Chocolate Peanut Butter Macarons

I interrupt my strawberry series to bring you Macarons.  Hopefully you will find them equally delicious!  Before I started blogging, I had never heard of a French Macaron.  Then I saw them everywhere, and everyone made them look so pretty, but they had a reputation of being so technically difficult.  I was scared to try them.  But after I made Pistachio Ice Cream, I had egg whites like crazy.  Normally I would throw away 1 or 2 if I had them, but 6 felt way too wasteful.  So I had to come up with something to do with them.  It felt like it was time to try Macarons. 

Being that I am not French, and I am not all that fancy of a person, I had to make these my way.  I picked a chocolate version with a peanut butter buttercream frosting.  A truly American flavor with a delicate French dessert.  I read up a lot before I made my first batch.  I consulted Annie's Eats, Tartlette's Tutorial, and of course how could I not read Mad about Macaron's? I think the main thing I learned is that it is humid in Iowa, even with the air conditioning on.  So I should have let them sit out longer before baking.  The first tray ended up in the garbage, the second tray was much better. 


Chocolate Peanut Butter Macarons
Printable Recipe

For the Macarons:
110 gm almond flour
200 gm minus 2 tbsp. confectioners’ sugar
2 tbsp. cocoa powder (Dutch-process preferred)
100 gm egg whites (from about 3 eggs), aged at room temperature for 12-24 hours
50 gm granulated sugar

Peanut Butter Butter Cream
1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
1/2cup creamy peanut butter
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 Tbls milk

Combine almond flour, confectioners' sugar and cocoa powder until well blended (I used my food processor).  In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the egg whites on medium-high speed until foamy.  Gradually add the granulated sugar and continue beating until a smooth, shiny meringue with stiff peaks forms.  Add the ground almond mixture to the bowl with the meringue and quickly but gently fold together using a wide rubber spatula until no streaks remain.  You want to achieve a thick batter that ribbons or flows from the spatula when lifted.

Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats.  Transfer the batter to a piping bag fitted with a plain wide round tip.  Pipe into small rounds on the prepared baking sheets (each round should be about 1-1½ inches in diameter), spaced about 1 inch apart.  Let sit at room temperature for about an hour to develop a hard shell.

Preheat the oven to 300˚F.  Bake for 8-10 minutes, depending on size.  Transfer the pans to a wire cooling rack and let cool completely before moving the cookies. 

While the cookies are cooling, make the frosting.  Stir together all the ingredients until it is the right consistency.  I always just add the milk at the end to get the texture I want.  Put into a piping bag, fitted with a plain tip. 

Once the cookies are cool, match them up so they are paired with one that is a like size.  Squeeze some frosting onto the base, and place the top on.  Gently press down.  They are best to eat the next day.