Hi Everyone,
If you follow me on Instagram, you will see I posted pictures of Macarons earlier this week. Well I was just so excited because I ventured out and made my very first macarons. Now you may already know this, but I am not a pastry artist, a gourmet chef or anything special, just a food blogger that loves to cook and bake and I am here because I want to share my love of food with you. So please keep all of that in mind when I show you my Pistachio Macarons with Cherry Buttercream Filling.
These macarons may not be pretty, may not be colorful, may not be perfectly flat, but I did it! Besides looks, taste is what counts and let me tell you when I took my first bite of the macaron, I was shocked on how tasty it is, really, shocked! They tasted better than I imagined. They are light, fluffy with a nice pistachio flavored cookie with a creamy, soft cherry flavored butter cream frosting. Oh boy, delish! I love pistachio and cherry together and combining them into a cookie is pure perfection in my eye.
These cookies didn’t really go according to plan when making them, I actually had to make a few off the wall modifications, which is not cool when making your first macarons. The first thing is that most macaron recipes call for almond meal, but when I went to my cupboard I didn’t have any. So I thought why not pistachio? So I ground up my own pistachios to make a fine powder. That worked like a charm! Then the second issue I had was powdered sugar. The recipe calls for 1 3/4 cups for the cookie and when I measured it out, I only had 3/4 of a cup. I didn’t know what to do! I had egg whites whipped and ready for the powdered sugar, Ahhhhhh!! Then I decided to take Bakers Sugar and grind it even finer in my mini food processor. It didn’t come out as powdery as I would have liked, but I had to make do with what I had. Even with all of the complications, it seemed to have worked.
When I was letting my cookies cool. I decided to run to the store to get my powdered sugar for the buttercream frosting. Otherwise I would have been stuck for another filling and I had my heart set on a cherry buttercream. Glad I didn’t change my idea. The cherry flavor really picks up the flavor of the pistachios in the cookie. To make up for the little bit of an off-color cookie, I went with a green colored filling. I almost went red or pink but opted for green. I like it, it’s cute!
So what do I need to practice when making my next batch of macarons? I need to practice of the shape of the cookie. They really puffed up and maybe it is because I used to much batter when swirling it on the baking sheet?
I need to work on the color of the cookie. I kept reading that if you use too much coloring gel it will make the cookies flat, so I went light on the color and the batter looked great but once the cookies baked the green color kind of faded away.
I think those are the two main things I need to practice on, which isn’t to bad! I can’t wait to try making them again and if your afraid to make, them don’t! They aren’t horribly hard and they don’t take to long either and no matter how they look, I bet they will taste wonderful. If I am brave enough to share my not so perfect macarons with you, you can be brave enough to make them!!
- 4 large egg whites
- ⅓ cup caster sugar or bakers sugar
- 1¾ cups powdered sugar
- 1 cup pistachio meal (pistachios ground up)
- 1 dash salt
- ¼ tsp. green gel food coloring (optional)
- Buttercream Filling:
- 1 stick butter softened
- 1½ cups powdered sugar
- ¼ tsp. cherry extract
- ¼ tsp. green food coloring
- Preheat oven to 300 degrees
- Line 3 baking sheets with parchment paper; set a side.
- In a bowl add egg whites and caster sugar. With electric mixer, beat until stiff enough to turn the bowl upside down without it falling out. Add food coloring and beat for about 20 seconds.
- In a small bowl, add powdered sugar, pistachio meal and salt. Sift together twice and discard any lumps. With a rubber spatula, fold into egg mixture, about 40 - 50 times. The mixture should be smooth and a very viscous, not runny.
- Transfer the batter to a pipping bag with a round tip or use a zip lock bag and snip the corner off. In a 45 degree angle, pipe onto prepared baking sheet about the size of a half dollar.
- Bang the baking sheets on the counter to remove any air bubbles. (This is very important to do, it prevents the cookie from cracking)
- Place one baking sheet at a time into the oven. Bake for 12 - 15 minutes, rotating half way through. Bake until lightly golden on the bottom.
- Let cool on baking sheet.
- Meanwhile to make Cherry Buttercream filling:
- In a large bowl, beat together butter, powdered sugar and cherry extract. Beat until light and fluffy. Add green food coloring and beat until well incorporated.
- Pipe or spoon frosting onto one cookie and top with another cookie. Do the same with remaining cookies.
- Refrigerate for 24 hours and bring to room temperature before serving.
Guys, I know I have said this before, but I am truly, truly so proud of these cookies. I want to give a big heart-felt thank you to my Friend who happened to give me the Bakers Sugar for this recipe. I wouldn’t have been able to make the cookies without it. Now I have a ton of sugar to make more! What kind should I make next??
Oh, I wanted to let you know I took these cookies to work and oh my gosh, they were gobbled up quick. I was told that they are better than the bakery cookies. Everyone and I mean everyone loved them. I was told i was mean to bring them in because they are so good! I only go to eat 2 cookies, by the time I went to grab another, they were gone. They were my biggest cookie hit so far! So looks don’t matter, it’s taste! Oh and the next day the green color showed up better then the first day I made them, which is kind of odd.
Wishing you a super wonderful day!
Toodles,
Jennifer
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Girl – I am so proud of you & your macaron’s are gorgeous – I have always wanted to make these but have never had the courage to move forward – Major Kudos!
Ahhhh, thank you CJ!! I am looking to perfect the recipe! 🙂
Oh wow what great improvisation skills! Love that you decided to use pistachios. Your first-time macarons turned out better than mine the first time. But it gets better every time! Speaking of I need to try again…
These are the cutest macarons in the world! I love the fun color.
What temp should the oven be? I don’t see it anywhere and I’m trying to make these today for a bake sale! Help!
Oh my gosh, I forgot the temp. It’s 300 degrees. Let me know how they turn out! 🙂