Cookies and Cream Macarons

For this blog, I decided to try something that I've never attempted before! So get ready for my two cents in my journey of making macarons for the first time.

Class Rating: 4.3/5

In this blog, I usually switch back and forth between baking and cooking, but I messed up the order for this post. It should be a cooking post, but I decided on trying a brand new recipe. And it was really more convenient for me to bake instead of cook. I decided I wanted to try making macarons, and these cookies and cream version looked the easiest, and how can you really mess them up?

I had to first research macarons. I found out they are spelled macaron, not macaroon, like how it is pronounced. Macaron is French, and the English language adopted the term macaroon. I also learned about how consistency is everything. I know a lot about consistencies because I make a lot of royal frosting for cookies, so I wasn't too worried about that part.

spelled macaron, not macaroon

I had most of the ingredients that the recipe called for, but I had to go to the store to pick up Oreos, almond flour, and dark cocoa powder. Almond flour is very expensive! I found more of it for cheaper on Amazon, so if you plan to make a lot of them, that is where I would suggest getting it from. I also got Double Stuff Oreos, because the recipe calls for 1/2 cup of the filling, and I didn't want to come up short.

Making the shells and the filling was not difficult, but you have to make sure you follow the recipe to a T. I read online that if you did not follow the recipe correctly, your macarons would not turn out. The only thing I did differently in the entire recipe was add more powdered sugar to the filling, because it was not stiff enough. I also found that it is crucial to let your shells sit for exactly 30 minutes before putting them in the oven.

make sure you follow the recipe to a T

When putting the macarons on the greased cookie sheets, it got quite messy with a piping bag. If you want them in perfect circles, then definitely use the piping bag. I gave up after two trays of using the piping bag and just used a spoon. I found that the spoon was a little difficult too, so I transitioned to a cookie dough scoop. The scoop was much easier, and even produced pretty round circles. If you don't have piping bags, or find that they are too much work (like I did), I would definitely suggest the cookie dough scoop. My macarons aren't perfect circles, but they are close enough.

The scoop was much easier

When I took my macarons out of the oven, I thought they looked just perfect. They smelled good, looked good, so what could go wrong? Well, they stuck to the pan. Many macaron shells were tossed or eaten without frosting because they were stuck to the pan. I didn't know what I did wrong, I thought I had followed the recipe just right. My mistake was not leaving the trays on the top oven rack the entire time. They did not get thoroughly baked, so they stuck. They still taste good, even though they may not be the prettiest!

Overall, this recipe was really good. Not too hard to make, and they taste real good. I will for sure make macarons again sometime, but probably a different flavor. There's so many to make, so I've got to try them all, right?

Ingredients:

Shells-

6 egg whites

1/2 cup sugar

2 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1 1/2 cups almond flour

1/2 cup crushed Oreo cookie

1/4 cup dark cocoa powder

1/2 tsp black food coloring (optional, I didn't have any so I didn't use)

Filling-

4 cups powdered sugar

2 cups butter, softened

2 tsp vanilla

1/4 cup milk

1/2 cup Oreo cream filling

Directions:

1. Beat the egg whites until fluffy.

2. Keep beating, and slowly add the sugar until stiff peaks form.

3. Sift together powdered sugar, cookie crumbs, almond flour, and cocoa powder over the egg whites mix.

4. Fold into the egg whites, but don't over mix or else the macarons will not rise.

5. Add food coloring (optional).

6. Place mixture into a piping bag, and pipe circles onto cookie sheets lined with parchment paper.

7. Let the batter rest at room temperature for 30 minutes until they are dry to the touch.

8. Filling- mix the butter, powdered sugar, Oreo cream filling, vanilla, and milk in a bowl until smooth.

9. Preheat the oven to 285 degrees.

10. Bake for 15-18 minutes.

11. Let them rest for about 10 minutes before filling.

12. When filling the macaroon, place a spoonful of frosting on top of one shell and place another on top.

13. Keep refrigerated.

These are very delicious so I recommend you give them a try! And even if they don't come out looking okay, they will still probably taste alright and you'll even have a story to share of that one time you tried to make a complicated dessert.