Mint Chocolate French macaroons

Macaron or macaroon? Doesn’t matter when they are as yummy as these naturally gluten and dairy-free bundles of mint chocolate deliciousness!

As you may recall, my family is obsessed with British Baking … I even wrote a whole post about it here!  And one of the common things they make for decoration are macaroons, or macarons (does anyone know the difference?).  So I tried to make some.  And everyone in my family loved them, but I couldn’t get it quite right.  The flavor and texture was right, they just didn’t look right.

And this is where this month’s Recipe Swap Club came to the rescue.  I was given Luisa from Always Room 4 Cake, and contrary to almost every other month, I decided to make a sweet.  And realized that macaroons are naturally gluten and dairy-free, which suit me fine.  Just because there’s a lot of sugar in them … well, it’s ok to have one or two every now and then I guess!  The original recipe was for a butterscotch flavor with a buttercream filling, but since I had great success with the flavors of my mint chocolate version before, I thought I’d try that again, and give you all the recipe so you can enjoy these as well!  Here’s the original recipe if you want to check it out, and below is how I adapted it.

As part of this month’s Recipe Swap, we are trying something new.  Not just linking to the original recipe website, but to get to know some of the other bloggers in the Club.  I asked Luisa some questions to find out more about her – let me present to you Luisa, from Always Room 4 Cake!

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Mint Chocolate French Macaroons

Prep Time 40 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Ingredients

For the macaroon

• 3 egg whites room temperature essential
• 1/4 cup 50g white sugar
• 2 cups 200g powdered/confectioners sugar
• 1 cup 120g almond flour
• 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
• 1/4 tsp peppermint extract
• Green food coloring

For the filling

• 1/2 cup 125g creamy almond butter
• 1/2 cup 150g honey
• 2 tbs cocoa powder
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions

For the macaroon

1. Beat egg whites until foamy, then add cream of tartar and white sugar until strong, stiff peaks form.
2. Add the peppermint extract and the food coloring and continue to beat until the stiff peaks form again.
3. Sift almond flour and powdered sugar (discard any lumps remaining).
4. Fold the flour/sugar mixture into the egg white mixture until just combined ... this will take some time to ensure all air remains, but not overmixing.
5. Transfer batter to a pastry bag (or a ziplock bag with the corner cut off).
6. Pipe out 1 inch rounds on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
7. Tap the pan hard at least 2-3 times to release the air bubbles, which will prevent the tops of the macaroons from cracking.
8. Leave them to sit at room temperature for up to an hour. The tops should be tacky to touch and not stick to the fingertips.

9. Bake for 20 mins at 350F and let cool completely.

For the filling and assembly

1. Combine all ingredients together until smooth.
2. Either pipe or spoon filling onto the base of one macaroon and add the top.