Posts Tagged ‘almond flour’
Funfetti Macarons & Sucré Macaron Giveaway
April 22, 2013 | 
Author This month I participated in Love & Olive Oil’s April Kitchen Challenege, and April was dedicated to tackling macarons. I know in the past I have expressed my dislike for macarons, but after enjoying the meringue cookies I made and therefore debunking my dislike for meringue, figured I should give macarons another shot. And in light of this macaron extravaganza, I am giving away an 8 piece Signature Macaron Collection from Sucré to one lucky reader! (Details at the end of this post.)
Most recipes I’ve seen call for specific weight measurements, which is understandable in an effort to get more consistent results with a notoriously finicky treat. Although I do own a kitchen scale, for some reason decided to be stupid brave and go without. This is where I admit that my macarons were not perfect. They didn’t have the typical edges of a macaron cookie, and some were cracked or concave underneath. In the future since the batter was quite easy to make, I will take the extra minute and weigh everything.
That being said… Sweet glory they were delicious! What have I been doing with my life, hating macarons all this time? I’ve only had one macaron in my life from a coffee shop and was unimpressed by their dry cruchy-ness, but these babies were not dry at all and perfectly chewy. Of course, the funfetti flavor probably was a significant factor in their desirability. Regardless, I’m very glad I decided to partake in this challenge and can’t wait to see what’s up in May!
Two years ago: Mexican Mac and Cheese
FUNFETTI MACARONS
Makes approximately 3 dozen
Ingredients:
MACARONS
5 egg whites, at room temperature
1/2 cup superfine sugar
1-3/4 cups almond flour
2 cups powdered sugar
2 Tbsp rainbow sprinkles
CAKE BATTER BUTTERCREAM FILLING
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup dry white or yellow cake mix
2 cups powdered sugar
1 Tbsp milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Rainbow sprinkles, placed in a small shallow dish
Directions:
- On three pieces of parchment, use a pencil to draw 1.5-inch circles about 2 inches apart. Flip each sheet over and place each sheet on three baking sheets; set aside.
- Place the egg whites in your mixer’s bowl and whip on medium until frothy. Increase the speed to high and gradually pour in the superfine sugar. Continue to beat until the mixture is glossy and stiff peaks form.
- Sift together the almond flour and powdered sugar into a large mixing bowl and mix well. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold in 1/4 of the meringue into the almond mixture. Continue folding the rest of the meringue until completely incorporated. Fold in sprinkles.
- Fit a piping bag with a 3/8-inch round tip and fill it with the macaron mixture. Pipe the batter onto the baking sheets, in the previously drawn circles. Tap the underside of the baking sheet to remove air bubbles and allow to dry at room temperature for 1 hour.
- Preheat oven to 315. Bake the macarons for 12 to 15 minutes; cookies are done when they no longer jiggle when you touch them on top. Rotate the baking sheet after 6 minutes for even baking.
- Remove macarons from oven and transfer to a cooling rack; do not remove from baking sheets. Let completely cool. When cool, slide a metal offset spatula or pairing knife underneath the macaron to remove from parchment.
- While the macarons cool, prepare the filling. In a large bowl, beat butter on medium speed until smooth. Turn to low and slowly add in powdered sugar and cake mix. Turn speed up to medium and beat for 1 minute until smooth. Add in milk and vanilla, continue mixing until desired consistency is reached, adding more powdered sugar or milk if necessary.
- Pair macarons of similar size, and pipe about 1/2 tsp of the filling onto one of the macarons. Sandwich macarons and roll the sides in sprinkles.
Source: Adapted from Diethood and Serious Eats.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Disclosure: Giveaway provided by Sucré. I was not compensated for this post.
Posted in Cookies, Desserts, Giveaways | 
Tags: almond flour, Funfetti, powdered sugar, sprinkles | 
83 Comments »
Review: Wilton’s Linzer Cookie Cutter Sets and Fall Sprinkles
I don’t mean to place any bias, but I really enjoy Wilton products. I’ve already been using their products for years, but after my delightful experience with their cake icing smoothers I became much more dedicated. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that when the next item to review showed up in my mailbox, there was no doubt that I needed to try it out. Especially since this time it involved festive sprinlkes!! Wilton generously sent me a round linzer and square linzer cookie cutter set (each complete with 6 interchangeable center cutout shapes that allow your filling of choice to shine through), as well as their leaves sprinkles, leaves mix sprinkles and fall sprinkle assortment.
