Worth the Trouble

French Almond Macaroons
from Martha Stewart

Heat oven to 300. Sift 1 1/4 cups confectioners’ sugar and 1 1/2 cups (4 oz.) finely ground almonds together. Line two baking sheets with parchment or non-stick baking mats.

Put three room temperature egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer and beat on medium until foamy. Throw in a pinch of salt and then add 1/4 cup sugar one or two teaspoons at a time. When soft peaks form, stop the mixer and fold in the almond mixture and 1/4 tsp. vanilla with spatula.

Drop mixture onto prepared baking sheets with a spoon (Martha recommends piping 1 1/2 circles with a pastry bag...that would probably work better but it's a little fussy so I haven't tried it yet. The spoon method has been fine for me.), then bake 25-30 minutes, rotating the sheets halfway through the baking time. Let the macaroons cool on the sheets for a few minutes, then transfer to a rack to cool completely.

Make your favorite frosting (Martha recommends this buttercream, which is tasty, but VERY buttery and maybe a little too much?) and sandwich cookies together with it. Cookies taste better post-sandwiching and after a few hours of "ripening" in the fridge.

Variations:
Strawberry Macaroons--Follow instructions for French almond macaroons, adding 4 drops red food coloring to the egg whites just before you add the sugar-almond mixture. Proceed with the recipe. For the filling, use only 1 teaspoon vanilla, and fold 1/3 cup strained strawberry preserves into the Swiss meringue buttercream after you mix in the butter (or maybe next time I would try sandwiching with straight up jam?).

Chocolate Macaroons--Follow instructions for French almond macaroons, sifting 2 tablespoons Dutch-process cocoa powder with the confectioners’ sugar. Proceed with recipe. Instead of the Swiss meringue buttercream, make a ganache filling: Place 5 ounces finely chopped semisweet chocolate in a small bowl. Bring 1/2 cup heavy cream just to a simmer in a small saucepan, and pour over the chocolate. Let stand 1 minute, and stir until chocolate has melted. Let ganache stand until thick enough to spread. Use to fill cookies.