Almond Raspberry Holiday Macarons Recipe

Hello everyone!  It’s Mercedes from Satisfy My Sweet Tooth here to share a wonderful recipe for Almond Raspberry Holiday Macarons! Macarons are known for being somewhat fussy, but it only takes a few key steps to achieve light, pillowy cookies with puffy feet around the edges. This recipe has never let me down before, and I’m excited to share it with you!

Macaron shell recipe adapted from Food Nouveau

• 3 large egg whites, aged at least 2 days (all that means is that you separate your egg whites and leave them in the refrigerator in a sealed container for 2 days before you use them)
• 210 grams powdered sugar
• 125 grams finely ground almonds
• 30 grams granulated sugar
• green gel food coloring

For the raspberry buttercream:

• 1/4 cup frozen raspberries, thawed
• 4 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

To make the macarons:

1. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. Sift together the powdered sugar and ground almonds in a medium bowl and set aside.
3. In a large bowl, beat egg whites with an electric hand mixer on medium speed until bubbly.  Add granulated sugar in several increments and continue beating on medium speed after each addition.
4. Turn mixer speed to high and continue beating until stiff peaks form (you should be able to turn the bowl upside down and the egg whites do not move).
5. Add green gel food coloring and mix.
6. Add half of the powdered sugar mixture to the stiff egg whites and fold together with a rubber spatula until almost fully incorporated. Add the other half of the powdered sugar mixture and fold together until no streaks of the dry ingredients remain.
7. Assemble a piping bag with a #4 or #5 round tip and pipe 1 1/2-inch circles of the batter onto the baking sheets, leaving 2 inches between each cookie.
8. Tap cookie sheet on the countertop to release any air bubbles.
9. Preheat oven to 300°F. Allow batter to rest on the cookie sheets while the oven preheats.
10. Bake about 14-16 minutes, or until you can lift a cookie off the parchment paper in one whole piece.
11. Cool cookie shells completely before filling.

For the raspberry buttercream:

1. Place thawed raspberries in a fine mesh sieve set over a small bowl and press berries against the sieve to release the juices. Discard seeds in the sieve.
2. In a small bowl, combine butter, powdered sugar and raspberry juice until smooth and creamy.
3. Pipe or spread buttercream onto one cookie shell and top with another shell.  Repeat with the remaining cookies.