S’mores Macarons

It’s officially summer and that means my stomach is officially craving s’mores! So naturally I needed a macaron version for this summer classic. These macs are made with a plain cookie, chocolate ganache, and toasted marshmallow fluff!

Getting Everything Ready
Macarons are definitely one of those recipes where I highly recommend getting everything 100% ready to go before hand, especially if you are a bit nervous about making them. Place any bowls or tools you will need in one place, measure your ingredients, prepare your piping bag, and line your baking trays.

Making Your Meringue
There are a couple ways of making a meringue, but this method is what I’ve found I most prefer. You’ll use a double boiler method to dissolve the sugar in the egg whites so that it does not come into direct contact with the heat source. I whisk the entire time and frequently stick my fingers into the mixture to see if the sugar is dissolved. This won’t burn you as you don’t want to get the mixture too hot anyway. You’ll then vigorously whip the mixture in a stand mixer until firm peaks have formed. This will take several minutes, so be patient.

Adding in Your Dry Ingredients
You can sift your ingredients beforehand, but I’ve begun just sifting them directly into my meringue. At this time you will also add in any food coloring or extracts. Once everything has been added, you’ll combine everything using the method where you scrape your rubber spatula around the entire bowl and then cut down the center. Turn your bowl a quarter turn, and repeat until everything is incorporated.

Macaronage
Once you have everything incorporated, you’ll begin beating your mixture against the side of the bowl. Turn your bowl at an angle and scrape everything to that half of the bowl. Firmly use your spatula to beat the batter against the side of the bowl, scraping the sides every few beats. You will know that you are done when you can lift your spatula and draw a figure eight with the falling batter.

Piping Your Macarons
I pipe my macarons using a #10 tip. You can go smaller if you aren’t a seasoned piper, but I wouldn’t recommend going bigger. When piping your macarons, be sure to hold your bag/tip perpendicular to the surface to create the most even circle. I use a silpat to ensure the most evenly spaced and sized macarons, but you can also trace circles on a piece of parchment and flip it over to create the same affect.

Before You Bake
After you pipe your macarons, they are still not ready to go in the oven. You’ll need to firmly tap the sheet on the counter to remove all air bubbles. If you have more than one sheet, do this before piping on the next. You will now need to wait for a skin to form on the macarons. This can take anywhere from 20-60 minutes depending on the humidity of your kitchen. If you have a ceiling fan anywhere in your house, I recommend setting it on low and putting your trays of macarons under it. This will really help to speed things up! You know when they are ready when you can gently tap a finger on the top of each cookie and nothing sticks to your finger.

Baking Your Macarons
Unless your oven is perfectly even in its baking, you’ll want to flip the trays around half way through baking to keep things even. I’ve often seen macaron recipes say that an indicator that they are done is when you can pull them off the tray but I’ve never found that to be true. I wait for them to be fully cooled before pulling them up.

Filling Your Macarons
Once you are at this stage, you are essentially home free! To make this step easier, I like to go ahead and pair each cookie with a partner so that I don’t go overboard on my piping. This is also a good trick if you had some inconsistencies in shapes and sizes since you don’t want to pair a large cookie with a smaller one.

Waiting a Day
Macarons are better the next day. I used to think I was making this up in my head, but I eventually watched a video in which a French pastry chef confirmed it. He always put his macarons in the fridge over night before selling them the next day. They will definitely be tasty the same day, but waiting a day does give them a bit of a softer texture.

