Salted Caramel French Macarons

I have a confession to make… I hate making my own caramel sauce.

So, I use the store-bought caramel sauce because it’s cheap and convenient. I don’t think it makes sense to make a mess in my kitchen to make something that I can buy easily. I did the math in my head and realized that it costs about the same to buy caramel sauce vs. making it at home.

I’m not sharing a recipe this time as there are plenty of great salted caramel french macaron recipes available on the interwebs. I just want to say that there’s no shame in cheating when it comes to baking. It’s all about the noms and these macarons are mega noms.

salted caramel frosting

salted caramel macarons close-up

salted caramel macarons

Happy noming.

Pistachio White Chocolate Icing

This icing is to die for! I just want to eat all of it by myself.

peeled pistachios

white choco chips

mixing icing

perfect macaron

(This recipe makes enough icing for 3 cupcakes or for a batch of french macarons.)

Ingredients

•  1/2 cup icing sugar
• 2 tbsp butter (room temperature)
• 2 heaped tbsp white chocolate chips
• 2 tsp milk
• 1 1/2 tbsp ground pistachios

Directions

1. Cream butter and icing sugar in a small bowl.
2. In a microwave-safe bowl, melt the chocolate chips.
3. Add the melted chocolate to the butter and sugar and mix well.
4. Add the milk to the mixture and mix well.
5. Fold in the pistachios.

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If you find that the icing is still really thick, add another 1/2 tsp of milk.

Honey Garlic Chicken Wings (Oh, for the love of chicken! Part II)

As soon as I hear any mention of chicken wings, my first reaction is always, “WHERE!?” I probably eat chicken wings way more often than I should, but life is short so do what makes you happy. That said, how about more eating and less talking?

Here’s my recipe for honey garlic chicken wings.

honey garlic wings

Ingredients

• 12 chicken wings
• 1/3 tsp salt
• 1/3 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp of white wine
• a few drops of sesame oil
• a pinch of pepper
• 3/4 tsp of minced or puréed garlic
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp honey

Directions

1. Take the first six ingredients (in green text above), mix them well in a medium bowl, and marinate overnight.
2. Lightly grease a large wok and cook the wings on medium-high heat until golden brown. (About 10 to 12 minutes.) Stir often.
3. Add garlic and stir well.
4. Add soy sauce and stir well.
5. Cover wok with a lid, leaving the wok open just a crack. Turn heat down to medium-low and allow the wings to cook for 5 minutes, stirring in between.
6. Add honey, stir, and cover again for 5 minutes.

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Serve with the remaining sauce drizzled on top of the wings.

Pineapple Coconut Macarons

Whoever originally came up with the pineapple-coconut pairing is a freakin’ genius. I’m usually not a huge fan of coconut, but I love coconut when it’s paired with pineapple or banana. 

This time, I decided to try making tiny one-bite macarons. With this recipe, you can make lots of tiny macarons so you’ll need three large baking sheets. I piped very small rounds of macaron batter that are about the size of a quarter. They’re so cute when they’re tiny! They’re also less messy to eat too.

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Ingredients:

Macaron shells

• 1 cup icing sugar
• 3/4 cup ground almonds
• 4 tsp shredded coconut
• 2 large egg whites
• 3 1/2 tbsp granulated sugar

Filling

• 2 1/2 tsp crushed canned pineapple (drained)
• 2 tsp finely shredded coconut
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter
• 3/4 icing sugar

Directions:

