Vanilla Macarons (Stella Parks)

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🥘 Ingredients

  • almond flour
    4 oz
  • almonds
    4 oz
  • egg whites
    5 oz
  • kosher salt
    1/2 tsp
  • powdered sugar
    8 oz
  • sugar
    2.5 oz
  • vanilla bean
    1

🍳 Cookware

  • oven
  • pastry bag
  • food processor
  • stand mixer
  1. 1
    Preheat the oven to 300°.
  2. 2
    Have ready a large (18”) pastry bag , fitted with a plain tip.
  3. 3
    You’ll also need two parchment lined sheet pans.
  4. 4
    Use a 1 1/2” cookie cutter to trace out guide-circles (about an inch apart).
  5. 5
    Flip the parchment paper over, ink side down.
  6. 6
    If you use almond flour , sift it with powdered sugar .
    almond flour: 4 oz, powdered sugar: 8 oz
  7. 7
    If using whole almonds , process the almonds and powdered sugar in a food processor for about a minute.
    almonds: 4 oz
  8. 8
    Take out the mixture and sift it, reserving whatever bits don’t pass through the sieve.
  9. 9
    Add these bits back to the food processor and run the machine for another minute.
  10. 10
    Sift again.
  11. 11
    In the bowl of a stand mixer , combine egg whites , sugar , vanilla bean (not the extract), and kosher salt .
    egg whites: 5 oz, sugar: 2.5 oz, vanilla bean: 1, kosher salt: 1/2 tsp
  12. 12
    Turn the mixer to medium (4 on a Kitchen Aid).
  13. 13
    Whip for ⏱️ 3 minutes .
  14. 14
    Increase the speed to medium-high (7 on a Kitchen Aid) and whip another ⏱️ 3 minutes .
  15. 15
    Crank the speed to 8 for ⏱️ 3 minutes .
  16. 16
    Turn the mixer off.
  17. 17
    Add in any extracts/flavor/color.
  18. 18
    Whip for a final ⏱️ 1 minute on the highest speed.
  19. 19
    Knock the whisk against the bowl to free the meringue.
  20. 20
    If the meringue has not become stiff enough to clump inside the whisk, continue beating for another ⏱️ 1 minute , or until it does so.
  21. 21
    Dump in the dry ingredients (almond flour/powdered sugar mixture) all at once.
  22. 22
    Fold them in with a rubber spatula.
  23. 23
    Use both a folding motion (to incorporate the dry ingredients) and a rubbing/smearing motion, to deflate the meringue against the side of the bowl.
  24. 24
    After about 25 turns the mixture will still have a quite lumpy and stiff texture.
  25. 25
    Another 15 strokes will see you to “just about right.”
  26. 26
    Evaluate your batter one stroke at a time.
  27. 27
    Transfer about half the batter to a piping bag.
  28. 28
    Pipe the batter into the pre-traced circles on the baking sheet.
  29. 29
    Stop piping just shy of the borders of the circle, as the batter will continue to spread just a bit.
  30. 30
    After piping your macarons, take hold of the sheet pan.
  31. 31
    Hit it hard against your counter.
  32. 32
    Rotate the pan ninety degrees.
  33. 33
    Rap two more times.
  34. 34
    Bake for ⏱️ 18 minutes , or until you can cleanly peel the parchment paper away from a macaron.
  35. 35
    Once the macarons have baked, cool thoroughly on the pans.
  36. 36
    Peel the cooled macarons from the parchment.
  37. 37
    Use a metal spatula if necessary.
  38. 38
    Fill a pastry bag fitted with [[recipes/Swiss Buttercream]].
  39. 39
    Pipe a quarter sized mound of buttercream into half of the shells, then sandwich them with their naked halves.
  40. 40
    Store macarons refrigerated for up to a week.
  41. 41
    Set them out at room temperature for a few hours before consuming.