What you’ll need:
– 100 grams egg whites (1/2 cup)
– 100 grams granulated sugar (1/2 cup)
– 105 grams almond flour, sifted (1 cup)
– 105 grams powdered sugar, sifted (1 cup)
– graham cracker crumbs (optional)

What you’ll need for the filling:
– 1 cup chocolate chips
– 2 Tablespoons + 1 teaspoon heavy whipping cream
– marshmallow fluff, as needed
– Optional, blow torch

What you’ll do:
– Line 2 12×16 sheet pans with parchment or a silpat. Fit a large piping bag with a #10 piping tip.
– Combine your egg whites and granulated sugar in a heat proof bowl. Add about an inch of water to a small pot and bring it to a simmer. Place your bowl with the egg whites and sugar over the bowl and whisk until the sugar has dissolved (I dip my finger into the bowl to see if I can feel any granules).
– Once the sugar has dissolved, immediately transfer to a larger bowl and whisk until stiff peaks form (you’ll want to use a stand or hand mixer for this).
– Once you have stiff peaks, add your remaining sifted ingredients and a couple drops yellow food color. Fold to combine with a rubber spatula. Once you see that everything is incorporated, begin to beat the batter against the side of the bowl as this will make it less thick (this technique is called macaronage). You’ll know that your batter is the correct consistency when you can draw a figure 8. (To make a figure 8, get some batter on your spatula. Allow it to slowly fall off your spatula – about an inch or so above the rest of the batter- while drawing the number 8. If you can do this a couple times without the batter breaking off from itself, then you’re good to go!)
– Transfer about a third of your batter to your piping bag and begin to pipe out your cookies (you’ll get 72 altogether, give or take a few depending on your size). You’ll want to hold the bag straight down while piping as this will ensure that you make a perfect circle. Be sure to leave some space between each as they will spread out a bit as they settle. Once you have filled a sheet, tap the sheet against your counter to allow any bubbles to pop. Use a toothpick to pop any bubbles that don’t do so on their own. Continue these steps until you run out of batter. Once you have piped all your cookies, top with graham cracker crumbs if desired.
– Allow your macarons to rest for 20 – 40 minutes (this could take even longer depending on the humidity of your kitchen). This will give them time to form a skin on the top. You’ll know it is ready to bake when you can lightly tap the surface and nothing sticks to your finger.
– Preheat your oven to 325F. Once ready, bake for 5 minutes, rotate the tray, and bake for another 4 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely before trying to lift them.
– While your macarons are cooling, make your ganache by adding the chocolate chips and cream to a bowl and microwaving for 45 seconds. Use a whisk to combine the chocolate and cream, microwave for an additional 10 seconds if needed. Add to a piping bag fitted with a #10 tip.
– Add about 1/2 cup marshmallow fluff to another piping bag fitted with a #10 tip.
– Once your macarons have cooled, flip over every other cookie and pipe on a layer of ganache. Top with a dollop of marshmallow fluff and torch, if desired. Lightly press on another cookie until the cream reaches the sides. Continue until all of the macarons have been filled.
– ENJOY!

A few notes:
– Watch this video to see a good example of the figure 8 test.
– If you are new to piping, I highly recommend using some sort of guide to help. I use these mats from Amazon, but you can also print off a template (or trace our your own!) and slide it under your parchment.
– If you are having trouble piping consistent circles, try counting in your head. Think: “Pipe 1, 2, 3, 4.., Stop.” The number you count to will vary depending on the size you pipe and how hard you squeeze your bag, but you get the idea.
– If you’re getting a peek on the top of your circles, stop squeezing out batter before flicking away. Think: “Pipe, pipe, pipe, stop piping. Flick away.” If that doesn’t help, your batter may be a little too thick and you may need to mix it a tiny bit longer.
– When you’re checking to see if your macarons are ready to bake, don’t jam your finger into them. You want to use a very gentle touch, as if you were lightly applying ointment to a painful cut or burn. (Not the best food friendly visual but hopefully you see my point. Lol!)
– If you live in a humid area, it helps to place your drying macs under a ceiling fan.
– I was always told that you’ll know your macarons are done when you can lift them off the tray. It wasn’t until I stopped listening to this technique that my macarons stopped being over baked. That may work for someone somewhere, but not for me and not for this recipe.

For more macarons, check out these recipes!
Fruity Pebbles
Pistachio
Chocolate
Birthday Cake
Strawberry Macarons
Nutella Macarons
Lemon Macarons