Macaron shells

1. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. In a food processor, process ground almonds, shredded coconut, and icing sugar for about a minute. Scrape along the inside of the food processor in between to ensure that there aren’t any large clumps and that the ingredients are mixed well.
3. In a medium bowl, sift the almond mixture.
4. In a small bowl (be sure to use a bowl that’s not too shallow), whisk the egg whites with a handmixer on medium-low speed for about a minute until light and fluffy.
5. Increase the speed to medium-high and continue to whisk the egg whites until medium-stiff for about 2 minutes. (If you turn the bowl upside-down, the egg whites don’t slide out.)
6. Gradually add granulated sugar to the egg whites while continuing to whisk on medium-high speed for another 2 minutes to achieve medium-stiff peaks.
7. Gradually fold the egg mixture into the almond mixture, adding only about 1/3 of the egg mixture at a time.
8. Transfer the batter into a piping bag. (Or if you’re frugal like me, you can use a medium sandwich bag instead and just cut a tiny corner of the bag to pipe.)
9. Pipe batter onto baking sheets. (If you’re making bite-sized macarons, pipe very small rounds that are about the size of a quarter and at least 1/2 inch apart.
10. Preheat oven to 325°F. Let the batter sit at room temperature for about 15 to 20 minutes.
11. Turn the oven down to 300°F and put the baking sheets into the oven for 7 minutes.
12. Rotate the baking sheets and bake for 8 minutes.
13. Remove the baking sheets from the oven and allow the macaron shells to cool.

Filling

1. In a small bowl, cream the icing sugar and butter. (I use a single whisk attachment on my handmixer and whisk on low speed.)
2. Whisk in shredded coconut.
3. Whisk in crushed pineapple.

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Fill your macarons, and you’re done!

Lemon Macarons

Ahh… The refreshing tart taste of lemon! I made a large batch of lemon macarons for family and friends, and everyone loved them. Compared to the strawberry matcha macarons recipe that I’ve already shared, this lemon macaron recipe is a little less intimidating for the beginner macaron baker.

First of all, I love anything citrus. I think I’ll eventually change up this recipe to become a Citrus Blend Macaron recipe, with hints of grapefruit, lime, and orange. But for now, let’s just go with a simple lemon macaron recipe. Lemon is a very powerful fruit so you won’t need a lot of it for this recipe.

large lemon

lemon zest

dry ingredients

macaron batter

food coloring

in the oven

freshly baked

lemon macarons

Ingredients:

Macaron shells

• 1 cup icing sugar
• 3/4 cup ground almonds
• 2 large egg whites
• 3 1/2 tbsp granulated sugar
• lemon zest from one large lemon
• 3 to 4 drops yellow food coloring

Lemon icing

• 2 tbsp unsalted butter
• 1/8 tsp vanilla extract
• 3/4 icing sugar
• 1 1/2 to 2 tsp lemon juice

Directions:

Macaron shells

1. Line two medium baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. In a food processor, process ground almonds and icing sugar for about a minute. Scrape along the inside of the food processor in between to ensure that there aren’t any large clumps and that the two ingredients are mixed well.
3. In a medium bowl, sift the almond mixture.
4. In a small bowl (be sure to use a bowl that’s not too shallow), whisk the egg whites with a handmixer on medium-low speed for about a minute until light and fluffy.
5. Increase the speed to medium-high and continue to whisk the egg whites until medium-stiff for about 2 minutes. (If you turn the bowl upside-down, the egg whites don’t slide out.)
6. Gradually add granulated sugar to the egg whites while continuing to whisk on medium-high speed for another 2 minutes.
7. Gradually fold the egg mixture into the almond mixture, adding only about 1/3 of the egg mixture at a time.
8. Add lemon zest and fold.
9. Add yellow food coloring and fold again. (I use liquid food coloring, but most people recommend gel or powder-based food coloring. You should use whatever you’re comfortable with.)
10. Transfer the batter into a piping bag. (Or if you’re frugal like me, you can use a medium sandwich bag instead and just cut a tiny corner of the bag to pipe.)
11. Pipe batter onto baking sheets. Try to pipe small rounds that are just under 1 inch wide and at least 1/2 inch apart.
12. Preheat oven to 325°F. Let the batter sit at room temperature for about 15 to 20 minutes.
13. Turn the oven down to 300°F and put the baking sheets into the oven for 7 minutes.
14. Rotate the baking sheets and bake for 8 minutes.
15. Remove the baking sheets from the oven and allow the macaron shells to cool.

Lemon icing (adapted from here)

1. In a small bowl, cream the icing sugar and butter. (I use a single whisk attachment on my handmixer and whisk on low speed.)
2. Whisk in vanilla extract.
3. Whisk in lemon juice.

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Sandwich just a small dab of icing between two macaron shells – you can pipe the filling or just gently spread the filling with a spatula.

little bags of macaron goodness

Enjoy!