Peppermint Macarons

These peppermint macarons are somewhat of a culinary illusion. What looks like a peppermint cookie with a chocolate filling is actually an imposter cookie with a chocolate peppermint filling. If you've felt intimidated by macarons, you are not alone. My first try was a disaster: over baked, under whipped, cracked, and hollow. My second try was much better, as I was able to whip my egg whites properly to create better macarons. This is truly a pastry where practice makes perfect. Conditions like humidity, the temperature of the egg whites, and oven convection can drastically affect the delicate macarons. I believe no one macaron recipe will work for everyone, so start with a sample, understand what went wrong, and try again with improvements. My recipe is based off the Tasty recipe for my macaron cooked and Indulge with Mimi to troubleshoot what went wrong. Here's what I did and some notes I have along the way. Learning to make macarons will be different for everyone - so just keep experimenting.

Ingredients

Yields 10 macarons

• 1 egg white

• 3/8 t salt, divided

• 4 t granulated sugar

• 1/6 t vanilla (just estimate)

• 1/4 c almond flour

• 1/3 + 1/4 c powdered sugar

• Food coloring

Peppermint Ganache

• 1 mini candy cane

• 1 T butter

• 2 T milk

• 1/4 c chocolate chips

Directions

1. Combine almond flour, powdered sugar, and 1/8 t salt in a food processor and blend until the mixture is fine. Sift mixture and set aside.

2. Add egg white and 1/4 t salt into a mixing bowl. Beat until SOFT peaks form. Beat in granulated sugar 1 t at a time. Beat until STIFF peaks have formed. Peaks will not collapse and you can even turn the bowl of egg whites upside down over your head and nothing will fall out! Add vanilla and food coloring (if using) and beat until combined. See video below for what stiff peaks should look like.

3. Macaronage. Fold in the sifted almond flour mixture in thirds, folding till just combined. Do not over or under mix the batter. The mixture should resemble molten lava. You should be able to draw a figure 8 with the batter and it should last 10 seconds before disappearing (refer to the sources above for this stage, I'm still figuring it out).

4. Fill a piping bag with a 3/8 in opening with the macaron batter. If creating peppermint swirls, add a little bit of food coloring to a chopstick or skewer and create three lines of color on the interior of the piping bag.

5. Pipe ~20 macarons on a parchment paper-lined sheet pan. Tap the pan forcefully on the counter FIVE times to get rid of air bubbles.

6. Let macarons rest for 30-60 minutes until a film forms on top. You should be able to run your hands over them without it sticking to you. See video below for what a film should look like.

7. Preheat oven to 300˚F (325˚F for my oven) and bake for 12-17 minutes. The bake time is very sensitive and depends on each batch. Macarons should not really brown and their tops should not harden. Try to take them out when they seem set but not burnt. I'm still working on this too.

8. Ganache. Crush candy cane into small pieces. Add to a bowl with chopped butter and melt the butter in the microwave. Add milk and microwave for 30-40 s until milk is warm. Try to dissolve the candy cane as much as possible. Add chocolate chips and mix together until smooth. Pour ganache into a piping bag without a tip cut out yet. Let ganache cool (in the fridge or at room temperature) until it becomes a paste instead of a liquid. Fill macarons with ganache.

9. Store filled macarons in an air tight container overnight before consuming. This allows the cookies to soften and flavor to develop (there's a huge difference).

Stiff peaks:

Film: