French Macarons

Makes: About 3 dozen

Time: About 30 minutes, plus time to rest

French macarons—not to be confused with chewy, coconut-based macaroons—are made of wispy almond meringues sandwiched with a gooey filling like jam, buttercream, or ganache. They might take a bit of practice to perfect, but the process isn’t difficult and it’s certainly faster than a trip to Paris.

• 4 large egg whites
• 1⅓ cups (4½ ounces) almond flour
• 2 cups confectioners’ sugar
• ¼ cup granulated sugar
• ½ cup raspberry jam, homemade or store-bought

1. Place the egg whites in a bowl or airtight container, cover tightly, and let sit at room temperature for 24 hours.

2. Sift the almond flour and confectioners’ sugar into a bowl. If you ground the almonds yourself, first pulse them in a food processor with the confectioners’ sugar until the mixture is uniform.

3. Use an electric mixer to beat the egg whites until fluffy. Add the granulated sugar in intervals, beating after each addition until fully incorporated. Increase the mixer’s speed and beat the mixture until it holds very stiff peaks. Gradually add the almond flour mixture, using a rubber spatula to fold the batter thoroughly but gently until smooth.

4. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Use a pastry bag fitted with a large round tip, a zipper bag with a corner cut off, or a spoon to pipe or form 1-inch rounds about 1 inch apart, keeping the tip close to the sheet and aiming for a flat surface rather than a peak (see illustrations). If you do get a peak, smooth it down with a wet fingertip. Let rest at room temperature for 30 minutes and heat the oven to 300°F. If you don’t have multiple baking sheets to pipe all the batter at once, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate until the first batch is done; let the sheet cool completely, then pipe and bake the remaining shells right away.

5. Bake the shells for 12 to 15 minutes, until firm and barely golden. Cool completely on the sheets, then remove the cookies by carefully peeling away the parchment. To fill, spread about 1 teaspoon of jam on the flat surface of one cookie and sandwich it with another. These will keep, refrigerated, in an airtight container for no more than 5 days; bring to room temperature before serving. They also freeze well.

MACARON CAKE One giant macaron: Make the batter as directed. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper; on each, pipe half of the batter evenly in a spiral about 8 inches in diameter. Bake until firm, about 30 minutes.

ITALIAN ALMOND COOKIES This traditional Italian cookie was the original inspiration for macarons, although it’s much denser and not filled: Increase the almond flour to 2 cups and the granulated sugar to 2/3 cup and eliminate the confectioners’ sugar. Stop beating the egg whites when they form soft peaks and mix the dough until fully incorporated (you may need to knead with your hands). Form the dough into tablespoon-size mounds before baking and coat with sliced almonds. Bake for about 25 minutes, until lightly browned.

Flavoring and Filling Macarons

Don’t be shy about mixing and matching these cookie flavors and fillings; the cookies are so lightly flavored to begin with that you could change only the filling and still get radically different results.

COOKIE: CHOCOLATE Sift ¼ cup cocoa powder with the confectioners’ sugar and almond flour.

FILLING: Chocolate Ganache

COOKIE: COFFEE Sift 1½ teaspoons instant espresso powder with the confectioners’ sugar and almond flour.

FILLING: Espresso Buttercream or Not-Too-Sweet Coffee Buttercream

COOKIE: MOCHA Sift ¼ cup cocoa powder and 1½ teaspoons instant espresso powder with the confectioners’ sugar and almond flour.

FILLING: Chocolate Ganache, infused with coffee

COOKIE: CITRUS Fold 1 tablespoon grated lemon or lime zest into the finished batter.

FILLING: Lemon Curd, Lime Curd, Fruit Jam, or Orange Marmalade

COOKIE: PISTACHIO Decrease the almond flour to 1 cup and add ⅓ cup finely ground unsalted pistachios.

FILLING: Roasted Nut Butter or Pistachio Buttercream

COOKIE: PRALINE Decrease the almond flour to 1 cup and add ⅓ cup finely ground toasted pecans.

FILLING: Caramel Sauce or Butterscotch Sauce

COOKIE: CHOCOLATE-HAZELNUT Decrease the almond flour to 1 cup and add ⅓ cup finely ground toasted hazelnuts.

FILLING: Chocolate-Hazelnut Spread

COOKIE: VANILLA BEAN Beat the seeds scraped from one vanilla bean pod with the egg whites along with the granulated sugar.

FILLING: Vanilla Buttercream

COOKIE: SPICE Sift ½ teaspoon each cinnamon and ginger and ¼ teaspoon nutmeg with the dry ingredients.

FILLING: Spiced Caramel Sauce or Cinnamon Buttercream

COOKIE: CARAMEL Follow the Vanilla Bean variation above or tint the batter with just a few drops of yellow food coloring.

FILLING: Caramel Sauce or Caramel Buttercream

COOKIE: MATCHA Sift 1½ tablespoons matcha powder with the confectioners’ sugar and almond flour.

FILLING: Vanilla Buttercream, flavored with 2 tablespoons matcha instead of vanilla

Tips for Macaron Success

Macarons have a reputation for being fussy, but if you take the right steps, you should have no problems:

• Aging the egg whites at room temperature overnight evaporates some of their moisture, which will allow you to whip them to greater fluffiness.
• Don’t skip sifting the almond flour; sifting will yield a cookie that is airy but not too fragile.
• Let the batter rest after piping; this is necessary to keep the cookies from cracking while they bake.
• Cool the cookies completely on the sheets; this gives them time to set. If you try to move them while they’re still warm, they’ll break.

Making Macarons

STEP 1

Fold the almond mixture into the meringue after beating to stiff peaks.

STEP 2

Pipe the batter in 1-inch rounds.

STEP 3

Sandwich the baked cookies with jam, ganache, or buttercream.