Chocolate & Peanut Butter Macarons

   Good golly, this week flew by!
  
   Anyway, time flying aside, this recipe was inspired from our time in Paris this summer. We only spent a few days there between being in Belgium and The Netherlands, but the food there was inspiring! Shops filled with beautiful chocolates, macarons, meringues, cheese, breads, pastries.....oh goodness.... 

   Before leaving this past summer, I came across a recipe for S'mores Macarons on a blog called Liv For Cake. Somehow her down-to-earth-ness made the idea of making macrons a little easier! I was always pretty intimidated by macarons! They seemed so fussy and delicate and I'm like a big ogre sometimes when it comes to working in my kitchen (I broke a dish while drying it with a towel the other day!), and I felt like I just couldn't do macarons! 

   Well, having this tiny possibility in my mind of being able to make them was a great way to enter Paris, France. I got to see macarons being made in a few shops, and actually seeing the process added to the smidge of confidence I had gained from Olivia (at Liv For Cake). I now felt that, ogre or not, I was going to try my hand at macarons!

   So, a macaron is not a macaroon. A macaron is a meringue (egg-white) based treat. It's actually (in it's truest form) gluten-free because it's made with almond meal. Then colour and flavour is added and ganache, buttercream or jam is sandwiched between 2 cookies. 

   A macaroon is something else....I think. Ok, truth is, it's hard to find out the exact origins or reasons behind the 2 words and what they mean. Though, to keep it simple, 'round here, a macaroon is still an egg-white based dessert (just not meringue-d), it's just mixed with shredded coconut then baked. Cassey at Blogilates (get it? It's like Pilates and blog...? Anywho) has this little photo comparison for you to go "ohhhh, yes, I see now....."

    She's also got a healthy alternative to the snack, if ya wanna see it, look here. It's like a mash-up up a macaron and a macaroon, and it looks puuurdy tasty.  :) 
       
    Also, I have a (not healthy) no-bake macaroon here....it's chocolate and peanut butter too, actually.....

Look at those beautiful macarons!

    So, when I got down to it; to actually making macarons, I turned to Google! I didn't need to re-invent the wheel, and I knew someone else would have thought of what I was thinking: peanut butter and chocolate! For realz though......I never saw a single peanut butter and chocolate macaron in France....I think this flavour combo used in such a lovely French dessert is possibly an insult to the dessert....but only in France! On this side of the pond we like to mix it up! 

   I found at Sally's Baking Addiction a recipe for Chocolate Peanut Butter Macarons, and got to work! 

Chocolate & Peanut Butter Macarons
Adapted recipe from Sally's Baking Addiction. Go to her recipe for the weight measurements for the cookies.


Ingredients:

Macaron Cookies

• 2 Tbsp Cocoa powder
• 2 Cups icing (confectioners') sugar 
• 1 Cup almond flour
• 3 Egg whites, room temperature (it's easier to split the white from the yolk when the egg is cold, then let it sit to come to room temperature) 
• 1/8 Tsp salt
• 3 Tbsp (granulated or caster) sugar 

Peanut Butter Filling

• 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
• 2 Tbsp butter, room temperature
• 1/2 Cup icing (confectioners') sugar
• 1/2 Tsp vanilla extract
• 1/8 Tsp salt
• optional: 1-2 Tablespoons milk, as needed to thin

Directions:

Cookies:

