The simplicity of simple s’mores macarons.
You all probably already know my love for macarons. Whenever I have the opportunity to make macarons, I am going to make them. I LOVE them! I will admit that they drove me crazy when I first started making them. I wanted them to be just perfect. If you have every made macarons before, then you know exactly what I am talking about.
Those feet may not rise the way you want them to or the tops of them have a little crack. Whatever the imperfection may be, it would drive my crazy. Enough to make them multiple times until I finally got the feel of making them. Yep. It truly is a baking technique that you will get a ‘feel’ for.
Enter in my new concoction: simple s’mores macarons.
How to love making macarons.
I will admit that making macarons may seem like a hassle or a technique that is too tricky for the average baker. I consider myself and average home baker who has ‘practically’ conquered the making of macarons. I know my feet could be a little prettier and my macarons could have a more symmetrical shape. I think the fact that I have that well-known texture of a macaron down is a win in and of its self!
What well-known texture am I talking about? You know how the outer part of the macaron is like a shell. Once you bite through that shell, you will come to a soft and chewy middle. Then you meet the filling. Y’all. I love macarons!
Practice makes perfect when it comes to macarons. I don’t even use pastry bags half the time when piping out my macarons. I use a good ol’ plastic storage bag that I cut one end off for piping. Figuring out the technique is the answer to loving the process of making macarons.
The process.
First off, you need to bring your eggs to room temperature. I will let mine sit out all morning before using them. I have heard of some even letting them sit out for an entire day before using them. The temperature of the egg white needs to be at room temperature before you even start fooling with it.
Prep and more prep. You must have everything prepped ahead of time. There is no time to run back to the pantry when you are in the middle of making macarons, especially the whipping of the egg whites. When whipping the egg whites, you want to bring them to a stiff peak. Not a soft peak or a sort of stiff peak. It needs to be at a stiff peak.
If you are quite sure about this technique or what a stiff peak actually looks like, I would check out tutorial videos on You Tube. That’s what I did 😉 The other part of the process that is important is to not over stir the meringue and flour mixture. You want to gently fold it together. You just whipped up those egg whites and don’t want to flatten them! This took me a bit of getting use too. Once I got the timing just right, it was right.
The last part is the drying of the tops. This is what gives the macarons that shell texture. If you don’t let them set, then your tops could crack or not rise correctly. The humidity plays a big part in this. Believe me, Louisiana likes to play tricks on my macarons!
Simple S'mores Macarons
Love s'mores? Well, you need to give these simple s'mores macarons a try! They bring all that flavor from the campfire to your dessert tray, and we are here for it!
Ingredients
- Macarons:
- 3/4 cup of super fine almond flour
- 8 graham crackers
- 2 cups of powdered sugar
- 1/4 cup of granulated sugar
- 3 egg whites, at room temp
- 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 tsp almond extract
- Filling:
- 1 tub of marshmallow cream
- 1/4 tbsp of heavy cream
- 1/2 cup of mini chocolate chips
Instructions
- Prep the parchment paper. You will need about 3 cookie sheets worth.
- Premeasure all the ingredients; this will be a huge saver when it comes to prepping the meringue.
- Prep the almond flour and graham crackers first. Place the almond flour and graham crackers into a food processor and blend until the graham crackers are crushed into the almond flour.
- Next, sift the almond flour/graham cracker mixture and powdered sugar; set aside
- Whip the egg whites and cream of tartar until foamy.
- Add the granulated sugar, a little bit at a time.
- Add the vanilla and almond extract.
- Continue to whip the egg whites until the mixture reaches stiff peaks. Make sure to not over beat!
- Slowly incorporate the almond flour/powdered sugar mixture.
- With a rubber spatula, fold the powdered mixture into the meringue; make sure to not over stir or mix. It will be about 45 folds to get all the powdered mixture incorporated.
- Carefully transfer the batter to a prepared pastry bag or you can even use a gallon ziploc bag.
- Cut the end of the bag, and pipe about a quarter-sized rounds onto the parchment paper lined trays, spacing about 1 inch apart.
- Tap the trays about 4-5 times, trying to release any trapped air. Allow the batter rounds to set for at least 45 minutes. This is a crucial step in the formation of the feet. Here in Louisiana, it will take the entire 45 minutes for the tops of the batter rounds to set enough. (set= touch the top of the batter rounds and the batter doesn't stick to your finger).
- Preheat oven to 300 (275 convection) during the setting time.
- Bake the batter rounds for 10-12 minutes, until the edges start turning slightly brown. DO NOT OVER COOK!
Remove the cooked rounds from the oven, and allow to cool on the counter top. - Prep the filling, starting with the chocolate ganache. In a medium bowl, add the chocolate chips.
- Heat up the heavy cream to boiling and pour over the chocolate. Do not stir! Let it sit for 2 minutes.
- Stir the chocolate and heavy cream until it is all well blended. Then cover and allow to cool before using.
- Add 1/2 the jar of marshmallow cream to a gallon ziploc bag, and do the same with the chocolate ganache.
- When ready, you will cut the tips off of each filling bag.
- Add about a quarter size of the chocolate ganache, followed by the marshmallow cream onto the top of each bottom of macaron. Gently press the tops on after adding the filling.
- Once done, keep these stored in an air tight container. In the fridge for 1 week, in the freezer for 3 months!
Don’t wait for the campfire.
You don’t need a campfire to enjoy these simple s’mores macarons! Don’t let the fear of macarons keep you from giving this recipe a try. Like I said above, practice makes perfect. What better way to practice than with this yummy simple s’mores macarons recipe?
More macarons recipes:
Pink Macarons with a Cream Cheese Buttercream
Macarons with a Buttercream Filling
Hugs!
