Almond macaroons: comments, please

[Mezzaluna]

Tomorrow I'm going to make some almond macaroons for Passover. The recipe I'm planning on using comes from Joan Nathan's Jewish Holiday Cookbook. I'm a little skittish about it because the hamentashen recipe I tried from the same book failed miserably. Please have a look at the recipe and see if it seems right. I plan to dip them into melted semi-sweet Scharffenbarger chocolate. I like them slightly crisp outside and chewy inside. The recipe advises using matzah meal-dusted baking sheets to bake them on, but can I use my silpats? Can I make them smaller and cut the baking time a bit?

Almond Macaroons (page 387)
2-1/2 cups blanched almonds
2-1/4 cups sugar
4 egg whites
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
sifted matzah cake meal for dusting
1/4 cup blanched toasted almonds, split, for topping (I'm omitting because I want to dip one half of each cookie in chocolate)

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Grind the almonds very fine with 1 cup of sugar in a food processor or other grinder.
3. Place the almonds in a bowl. Add the remaining sugar and the eg whites, 1 at a time, blending by hand or with a food processor until a paste is formed that can be manipulated with the hand. Add the almond extract. Refrigerate for 10 minutes.
4. Dust a large cookie sheet with matzah cake meal.
5. Take a piece of dough the size of a plum. Roll between the palms to make a ball and pinch the top to shape like a pear. Place, wide side down, on the cookie sheet. Place half a blanched toasted almond on top.
6. Bake 20-25 minutes, until the cookies rise and brown a little. Cool slightly and separate with a spatula, taking care not to break them.

Makes 24 macaroons

[pgram]

I have made this recipe which was from an issue of Gourmet Magazine and shown on Sara's Secrets on the Food Network. The ratio of sugar, almonds and egg whites is different than your recipe and makes for a moist/chewy inside to the macaroon. The recipe you have below seems like the macaroons are going to be dense in texture. This recipe is super simple (10 minutes to bake) and tastes great. If you can't use butter for the baking sheet, I would definitely use silpats! The confectioner's sugar for dusting could still be used after you dip the macaroons (if you wanted).

1 cup whole almonds (preferably blanched), plus 16 whole raw almonds
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg white
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
Pinch salt
Confectioners' sugar, for dusting

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and lightly butter a baking sheet.
In a food processor pulse 1 cup almonds with granulated sugar until ground fine. Add egg white, almond extract, and a pinch salt and pulse until combined. Roll mixture into 16 balls, about 1- inch in diameter, and arrange about 2 inches apart on baking sheet. Slightly flatten balls and dust lightly with confectioners' sugar. Gently press 1 almond into each cookie.
Bake macaroons in middle of oven 10 minutes, or until pale golden. Transfer macaroons to a rack and cool completely. Macaroons keep 4 days in an airtight container at room temperature.

Yeilds 16 Macaroons.

Keep in mind that I am NOT a baker, so if someone offers up something else, you may want to go with their recommendation.

[Mezzaluna]

Thanks, Pam! I'm going to try the first batch with Joan Nathan's recipe in a few minutes. If they turn out, I'll experiment with the other recipe (after running to the store for more nuts! )

I'd appreciate comments from anyone who's made them before. Will I run into trouble dipping them today, but serving them tomorrow?

[Mezzaluna]

Okay, I learned a thing or two.

First, this is the first thing I've ever tried that stuck to the Silpat! They may have been underbaked by a minute or so, but man- what a mess.

Second, the macaroons spread a lot, so the first tray was too smooshed together.

I made the third tray (it's in the oven now) and made the balls much smaller, just a bit smaller than an egg yolk. I have an ice cream scoop that's about the size of a large melon baller; that worked better than hand-rolling them.

Also, I used jumbo eggs. That may have made the batter looser. I'd cut back a white if I use jumbos again.

Finally, parchment paper works perfectly. I took the baked macaroons on their sheet from the pan to the (granite) counter to cool for about 1 minute. They popped right off the paper.

