Pistachio Macarons

After Laduree opened I had the urge to try out the various attempts to make macarons. And failed miserably.

Then I saw Anne Thornton's recipe. I'll be brutally honest, at first she didn't impress me. I know she has an inner fun goofball that is dying to get out. Then I would like her better. But then I tried her macaron recipe. I LOVE HER.

It worked. It actually worked. I used her suggestions to make pistachio ones. Prepare for an onset of macaron recipes.

Few notes: make sure the egg whites come to room temperature. They whip up faster that way. A pastry bag is really needed for piping them. My ziplock exploded which is why they look more like whoopie pies than macarons. And finally, depending on how lazy you are feeling, the filling can be made with store bought or homemade ingredients. Your choice.

Pistachio Macarons

Recipe by Anne Thornton

What you need:

1 1/4 cup almond meal

1 3/4 confectioner's sugar

3 egg whites, at room temperature

3 tablespoons meringue powder

Green food coloring

Cream cheese frosting (homemade or store bought)

Ground Pistachios or pistachio pudding mix

What you do:

Preheat the oven to 300 F. Sift together the almond meal and confectioner's sugar. In a bowl with an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat the egg whites on l! ow speed until they become foamy. Then sprinkle in the meringue powder and increase the speed to medium high. The egg whites will start to expand and become marshmallow like. At this point add the green food coloring and beat some more until stiff peaks form. To check this, take off the whisk attachment and see if the meringue curls over.

Carefully fold in third of the dry ingredients into the meringue, not deflating any of the stiff peaks. Once it is completely combined fold in the next third then fold in the last third. Put the meringue in a pastry bag or a plastic ziplock bag with a corner cut off. Pipe 1 inch round circles onto a cookie sheet with parchment paper. You'll need two cookie sheets. With wet hands, smooth over the tops of the cookies. Allow them to sit for 30-60 minutes.

Once they are done sitting, bake for exactly 15 minutes. When they are cooling, make the filling by combining the cream cheese frosting with whichever pistachio medium you have chosen. Frost one side of the cookie and sandwich it with another.