Macarons, Part Two

Aren't French Macarons the cutest thing? I randomly decided to bake a batch late at night to see how they would come out.

I've read quite a few blogs where people have tried baking macarons for the first time and they came out perfect. No such luck for me! I suppose that depends on your definition of perfect... but for me it's been tricky. Once it was too humid and I didn't get the "pied." Another time I didn't fold the batter enough and it was too stiff, resulting in bumpy cookies. 

This time, to combat the humidity, I put on a small fan in their direction after I piped them onto the cookie sheet. I also ran the almond meal through the food processor to make it finer. It worked pretty well and I got the cute little feet on the cookie and the skin came out smooth! I also didn't over-brown them like I have in the past... but they seemed to be undercooked! They were a little too mushy inside. How on earth do you cook them through without browning too much?

But of course, I have never had a real macaron to compare it to... I guess I will have to take a trip to Paris!

My mom sent me this cookbook as a gift and it has a ton of great ideas for macaron flavors! It has everything from fancy Lavender and Rose Water recipes to Peanut Butter and Jelly flavor. I chose Vanilla just to keep it simple, although I cheated and used leftover cream cheese frosting for filling :-D 

I also used a neon purple food coloring for them which came out looking like a yummy bubblegum pink.