Macarons

Preheat the oven to 325 F.

Weigh egg whites into the glass mixing bowl and set aside

Weigh granulated sugar into one of the large mixing bowls

If you have already sifted your almond flour and powdered sugar, add both to the other large mixing bowl and whisk together, if not already sifted, sift through a sieve into the mixing bowl and whisk to combine and set aside

Put about two cups of water into the sauce pan and place over medium-low heat and put glass mixing bowl on top

Slowly add the granulated sugar to the egg whites and whisk constantly, making sure that the water below does not touch the bottom of the glass bowl (effectively working like a double boiler)

Whisk the egg whites and sugar until the sugar granules have fully dissolved, about 5 minutes. You can pick up the whisk and run the egg whites between your fingers to check and see if the granules have dissolved – if you can still feel them, keep going. Patience is key.

Transfer the egg white mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, or back into the bowl that held the granulated sugar and prepare your hand mixer

Mix on low for 30 seconds, medium for 2 minutes and then on high, or medium high, until stiff peaks form. If you are mixing for more than 15 minutes and don’t have stiff peaks, there is probably something wrong with your egg whites and you’ll need to start over. Stiff peaks mean stiff peaks, be patient and wait until you have stiff peaks – they should not be falling over at all when you pick up the whisk and should still be shiny and smooth on the sides. If they are not shiny and smooth, you have overwhipped your whites and need to start over. If you are afraid of overwhipping, set your speed to medium high and take your time. Patience is key with macarons.

When you are confident with your stiff peaks, dump the almond flour and powdered sugar bowl into the bowl with the egg whites. Many people will tell you to be gentle with your folding here, honestly, you don’t have to be super gentle, you just don’t want to over-macaronage (overmix) your mixture. Fold the mixture until the ingredients are fully combined and until your mixture reaches the ribbon stage. Draw a figure-8 with your spatula – if the 8 disappears completely into the batter after just a few seconds, you have overmixed your mixture and you’ll need to start over.

Transfer the batter to a piping bag – we tend to skip the piping tip and put a small binder clip over the end of the piping bag to keep the mixture from seeping out before we are reading to pipe, secure the top with the twist tie or rubber band. If you are using a zip top bag, squeeze out as much air as possible and then close securely. Cut a half-inch opening at the bottom when ready to pipe.

Pipe the batter at a 90-degree angle (perpendicular) to the parchment paper or silicone baking mat. You can find a variety of free templates for macarons online that you can print out, or buy silicone baking mats that already have the circles printed on them. Do not pipe in swirls, just pipe with constant pressure for 2-3 seconds per macaron and end with a flick of the wrist to cut off the mixture stream. This takes some practice so don’t be afraid to make mistakes.

We usually do a test sheet to make sure that our batter is working out – we pipe three to five macarons onto a single sheet, rest it for about 20 minutes (or until the shells no longer stick to a finger when gently poked on the side), and then put it in the oven for 14 minutes. This accomplishes a few things – it lets us know if our batter is properly mixed and laying nicely (you can always empty the piping bag, check the mixture and refill the bag if not mixed enough), and if our cooking time is sufficient. We let them rest for 15 minutes after coming out of the over before trying to pull them off the baking sheet. If they stick to the parchment or silicone mat, they require more time to bake, if they are browning on top and on the bottom, they require less time. You can make a couple of test sheets to determine what the best fit is for your own oven.

Once you have piped the macarons onto their mats, pick them up and drop them a few times (go sheet by sheet, don’t wait until you’ve piped them all) and then poke any remaining air bubbles with a toothpick.

Rest the shells for about 20 minutes, or until the batter no longer sticks to a finger when gently touched. Bake each sheet, in the order they were piped, for 13-16 minutes, depending on size and the outcome of your test cookies. Only bake one tray at a time, rotating every five minutes unless you have a convection oven. Remove the macarons from their cookie sheet (but not the parchment or silicone mat) and cool for 15 minutes.

Remove the cookies from the parchment or silicone mat and store in an airtight container in the fridge until ready to fill.