Lemon Macarons

Ingredients:
-1 C Almond Meal mixed with 1.25C of powdered sugar
-1/4 C granulated sugar
-6 TB egg whites (about 3 large eggs)
-1 tsp lemon extract
-Yellow food coloring
-Pinch of salt

I separated the eggs this time instead of using liquid egg whites.  Icky.

Anyways, mix the egg whites, salt, coloring on medium speed until the eggs are frothy.  How much food coloring you use depends on how yellow you want them to be.  I just dip a knife down in the gel consistency color and that's just how much I add. 

Once they are frothy, crank the mixer up to high and start slowly streaming in the sugar.  Whip it (whip it good) until glossy, stiff peaks form.

Fold in the almond meal/sugar mix.  Put it in a piping bag, cut the tip off, and pipe out circles on parchment paper.  Hit the pan on the counter a couple times.  Let them sit for about 15-20 minutes. 

Once they have had a little time to form a crust, bake at 280 for 15 minutes. A lot of posts suggest opening the door a moment after the first 2 minutes of baking to release humidity.  I do that just in case.

I piped these out like I pipe rosettes, and I think that is why so many of mine cracked.  I could be wrong.  But when I made the shamrock shaped ones I piped it out in piles, if that makes any sense at all...basically I just kept my bag stationary during each one and let it create a mound.  The only place I really had cracking issues was where the mounds came together on the shamrocks.  I am thinking that with as stiff of a batter that is part of my issue.

If only I were back in my science fair days, that would be a delicious experiment to perfect macarons.

Mine look like some sort of mustard.  Maybe spicy brown.  That is because of a combination of A) the amount of yellow I used and B) I used Trader Joe's ground almonds which don't have the skins removed.  Personal preference for what you use, I like the low maintenance background here.

Plus it is visually interesting to me.  Making a cookie that looks like mustard is just a hoot.  These would be tasty with a lemon curd filling.  I am probably leaving mine unfilled for further rebellion.

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