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Thursday, March 15, 2012

Chewy Almond Macaroons

Remember when we made banana cream pie and I told you to put those leftover egg whites
right into the refrigerator because we were going to make something delicious with them
soon?  Well, I am glad you do because I forgot!  I was just sitting around and – I do not
know why! – All of sudden, I remembered that I had egg whites to use in the refrigerator. 
Next time, remind me, okay?  Fortunately egg whites will keep for quite a while and they
were still good.

This recipe is easy since the whole thing mixes in the food processor.  I had them made,
start to finish in under half an hour.  Seriously.  They are chewy on the inside and crispy on
the outside and even a non-sweet lover like me couldn’t stop at just one.  There is no higher
accolade.
Ingredients
4 egg whites
8 oz or 225g ground almonds
10 oz or 280g sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
Pinch of salt
About 24-30 roasted, unsalted almonds

Method
Preheat your oven to 400°F or 200°C.  Line your cookie sheet with a piece of parchment.   I
usually put a small shot of cooking spray between the parchment and the cookie sheet to
help the parchment stop sliding around as you move the tray from counter top to oven. 
Learned that little trick the hard way.  It wasn’t pretty.

Beat your egg whites with a whisk until they are nice and frothy. 
Put your ground almonds in the food processor and add in one quarter of the egg whites. 
Eyeball it.  No need to measure.  Process it for a count of 10-ish.
Now add half of your sugar.  Process again until thoroughly mixed. Scrape the sides down if
necessary.
Add another quarter of the egg whites.  Process again.
Now add the rest of the sugar.  Process again. 
The original recipe I was almost following said you should be able to form balls out of the
dough so you should add just enough of the remaining egg white to get ball-making
consistency.  But, I’m telling you, this stuff was sticky and I could see that making balls
would be an enormous mess.

So, I added enough egg whites to make the dough the consistency of a very thick butter
cream icing, that is to say, one that would hold its shape but could still be put in a piping bag
to be squeezed out of a large cake decorating tip. (I suppose you could also drop spoonfuls
on to your cookie tray.  They wouldn't be as pretty but they sure would taste the same. )

If you think that piping sounds like a good idea, add another 1/4 of the egg whites.  Process
again.
Add in the baking powder and pinch of salt.   Process again.
 Only you can judge so if you need to add the last quarter of the egg whites.  I threw it away.

On your parchment covered cookie sheet, just squeeze out a circle of dough and then fill it
in, finishing with a nice point in the middle.
Top each macaroon with a roasted almond. 
Bake for 12-15 minutes or until lightly golden on the bottoms and around the top.  You do
not want them to dry out.  The smell of baking almonds is heavenly.
Cool on a wire rack, although I defy anyone not to eat one warm.  Can’t be done.
 Chewy, moist, delicious.  No kidding. 
Enjoy!
That's his intent look, following the macaroon from my plate to my mouth.