Almond Chocolate Macaroons Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
• Finely grind the almonds, sugar, cinnamon and salt in a food processor.
• Separate one of the eggs and add the white, the other egg, and almond extract and process until the mixture holds together. Transfer to a bowl and stir in the chocolate.
• Moisten hands and roll mixture into 1-inch balls. Place on prepared cookie sheet. Flatten to 1/3-inch thick rounds.
• Bake until tops puff and centers are still soft, about 12 minutes. Remove to a rack and cool completely. Replace parchment paper for next round of cookies.

Steps:

• For the ganache: Combine the chopped chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl set over a pot with 1-inch of simmering water, making sure the bottom of the bowl does not touch the water. Cook, stirring occasionally, until melted and smooth. Stir in the cream, vanilla and salt, and then remove from the heat. Set aside until cooled and thickened, stirring occasionally, 30 to 45 minutes.
• For the cookies: Position an oven rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 325 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Using a small glass or cookie cutter (1 1/4 to 1 1/2-inch wide), trace 15 circles on each piece of parchment paper, leaving about 2 inches between each round. Flip the parchment over; the lines will be visible through the paper but you will not have to pipe directly onto the ink. Fit a pastry bag with a round tip about 1/4-inch wide.
• Sift the confectioners' sugar and ground almonds into a bowl and discard any larger nut chunks. (If you have more than a tablespoon of bigger chunks, grind those until powdery and then resift.) Combine the egg whites and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment (or in a large bowl with the whisk attachment of a hand-held electric mixer). Whip on medium-low speed until frothy, and then add the granulated sugar. Increase the speed to medium-high and whip until very soft peaks form. Add the almond extract and a few drops of food coloring if using. Whip until stiff peaks form. Fold about one-third of the sugar-nut mixture into the egg whites until blended, and then fold in the remaining two-thirds. The batter should be a bit fluid but not runny. It should slowly drip off the spatula and sit on top of the batter in the bowl for a bit before eventually oozing back into it. If it seems a bit stiff at this point, fold once or twice more until it relaxes, although be careful not to over fold. This correct texture is the key to the macaron and it is better to have a stiffer batter than a looser one.
• Transfer the batter to the prepared pastry bag. Holding the bag perpendicular over the baking sheet, squeeze until the batter fills a circle drawn on the paper. Release the pressure on the bag and pull towards you to prevent a pointy tip on the center of the cookie. Repeat with the remaining circles. Gently flatten any points on the cookies with a damp fingertip.
• Firmly rap the baking sheets against the counter to release any air bubbles and let stand at room temperature until the tops of the cookies no longer feel wet, 10 to 15 minutes. Bake, 1 sheet at a time, until the macarons are slightly crisp and the bottoms release from the parchment paper, about 15 minutes, rotating the sheet halfway through the baking time. Cool on the sheet 5 minutes, and then peel off the cookies and cool completely on a wire rack.
• To assemble the cookies, spread a thin layer of the chocolate ganache on the bottoms of half of the cookies, about 1/4 teaspoon per cookie. Top with a second cookie, gently pressing to squeeze the ganache to the rims.
• TIP: The weight of the batter in the pastry bag will force some of the batter out. To stop this, you can stick a mini marshmallow at the end of your pastry tip to block to the batter from running out the end.
• TIP: You can use store-bought almond meal in place of the whole almonds. Sift 2/3 cup with the confectioners' sugar and, if necessary, grind the larger chunks and sift until a tablespoon or less of larger chunks remain in the sifter.
• TIP: You can also spoon the batter onto the parchment lined baking sheets. The cookies may not be as perfectly round but will still taste great.

Steps:

• Set oven to 350 degrees.
• Butter generously a large cookie sheet.
• Beat egg whites and salt until stiff, but not dry.
• Beat in sugar, a little at a time; beat until mixture is thick and glossy (mixture should stand in peaks).
• Fold in almonds, vanilla and melted chocolate.
• Drop macaroons by teaspoonfuls, onto a well-greased cookie sheet.
• Bake for 12-15 minutes.
• Careful not to overbake, as the cookies will lose their texture.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
• Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Beat the egg whites until they form stiff peaks.
• Gradually beat in the cocoa, confectioners sugar, salt, and vanilla.
• Gently fold in the ground almonds.
• Drop the mixture by rounded teaspoonfuls on prepared baking sheet, leaving a 2-inch space between each macaroon.
• Bake in preheated oven for 20 to 30 minutes, until macaroons are very lightly browned.
• Let cool on baking sheet until macaroons are firm.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325°. In a large bowl, mix the first 5 ingredients until blended. Drop mixture by tablespoonfuls 2 in. apart onto parchment-lined baking sheets., Bake 16-20 minutes or until light brown. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool completely., Drizzle cookies with melted chocolate; let stand until set. Store in an airtight container.

