Making Macarons

I spent most of Saturday relaxing and watching The Great British Baking Show - a show that I love a ridiculous amount. Whenever I watch it, I am always inspired to get into the kitchen and bake. This time around, I decided to try making french macarons. These perfect little cookies are always the most tempting thing when I see them in a bakery. I love the variety of colors and flavors, and the delicate cookies that sandwich the rich frosting make these little treats mighty for their petite size.

Baking is always more fun with company, so I called my mom to see if she wanted to join in (she's also an extremely good cook/baker so is also so helpful to have around). A few of the recipes I read made the whole process seem pretty daunting (I've learned the hard way that recipes involving delicate egg whites can be tricky), so I was thrilled that my mom had seen this recipe from the StarTribune that simplified things a bit. And, while there are tons of options for the filling, we decided to go with a simple buttercream (if you're making a single recipe of the macarons, you can cut this buttercream recipe in half).

Overall, the project was a huge success. We followed both basic recipes this time around, the only alteration was dividing the frosting recipe in two and flavoring one half with maple extract (which tastes *amazing*) and the other with the typical vanilla. Next time, I want to try other flavors and colors, but I want to avoid food coloring, so am going to look into natural alternatives.

If you're a fan of macarons I highly recommend making them! And while the ingredients list is rather short, it is an involved process, and you'll definitely need to plan ahead, but the end result is so worth it. Below are a few pictures from the day!