If you are a usual follower on my blog, then you’ll know that I love to bake (and eat) macarons.  If you are just arriving here for pumpkin week, I’ll explain my love for macarons: I discovered that I needed to learn how to bake these treats when I found out the cost of them in the store – normally about $2 each. When you love macarons like I do, it can be quite the costly investment to satiate your hunger for them!

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I was inspired by the pumpkin macarons in the Williams Sonoma catalog:

But at $40 for a box of 12, I thought to myself… I can make those! So I did. They obviously used a black airbrush to get the pumpkin faces onto their macarons; I used a black food marker.

Materials needed: (affiliate links are used for your convenience)

• • parchment paper or silpat (I like this silpat made in France)
  • silicone spatula
  • electric mixer (your hand will get tired whipping the meringue, I use this super professional one in cherry red, but this  model is wonderful too! )
  • a food scale (yes, you need this. I use this one)
  • a piping tip and piping bag (I like the ateco #806, I use these tips and piping bag)
  • Food coloring (the gels or dry powder works best, not the liquid store stuff)
  • A macaron template
  • food processor (I use this one)

PRINTABLE RECIPE HERE

Macarons Recipe – adapted from Laduree

275g ground almonds

250g powdered sugar

210g egg whites

210g granulated sugar

1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1.  Mix almond meal and the powdered sugar in a food processor. Be careful not to grind too long, otherwise it will form a paste.

2. Sift the almonds, pumpkin pie spice, and powdered sugar. Set aside. (I admit I did not do this step this time and that is why mine are a little bumpy!)

3. Weigh out granulated sugar.

4. Weigh the egg whites.  Beat them slowly on a low speed until foamy. SLOWLY add the granulated sugar to the egg whites as you beat.  Once all mixed, increase speed to medium and beat until a firm meringue forms.  You want a firm meringue with glossy peaks but not stiff peaks.  They should defy gravity and remain in the bowl if you turn it upside down.  If you tilt your bowl to the side and they are sliding out, keep beating.

5. Add the food coloring gel and mix.

6. Then fold in 1/3^rd of the almond/sugar mixture into the meringue with a silicone spatula.  Once combined, add another third of the almond mixture. Add last bit.  This batter requires more deflation during this step since it creates such a poofy meringue.

7. Add the batter to a piping bag.  Pipe in rows using your template onto parchment paper.

8. Pick up the pan and beat until the counter.  The cookies need to rest on the counter between 30-60 minutes.  They are ready to go in the oven when they are dry to touch (the shell shouldn’t stick to your finger)

9.  Set the oven to 300F.

10. Bake the cookies for 13-15 minutes, one sheet at a time. They are done when they look kind of matte and seem firm when you lightly tap on them.  You can always rescue a slightly overcooked one with the maturation process that comes later, but you cannot rescue an undercooked one!!

11. Remove from paper once completely cool. If they stick to the paper, they aren’t cool yet. Or you undercooked them.

Pumpkin Spice Filling – adapted from Sweet and Savory by Shinee

•3 tbsp unsalted butter, softened

•1 cup powdered sugar

•1 tbsp pure pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling!)

•1 tsp heavy cream

•1/8 tsp salt

•1/8 tsp ground cinnamon

•1/8 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1Cream the butter using a wire mixer on your mixing machine. Cream until light and fluffy.

2Add all of the other ingredients. Beat until well combined.

3Pipe or spread your filling onto the macaron shells!

HINTS! The macarons taste better if enjoyed the next day. Spread your filling onto the shells, then store in an air tight container in the fridge overnight. You can store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. You can store in an airtight container in the freezer for several months (HINT HINT bake some now for Thanksgiving later!)

Have you tried the Williams Sonoma pumpkin macarons?

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As you know, I LOVE macarons.  Earlier this year I did a feature, Macaron Mondays, for a few months.  For this upcoming Halloween, I created some scary cat chocolate hazelnut macarons!

The recipe is adapted from Laduree’s Sucre book.

scary cat chocolate hazelnut macarons

Materials needed:

• silicone spatula (I use this one)

• parchment paper or silat (I like this silpat made in France)

• electric mixer (your hand will get tired whipping the meringue, I use a Kitchenaid, I actually use this super professional one in cherry red, but the entry level model is a nice start too! )

• a food scale (yes, you need this. I use this one)

• a piping tip and piping bag (I like the ateco #806, I use these tips and piping bag)

• Food coloring (the gels or dry powder works best, not the liquid store stuff)
• A macaron template (either make one or get one here or here. It makes piping easier)

• food processor (for the cream filling, I use this one)
• Googly food eyes
• Food marker

Chocolate Macaron Shell – CLICK HERE FOR A PRINTABLE RECIPE

260g almond flour

250g powdered sugar

15g cocoa powder

210g granulated sugar

210g egg whites

1.  Mix almond meal, cocoa powder, and the powdered sugar in a food processor. Be careful not to grind too long, otherwise it will form a paste.

2. Sift the almonds, cocoa powder, and powdered sugar. Set aside.

3. Weigh out granulated sugar.

4. Weigh the egg whites.  Beat them slowly on a low speed until foamy. SLOWLY add the granulated sugar to the egg whites as you beat.  Once all mixed, increase speed to medium and beat until a firm meringue forms.  You want a firm meringue with glossy peaks but not stiff peaks.  They should defy gravity and remain in the bowl if you turn it upside down.  If you tilt your bowl to the side and they are sliding out, keep beating.

5. Add the food coloring gel and mix.  To make mine a richer brown color, I used “chocolate brown” food coloring.

6. Then fold in 1/3^rd of the almond/sugar mixture into the meringue with a silicone spatula.  Once combined, add another third of the almond mixture. Add the last bit.  This batter requires more deflation during this step since it creates such a poofy meringue.

7. Add the batter to a piping bag.  Pipe in rows using your template onto parchment paper.  To add the cat ears, pipe a tiny bit and use the flick of your wrist to make it point at the tip.  This takes some practice.  I piped half the rows with cat ears and the other half as regular circles.  This way when you assemble the cookies you have the cat on one side and a regular circle on the other.

8. Pick up the pan and beat until the counter.  The cookies need to rest on the counter between 30-60 minutes.  They are ready to go in the oven when they are dry to touch (the shell shouldn’t stick to your finger)

9.  Set the oven to 300F.

10. Bake the cookies for 13-15 minutes one sheet at a time. They are done when they look kind of matte and seem firm when you lightly tap on them.  You can always rescue a slightly overcooked one with the maturation process that comes later, but you cannot rescue an undercooked one!!

11.  Remove from paper once completely cool. If they stick they stick to the paper, they aren’t cool yet. Or you undercooked them.

Assembly and filling:Ingredients for the filling

•Chocolate Hazelnut filling (I cheated and used Nutella!)

•googly eyes

•food markers

•flat circles for the nose (I used some sprinkles from decorating sugar cookies)

•small tube of frosting (to glue the eyes to the cat)

1. Once your cookies have cooled, draw a cat’s face with the black food marker.

2. Pipe two circles on the cat’s face and attach the googly eyes.

3.  Fill the inside with a small amount of Nutella and twist the back on.

4.  Store inside the refrigerator for approximately 24 hours before enjoying… trust me, it will taste better!

chocolate cat macarons

Chocolate Cat Macarons!

getting the cat ears right takes practice!

I had fun taking pictures of these cute little cookies!

scary cat chocolate hazelnut macaron