I'm not sure I'll dip one side of them in chocolate, but I'll see.

[pgram]

Macaroons really shouldn't spread at all. The recipe your using calls for a ton of eggs compared to the sugar/almond ratio. If you're going to stick with that recipe, cut back on the eggs one by one. (Ultimately I'm guessing with jumbo eggs, you could easily get by with just 2 eggs.) Sounds like the dough is way too wet if your cookies are spreading like that.

Keep us posted. Also after the cookies cool, you should be able to dip them in the chocolate tonight and still have them be fine tomorrow. The cookies don't need to be refrigerated. However, I would suggest after dipping them, put them in the frig for 1/2 hour to let the chocolate set. Them take them out and store them in an air tight container. They should be fine as long as it's not hot where you are.

[Mezzaluna]

Thanks, Pam. I suspected there was too much egg white after I looked at your recipe suggestion. If I have time tonight I'll dip them as you suggested. The cookies are quite crisp.

Just for fun, I tried using the last of the batter to make them in my convection-microwave. They came out okay, but were softer and chewier than the ones baked in the oven. They did brown, as the model I have allows that.

[pgram]

Softer and chewier are okay. If you let them sit out a day without storing them in an air tight container, they will get harder on the outside, but still be chewy and soft on the inside. Then after a day out, put them in the air tight container and they should be perfect.

Glad it worked out for you. Maybe I'll cook the two recipes and try them out side by side. Macaroons make great desserts for catering. Since they are doable a couple of days in advance, it makes for easier catering. Leaves time on the day of the event for focusing on the hot dishes. Let us know how all your friends and family liked them.

[Mezzaluna]

I dipped them in semi-sweet chocolate, chilled them, and packed them in a container. I left a few natural. They were very easy to make; now I'll just have to experiment with the ratio of eggs/sugar/nuts to get the thicker, less flat macaroons. A local deli/catering place has them and they are thicker and chewier. They're about 2" in diameter. That's what I was shooting for! I'd also like to make them French-style, sandwiched with jam. Mmm...

[pgram]

What was the final recipe you used? I have another recipe for coconut macaroons that I got from Ina Garten that are huge and fluffy that I like even better. But you said you were looking for almond macaroons. I like macaroons--use them as ingredients in catering desserts. Mind sharing the final recipe?

[Mezzaluna]

Pam, I used the recipe I printed above- but I used jumbo sized eggs, so the batter was too loose and the cookie spread too much.

I'll cut back on the egg whites. A sticky dough-like mixture would be much better than the loose mixture I had. I can't see this being too finicky a mixture, as it has no leavening to it and no fat (except what's in the almonds).

Here's what I'm going to tell my friends:

2-1/2 cups blanched almonds
2 whites from large eggs with one more in reserve
2-1/4 cups sugar
1/4 teaspoon almond extract


The method would be the same as above, but I'd skip the matzo meal and just use parchment paper.

I know we've discussed macaroons here before. I'll check with the sarch feature and see what comes up.

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Just type "macaroons" into our search feature and you'll be amazed at all the posts! This one was interesting:

http://www.cheftalkcafe.com/forums/s...ight=macaroons

[pgram]

Originally Posted by Mezzaluna

http://www.cheftalkcafe.com/forums/s...ight=macaroons

Not big on the butter or the flour for a traditional "italian" macaroon. Think I'll stick with the recipe I use 'cause they taste great and are simple to make. (A side note: If you're watching carbs, you can replace the sugar with Splenda and they turn out just as nice.)

[Mezzaluna]

Splenda was my next experiment!!! I love it, although most people don't know that if you consume a cup of it, it's 24 carbs or something like that.

That would make it a great low carb/low sugar dessert. I have also mixed up low carb chocolate using unsweetened chocolate and mixing in some Splenda. I haven't tried to temper it, but for me it works fine.