The cookie cutters worked great, just be sure to dip them in flour after a few cookies so that the dough doesn’t stick to the edges. By dipping in flour I also rarely had to use the red plunger to remove the dough. Just don’t forget to keep track of how many you’ve cut with the middles punched out, and then you can easily slide out the midde-cutter to cut out some bottoms. I really enjoyed the different choices for the middle shapes. Great for all kinds of holidays!
Even though the linzer cookies I have come across are usually sprinkled with powdered sugar, I decided to change it up and use their fall colored sprinkles. I used to love decorating cookies for the holidays growing up, so using those sprinkles definitely brought back fond memories in my parents’ kitchen. Next I plan to use their super cute micro leaves sprinkles on some truffles!
For the insides I used a chocolate-hazelnut praline filling. Did you know that when you add chocolate to hazelnut praline paste, it’s basically becomes a fancier version of Nutella? What I am trying to say here is that you can use the hazelnut praline paste I shared with you yesterday to make these cookies. Or you can just use Nutella, or just go ahead and use your favorite jam (I bet a cinnamon apple would be wonderful).
One year ago: Taco Bowls
LINZER COOKIES
Makes approximately 5 dozen filled cookies
Ingredients:
COOKIES
1 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup almond flour
2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 egg
Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting (or festive sprinkles)
CHOCOLATE PRALINE FILLING
1/2 cup hazelnut praline paste
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
Directions:
- To make the cookies: Beat together the butter, sugars, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and vanilla.
- Mix in the nut flour, flour, and egg.
- Divide the dough in half, wrap, and refrigerate for 60 minutes, for easiest rolling. Towards the end of the chilling time, preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
- Roll the dough 1/8″ thick. Cut the dough into shapes with large linzer cutters. Use small cutters to cut a design out of the center of half the cookies.
- Transfer the cookies to an ungreased or parchment-lined baking sheet. If using sprinkles, top cookies here before baking.
- Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until lightly browned on the edges. Remove from the oven, and cool on a rack. While the cookies are cooling, make the filling.
- To make the filling: Melt the praline paste and chocolate in a double boiler or in a microwave on low power, stirring until smooth. Cool to lukewarm.
- Lightly dust the cookies with cutout centers with confectioners’ sugar (if not using sprinkles). Spread the solid cookies with 3/4 teaspoon praline filling. Place a cutout cookie on top of each filled cookie. Let stand for several hours, until the filling is set.
Source: King Arthur Flour
Disclosure: Wilton provided me with round and square linzer cookie cutter sets, and three kinds of sprinkles to review. I was not compensated for this post. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Posted in Cookies, Desserts, Reviews | Tags: almond flour, chocolate, cinnamon, hazelnuts, powdered sugar | 4 Comments »
Baked Banana Almond Pancakes
What prompted me to attempt baking these was the fact that I had problems with them super-sticking to the pan when cooking the traditional way for pancakes. I have been known to bake pancakes in the past and they have always been a success so I was very pleased when this recipe also cooperated. They turned out to have slightly crispy edges with moist, but not under-done, centers. And the flavors of almond and banana together were a big hit for my taste buds.
These pancakes are also pretty filling and could serve two people. Or one really hungry person (like me).
Also from Without Adornment, I would love to try the Strawberry Cheesecake Raw Vegan Cake Pops.
BAKED BANANA ALMOND PANCAKES
Serves 2
Ingredients:
1 banana, sliced
1 tsp egg replacer with 1 Tbsp + 1 tsp almond milk, mixed until frothy
2 Tbsp water
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup almond flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 Tbsp tapioca starch
Pinch salt
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Coat 4 holes in a muffin-top pan with non-stick cooking spray, set aside.
- In a blender (I used my magic bullet), mix together the banana, egg replacer, water and vanilla extract for about a minute until well mixed.
- Add the dry ingredients and blend until well mixed.
- Divide batter equally into the four pre-greased muffin top pan holes. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the tops begin to turn golden brown and middles are set. Allow to cool slightly before removing carefully from pan.
- Top with fruit and enjoy.
Source: Adapted from Without Adornment.
