Phenomenal Phoods

Peanut Butter & Honey Macarons

Ingredients:

For the macarons:

• 140 grams ground almonds (used blanched almonds)
• 140 grams powdered sugar
• 100 grams egg whites (about 3 eggs)
• 100 grams sugar
• 40 grams water

For the peanut butter & honey buttercream

• 1/4 cup butter (softened)
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 tablespoon milk
• 1/2 cup crushed toffee bits (I used the Heath baking bits, optional)
• Dark chocolate (melted for drizzling)

Instructions:

For the macarons:

1. Prepare two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
2. Combine the almonds and powdered sugar in a food processor until finely ground.
3. Sift the mixture into a large bowl to remove any lumps.
4. Add 50 grams of the egg whites and mix into the almond/sugar mixture to form a paste. Add any food colouring you may be using at this stage. Set aside.
5. In another bowl, beat the remaining egg whites until soft peaks form.
6. Meanwhile, combine the sugar and water in a small saucepan.
7. Bring to a boil over low heat and continue to heat until it reaches 115 degrees C (check with a candy thermometer).
8. Once the sugar mixture reaches 115 degrees C. remove from the heat and slowly add to the beaten egg whites.
9. Mix on high for about 3 minutes or until the bowl is cool and stiff peaks form. You want to be able to turn the bowl upside down without the meringue falling out.
10. Fold the meringue into the almond paste mixture, using your spatula to press onto the sides of the bowl to smooth it out and remove any lumps.
11. Mix until you have a smooth batter that runs off of the spatula slowly in a thick ribbon.
12. Add the batter to a piping bag or ziploc with the corner cut off and fit with a size 12 round cake tip.
13. Pipe small, 1 1/2 inch circles onto the parchment paper-lined cookies sheets. You should get about 60 cookies.
14. Pipe the circles by holding the piping bag upright with the tip just above the sheet and pipe without pulling your hand up or moving it in circles.
15. Tap the baking sheets a few times on the counter to remove any air bubbles and let the cookies sit out for about 30 minutes to dry.
16. When ready, preheat oven to 300 degrees F.
17. Bake cookies for 16 minutes. Remove from the oven and let them cool completely on cooling racks before removing them from the parchment paper (they will stick when warm).

For the peanut butter & honey buttercream

1. While the cookies are cooling, make the frosting.
2. Combine the all ingredients except for the toffee bits in a bowl with a mixer until smooth. Add a little more milk if your frosting is too thick or more powdered sugar if it is too thin. It should be stiff enough to pipe but not so stiff that it’s difficult to pipe.
3. Pipe frosting onto half of the cookies and sandwich with the remaining cookies.
4. Roll the cookies in the crushed toffee bits, if using. It's a bit of a pain to get them to stick so you can skip them if you like. I just like the added texture.
5. Drizzle with melted chocolate, if desired.