1. Preheat oven to 325 (see step #7 & 8-if you decide to let the unbaked macarons sit, you'll want to turn the oven on then) and prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside
2. Sift or whisk the cocoa powder, icing sugar, and almond flour together. Set aside
3. Using a handheld or stand mixer, beat the egg whites, salt, and granulated sugar together on medium speed for up to 2 minutes. Switch to a higher speed and beat well--but not too well (if you over beat the egg-whites you'll end up with really hollow cookies). The whipped egg whites should stay put if you hold the bowl upside-down.
4. Add the dry mixture into the whipped egg whites and begin to fold them together. Be fairly gentle while doing this. You want a "lava" consistency once it's fully incorporated
5. Fit your piping bag with a circle tip and fill the piping bag with the batter. Pipe evenly sized rounds onto the baking sheets (if you want them perfect, just trace 2 inch circles onto the baking sheet, then flip the sheet over so that you can still see the circle, but the pen/pencil/whatever you used isn't actually touching the cookie) **A piping tip from Sally: "make sure you are holding the bag vertically and close to the baking sheet. While piping, the batter will slightly spread out, so keep that in mind"
6. Hold onto the baking sheet, and tap it on your counter to get rid of any large air bubbles. This will keep the cookies from cracking while baking!
7. This next step is a step I don't do. Some people swear by it, other say it doesn't matter, but you can do it or not and decide for yourself! This is what Sally says:
8. "Let the piped rounds sit for at least 45 minutes and up to 1 hour. This is crucial to making macarons! The air will will help the rounds set and form a dry shell. They should not be sticky going into the oven"  Turn your oven on at this point if you decide to let the unbaked macarons dry out before baking. 
9. Bake the macarons for 10 minutes, one baking sheet at a time. It's important (unless you have a convection oven) to rotate the pan at the 5 minute mark so that they bake evenly. The macarons are done when the tops look lightly crisped, and they have the classic macaron "feet" 
10. Allow to cool completely on the baking sheet before filling.

Filling:

1. Using a handheld or stand mixer, beat the peanut butter and butter together on medium-high speed until smooth. Turn the mixer to low and mix in the icing sugar, vanilla, and salt. Once all the sugar is added in, turn the speed back up, and beat until light and creamy. If the filling seems too thick, add 1-2 Tablespoons of milk while beating to thin out
   
2. Pipe or spoon the peanut butter mixture onto one cookie, take another cookie, and gently sandwich them together to make the macaron!

    
   Voilà!!!  That's French for "look at what I did!" (a very loose translation, to be sure)  :)  

Top left is the little flat we stayed in while in Paris. Top right is the river Seine (reminds me of Van Gogh's "Starry Night") The middle row shows a cat that was sitting in an open door, the Eiffel Tower, and a super fresh, warm, chocolate filled croissant (yum!!!) The bottom is a sunset shot along the river Seine

   There are so many tips and tricks that people have for making the most amazing macaron! Me? My only real tip is to not be discouraged if they don't turn out perfect the first time you make them!!! 

   There can be many things that effect your results. Baking sheet type, oven temperature, humidity on the day you make them, almond flour being not fine enough, yadda yadda, yadda there is a list a mile long with why a macaron might work or not-but just do your best! Follow directions, look at a bunch of different recipes, see what other are saying, and go for it!

   You can see in my photos that mine are not perfect looking, but they tasted amazing (x1000), had a nice crisp outside, a soft chocolatey inside, and I wasn't trying to win any macaron contest, so who cares if they would be approved by the French themselves!?! Not me! :)   Just enjoy the process, and see what you can do! Oh, and if you have kids, they'll eat them (pretty much) no matter what!

   
   Let's take a break to talk about some of the photos my husband took of me while we were in France.....the "nicest" one above (bottom left) is so cheesy, and was preceded by the photo on the bottom right where Adam was saying something like, "can't you just make a normal face and smile?", and that's what he got. I am a child.Oh, and the top 2 photos need no explanation. 

   The photos above (which I feel I am probably not allowed to post?) are from the Museum d'Orsay. It was strange experience because you were allowed to take photos (that is not normal in a museum), but it also made people a little rude. Someone we talked to described it as a "blockbuster" museum because people were more concerned about being able to say they were there (so many people doing selfies in front of Van Gogh paintings!), and didn't really seem to want to stop and look, and appreciate the amazing art. Anyway, we still enjoyed it, and I got to see work from some of my favourite artists and influencers Paul Cezanne, Vincent Van Gogh, Claude Monet and Edgar Degas. 

   Then we left the museum and I got more macarons.  :) 

   I hope everyone has a good weekend! We've got no big plans...the hubby is working a weekend of night shifts which means we awake people need to stay outside, or stay inside quietly! I am planning on baking this weekend (big surprise here, yes?), and just having some quality time with my kids! 

Happy weekend time!