Steps:

• Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or nonstick baking mats; set aside.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together almond paste and sugar on medium-high until almond paste breaks down and mixture is well combined, 3 to 5 minutes. Scrape down sides of bowl. Add almond extract and salt; beat until well combined.
• With the mixer running, add egg whites, 1 teaspoon at a time, beating well and scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition. The batter should be smooth and thick enough to pipe.
• Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
• Transfer batter to a pastry bag fitted with a No. 4 (1/2-inch) pastry tip. Holding pastry tip about 3/4 inch above the parchment paper on prepared baking sheet, pipe a quarter-size round of batter onto parchment paper. Lift the bag off the batter a slight sideways jerking motion of your hand, producing a flat, rather than pointy, top on the cookie. Continue piping cookies about 1 inch apart, trying to finish with as small a peak as possible to leave tops rounded and smooth. Wet a finger with warm water to smooth out any remaining peaked tops; sprinkle generously with sugar. Let stand at room temperature 15 to 20 minutes so that a thin, crisp crust develops on outside of each cookie.
• Transfer baking sheets to oven and bake, rotating baking sheets top to bottom and back to front two-thirds through, until set but not browned and still gooey in the centers, 18 to 20 minutes. Transfer baking sheet to a wire rack; let cookies cool on baking sheets for 10 minutes. Transfer cookies to wire rack to cool completely.
• To fill cookies, place 1 teaspoon ganache on the bottom of one cookie, sandwich with the flat side of a second cookie. Repeat process with remaining ganache and cookies.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 180C/ fan 160C/ Gas 4. Put the almonds on a baking tray and bake on the top shelf of the oven for 5 minutes. Remove and leave to cool.
• Whisk the egg whites until they form stiff peaks. Whisk in the caster sugar, a little at a time, until the mix thickens.
• Reserve 30 almonds for decorating, then blitz the rest in a food processor to a medium coarse powder. Fold the almonds and rice flour into the egg whites, then fold in the almond extract. Cover and chill for 30 minutes.
• Spoon the mixture onto baking sheets lined with nonstick baking paper. Put an almond on each. Bake on the top shelf of the oven for 12 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.
• Turn the cooled biscuits over and dip the base in melted dark chocolate and leave to set. Drizzle with melted white chocolate, then leave to set completely and pack into boxes or clear cellophane bags.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Sift confectioners' sugar into a bowl. Whisk in almonds; set aside. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or nonstick baking mats (such as Silpats), and mark circles using a 1 1/2-inch cutter dipped in flour.
• Put egg whites in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat on medium speed until foamy, then beat in salt. Beat in granulated sugar, 1 teaspoon at a time, until medium-soft peaks form. Transfer mixture to a large bowl.
• Using a rubber spatula, fold half the almond mixture into the egg white mixture until just incorporated. Fold in vanilla and remaining almond mixture until just incorporated. Firmly tap bottom of bowl on counter to eliminate air pockets.
• Transfer mixture to a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch plain tip (such as Ateco #806). Pipe mixture into marked circles on prepared baking sheets. Bake, rotating sheets halfway through, until macarons are slightly firm and can be gently lifted off parchment (bottoms will be dry), 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool on sheets 5 minutes. Transfer macarons on parchment to a wire rack; let cool completely.
• Spread 2 teaspoons buttercream on flat sides of half the macarons, then sandwich with remaining halves, keeping flat sides together. Refrigerate until firm, about 20 minutes, before serving.

Steps:

• Heat oven to 325°F.
• Combine coconut, sugar, flour and salt in large bowl. Add egg whites and extract; mix well. Stir in nuts and chocolate.
• Drop coconut mixture into 36 mounds, 2 inches apart, onto greased and lightly floured baking sheets, using about 1 Tbsp. coconut mixture for each.
• Bake 20 min. or until edges are golden brown. Immediately remove from baking sheets to wire racks; cool completely.