Chocolate Macarons
Ingredients:
- Chocolate Macarons
- 2 cups icing sugar
- 1 cup almond meal
- 4 Tablespoons cocoa powder
- 3 large egg whites, at room temperature
- 3 Tablespoons granulated sugar
Instructions:
- Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
- Bring the eggs to room temperature by placing them in a bowl filled with warm water for about 5 minutes.
- Sift the powdered sugar, almond meal and cocoa powder together in a large bowl.
- Put the egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer with the whisk attachment (or just use a hand mixer). Beat on medium speed until the egg whites are foamy.
- Reduce speed to low and slowly add the granulated sugar to incorporate. Bring the speed up to medium-high, and beat until stiff peaks form. You want to be able to turn the bowl upside down and have the eggs whites stay put. Be careful not to over-mix because they will get runny again. It took around 5 minutes for mine to set up.
- Add the dry ingredient mixture to the egg whites. Fold in with a spatula just until combined. You want to try to get rid of most of the lumps, but you also don't want to over-mix. If you fold it 20 - 30 times with the spatula, it should all be mixed well, and it will run very slowly off of your spatula when you lift it. All of the recipes I have read say that it will be the consistency of molten lava so have fun trying to imagine that.
- Transfer the batter to a pastry bag with a large, round tip. I find it easiest to do this if I put the bag in a large cup and fold the edges over the cup while I spoon the batter in. Pipe small circles onto the parchment-lined baking sheets. They should be about one inch circles, and you should be able to fit 24 on each sheet.
- Bang the sheets on the counter a couple of times to help them set and release some of the air bubbles. Then let them sit for 30 minutes before baking so they dry out a little.
- Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Bake one tray at a time for 7 minutes at 350. Then turn the tray around and bake for another 7 minutes. Cool completely before icing.