessarily need to use all the meringue. It is better to have the batter be a little bit thick instead of too thin. (The consistency should be similar to pancake batter, or almost like a milkshake, for lack of a better description.)
- Add a few drops of food coloring to reach your desired color.
- Pipe 12-14 circles about 1-2 inches apart on each of your prepared baking sheets. (Tip: When piping, hold the pastry tip in the center of where you want your macaron, and hold the tip about 1/4-inch off the surface of the pan. Gently squeeze until the batter has spread into a circle about 2 1/4-inches in diameter. When I piped them using a circular motion similar to frosting a cupcake, the baked macaron tops were rough and cracked, not smooth and pretty even though they looked the same prior to baking.)
- Place baking sheet in the 350 degree oven and reduce the temperature to 325 degrees. Bake for 9-12 minutes, until tops are crisp and shiny.
- Set pan on cooling rack to cool completely. Do not attempt to remove macarons from baking sheets while they are warm.
- Raise oven back to 350 degrees before baking next batch, again lowering temperature to 325 when you put the baking sheet in the oven.
- Once macarons have cooled, fill them with your desired filling.
Notes
Note: Macarons can be wrapped individually in plastic wrap and frozen for up to 2 weeks. Defrost in refrigerator for a few hours, then allow to come up to room temperature before serving. They actually taste the best if they've been frozen for at least 24 hours, then defrost in fridge and bring to room temperature.
Adapted from: Bouchon Bakery by Thomas Keller
Find it online: https://kitchenjoyblog.com/vanilla-bean-macarons/