Chocolate French Macarons (GF)

Like many bakers and bloggers everywhere, when I bake french macarons, it always feels like somewhat of a leap of faith. Half of the time, I stand in front of the oven with the light on, staring at them as they rise and form "feet." 

Even though I've made them plenty of times, I still try different recipes, experiment with baking times and temperatures, and experience the occasional macaron crackage, hollow shells, and other pastry woes. 

One major change that has added a huge level of ease to baking macarons is using Honeyville Farms almond flour. It is literally the best almond flour out there. For those of you who follow Elana's Pantry, or have read Elana's books, you already know that this is the almond flour she recommends for all of her recipes. 

Since I bake everything gluten free, I use a lot of almond flour in dessert making, not just macarons. But let me tell you, even if you just use it for macarons, you will fall in love. No more endless sifting or food processor grinding. Their almond flour is so fine, you can simply combine the powdered sugar and almond flour in a food processor and sift once. It sifts so easily, too. 

Besides my undying love for this almond flour, I actually have a french macaron recipe to share with you. Chocolate macarons are one of the harder varieties to nail down because of the ratio of fat in the cocoa powder versus almond flour. Although many recipes call for dutch process (full fat) cocoa powder, I have to tell you that I have had the best luck with these by using natural cocoa powder, or at least mostly natural cocoa powder, with a touch of dutch processed cocoa.

For the Macaron Shells* From Martha Stewart: 

1/2 cup almond flour 

3 tbsp cocoa powder (I used 2 tbsp natural and 1 tbsp dutch processed) 

1 cup confectioner's sugar 

1/4 cup superfine baker's sugar 

2 large egg whites, at room temperature (Despite being one of the many "macaron myths" that has been busted by pastry chefs, I still find that "aged" egg whites create more consistent results for me)

 Pinch of cream of tartar 

*There are plenty of macaron recipes that strictly use weight, versus cups. This is admittedly more of an accurate way of making them, but this recipe is for those of you holding out on buying a food scale.  

For the Chocolate Ganache Filling 

1/2 cup whipping cream 

4 oz bittersweet or dark chocolate 

2 tbsp butter 

Heat the whipping cream in a small sauce pan until it's hot and there are bubbles on the sides of the pan. Remove from heat. Add chopped chocolate and stir until smooth. Lastly, add in butter and stir until full combined. Place in refrigerator to cool and set (until thick enough to pipe or spread) for about 40-45 minutes before using. 

To bake the macaron shells:

Step 1: Combine the powdered sugar, cocoa powder and almond flour in a food processor (or place in large bowl and sift through a sieve). Sift one time. 

Step 2: Place egg whites in bowl of stand mixer and whisk on medium until foamy. Add the cream of tartar. Mix on medium high until the whites have thickened a bit. Add the 1/4 cup superfine sugar. Continue to mix on high until egg whites have stiff peaks and the whites clump inside the whisk. 

Step 3: Add the dry ingredients to the egg whites. Fold using an offset spatula until mixture resembles lava and ribbons off of the spatula. 

Step 4: Pipe onto parchment lined baking sheets using a pastry bag fitted with a medium round tip. 

Step 5: Fill cooled shells with about a teaspoon of ganache. Sandwich together.