French Macaroons: My first time

After a long lull in baking posts I finally have something new for you all. The past week has been crazy since finals are right around the corner. I have had exam, after paper, after project and am just exhausted. To help me with my stress I decided to do some baking. I don't know why I thought baking macaroons would be a stress reliever but it was the first thing that popped into my head. I am very proud of how these macaroons turned out, especially since this was my first time every attempting to make them.

First off, let me say that before I made these macaroons I watched a few videos on YouTube so that I could get some guidance, other then what the recipe was giving me.

Here are the videos I found the most helpful
1) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJ636Y8N6E8
2) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1sO7FeXTO-w

Ingredients Needed:

1 cup almond meal (or almond flour)
2 cups powdered sugar
3 egg whites (at room temperature)
1/4 cup granulated sugar
pinch of salt
Gel food coloring








Directions:

1) Sift your almond meal and powdered sugar together and set aside. You want this mixture to be very fine and lack any lumps.
2) Next in a clean bowl, place your egg whites in and beat the mixture on medium for 4 minutes until the eggs become frothy. Then add your granulated sugar and salt to the mixture and beat the eggs on high for another 6 minutes until stiff peaks form.
3) If you want to color your cookies now is the time to add gel food coloring to your egg whites and beat the mixture so the color blends in.
4) Now gradually fold in the almond mixture with your egg whites mixture. This step is the hardest part because you do not want to underfold the mixture or overfold the mixture. You should be able to tell if the almond mixture has been folded because the mixture should be smooth.
5) Next place your almond mixture into a piping bag and start piping 1.5 in circles onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
6) Once you are done piping out your macaroons slam the baking sheet a couple times on a hard service to smooth out the tops of your cookies. Let the macaroons sit for 30 minutes so the tops of the cookie set.
7) Pre-heat your oven to 300 degrees F. Bake your cookies for 18 minutes.
*Note: I used a hand mixer for this recipe so the times for how long to beat the egg whites are based on the equipment I used.

The Macaroons setting, before they go in the oven

Your macaroons are now done. You can fill them with buttercream frosting, chocolate ganache, jam, or lemon curd. I ended up filling my macaroons with a chocolate hazelnut spread.