peppermint vanilla macarons

makes 30 shells (15 assembled macarons)

shells

105 g egg whites

1/8th tsp cream of tartar

105 g sugar

½ tsp peppermint extract

5 drops red food coloring

137 g almond flour

125 g powdered sugar

1. add egg whites to the bowl of a stand mixer with a whisk attachment

2. turn mixer to medium speed and mix until egg whites are foamy

3. add cream of tartar and continue mixing until egg whites start to turn white with smaller bubbles

4. while mixing, slowly pour in sugar

5. once mixture reaches medium peaks, add peppermint extract and food coloring

6. turn mixer to high speed and whip egg whites to very stiff peaks

7. in a separate bowl, whisk together almond flour and powdered sugar

8. sift mixture into egg white mixture, ½ at a time, mixing in between using a silicone spatula

9. mix until batter falls off spatula in long ribbon

10. transfer batter to piping bag with round tip

11. pipe 2” circles onto lined baking tray. a silicone liner with macaron lines printed on it is very helpful at this point, but parchment paper works as well

12. tap tray on table several times to release air bubbles in macarons

13. set shells aside for about an hour, until the top of each shell feels dry to the touch

14. preheat oven to 300°

15. bake shell for 20 minutes. turn the tray 180° after the first 10 minutes

16. remove from tray and allow to cool completely before filling

vanilla buttercream

¼ cup softened, unsalted butter

½ cup powdered sugar

½ tsp vanilla extract

1. add butter and powdered sugar to bowl of stand mixer with paddle attachment

2. on a low speed, mix until combined

3. add vanilla extract

4. turn mixer to medium-high and whip until light and fluffy

5. transfer to piping bag

6. pipe into center of half of macaron shells. sandwich each filled shell with an unfilled shell.

7. for best results, place filled macarons in an airtight container and refrigerate overnight before serving.