25 years. That's how long it took me to get these right and to create a base recipe that works...every single time. This recipe can be used for colored macarons shells or flavored ones.
INGREDIENTS
3 Egg Whites (90 g) …MUST BE ROOM TEMP
¼ cup white sugar (50 g)
2 cups powdered sugar (200 g)
1 cup almond flour (120 g)… dry almond flour in 200F oven for 20 minutes. Cool completely.
pinch of salt
¼ tsp cream of tartar
DIRECTIONS:
1. Sift almond flour and powdered sugar together into a small bowl. Set aside
2. Beat egg whites until foamy (think dish soap foam), add salt, cream of tartar. Sprinkle ¼ cup of sugar bit by bit as you whip the egg whites to a stiff peak. Not soft peak…full stiff peaks with no floppy points.
3. If you are dying the macaron shells, add coloring now and whip to combine. This is also the moment to add flavoring. For. Example, for cinnamon flavored macarons, add 1 tablespoon cinnamon at this moment instead of coloring and whip until combined. Do not over whip. It will cause the shells to crack in the oven.
4. Fold almond flour mixture into the egg white meringue. Mixture should look like lose instant oatmeal.
5. Prepare baking sheets and add silpat or parchment paper.
6. Transfer batter to a pastry bag with a ½ inch round tip at the end..
7. Pipe out 1 inch rounds on a baking sheet about 1 inch apart.
8. Tap the pan hard at least 2-3 times. This will pop the big air bubbles in the batter.
9. Let baking sheets sit out for at least 30 minutes to dry out the tops of the macarons. You want a tacky film to form on each one.
10. While they are sitting out, preheat oven to 275F convection or 300F regular.
11. Bake for 20 minutes. Not a minute more or less!