Vanilla Bean Macarons with Peach Preserves

Cookies and Bars, Lighter & Healthier, Peaches and apricots

Vanilla Bean Macarons with Peach Preserves

French macarons are high up there on my “Things That Scare Me” list. Right below bungee jumping. And the thought of having a second baby. But unlike those other two, macarons don’t really belong on that list.

Vanilla Bean Macarons with Peach Preserves

They’ve always seemed so… high maintenance temperamental delicate. I tend to have a heavy hand and low tolerance for fussy recipes but they proved to be a pretty resilient cookie. I made several errors along the way and was a little sloppy about some of the details – and they still turned out wonderfully. I already can’t wait to make a next batch!

Vanilla Bean Macarons with Peach Preserves

Vanilla Bean Macarons with Peach Preserves

Light and airy vanilla bean macarons filled with fresh peach preserves.

Ingredients

  • 110 grams almond flour (I used Bob
  • 200 grams confectioners sugar
  • 100 grams egg whites (from 3 eggs, separated 24 hours in advance or microwaved for 8 seconds)
  • 1/4 tsp Vanilla extract
  • 1 vanilla bean
  • 50 grams granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup peach preserves
  • ground cinnamon, to taste

Instructions

  1. Pulse the almond flour and confectioner's sugar several times in your food processor until thoroughly mixed. Place egg whites in the bowl of your stand mixer and whisk until foamy. Split and scrape the vanilla pod and add the beans and extract to the egg whites. Add the sugar and turn the mixer to high, whisking until you have a glossy meringue.
  2. Fold the dry ingredients into the egg whites gently, briskly at first to break up the meringue a bit, until thoroughly mixed. Transfer the batter to a piping bag fitted with a large round tip and pipe rounds of 1.5 inches along two silicon-lined baking sheets. Let sit one hour at room temperature.
  3. Heat oven to 300. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Cool completely and remove from the pan.
  4. To make the filling, I processed peach preserves and a pinch of cinnamon in my mini chopper until smooth. Not more than a few hours before serving, pipe the filling onto one cookie and top with the other, gently pressing down. (The liquid in the preserves will soften the cookies so fill the cookies the day-of.)
  5. Note: Obviously, this is a quick and dirty recap of the process. There are a lot of details that go into macarons, many of which I screwed up or just plain ignored (what overnight step?). Check out the "Macaron Bible" for the non rocket science details.

Notes

Yields: ~24 macarons

Adapted from Tartelette's master recipe

Estimated time: 2 hours 30 minutes

Nutritional Information
Calories: 48 | Fat: 2.3 | Fiber .5
WW Points: 1

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