Hello, everybody! The Fresh Pioneer is back and the last time I posted on macarons they were the little French sandwiches that are impossible to make. This time, I decided to make MACAROONS. My friend promised these were the easiest cookie recipe ever. So, let's see if she's right!
(little bit of Spring)
Preheat the oven to 350F.
Ingredients:
4 egg whites
1 bag sweetened or unsweetened coconut (depending on how sweet you like your cookies)
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla or other flavoring
Beat four egg whites, sugar, and salt until the white starts to stiffen. I didn't put in the vanilla at this point because I was going to make mine different flavors... and different colors.
Adding the coconut to the big bowl, I mixed well, then separated into three portions. The first one we made green and added 1/3 tsp vanilla.
The second portion we tinted pink.
And added 1/2 tsp framboise.
The third portion we made a pale blue and added 1/3 vanilla.
Put it in the oven for about 20-25 minutes. Sit outside and contemplate nature... or the fact your wife is making cookies instead of dinner. (I'm kidding. He already ate. He just has such a funny expression I had to write something sarcastic.)
When they're just starting to brown on the bottom, take them out of the oven and let them cool for five minutes. At this point, my four year old said he wasn't so sure about "those blue blobs".
Even after getting a whiff of up-close vanilla and coconut scent....
The pink ones smelled amazzzzziiiiiing. I love raspberry and chocolate together, so I dipped these in dark, melted chocolate.
I set them on a cake platter and made some tea. My oldest boy cut some flowers... which included crab apple blossoms. Very brave of him, you can hear the tree from 20 feet away. The bees are happy that Spring is here!
The verdict? Definitely the easiest recipe I've made in a while. I'm not a real fan of coconut, but they were fun and different, which hit the spot today!
Leaving you with a few flower pics. Miniature daffodils, in assorted varieties...
And one little bottle of grape hyacinth.
Have a wonderful Wednesday!
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ReplyDeleteyum! I've never seen them colored before. love the egg beater! and you used the yellow bowl this time! my green one from that set broke - still upset over that :-(
ReplyDeletebeautiful flowers (and hubby! HA!)'wish I had your yard (and someone to maintain it that way so I could just walk out with a cup of hot tea and macaroons and pretend I did it all hee hee)
Susanna
oops guess it's a mixer not an egg beater thingy! still cute! maybe I'd have better luck (and less mess) with one of those than my other one!
DeleteSusanna
Oooh...I've never made macaroons, thought they'd be too hard. They are fearsomely expensive in the bakery. I'll give this recipe a try, but forgo the food colouring. :-) I'm jealous of your blossoms but at least the snow is meling and it's getting warmer every day up here.
ReplyDeleteFlowers! I'm officially jealous. Although we're supposed to be close to 70° today, so they should be appearing soon :)
ReplyDeleteAnd the macaroons look so elegant and springy. And easy. Nothing beats that combination.
I've never used the raspberry flavoring. I'll have to branch out more.
Thanks, Virginia!
They look so yummy! I haven't made them in years. Thanks for the simple recipe! And for sharing your photography! Love the hubby-kid photo. :)
ReplyDeleteSuzy, it is an egg beater! And sharp eye on the yellow bowl! My sister was looking for the four color set and I saw it at a yard sale here. I bought it for her and she already had the yellow bowl so then we had two!
ReplyDeleteI use my yellow bowl a lot- mostly for holding fruit LOL but when I tried my hand at baking last December I pulled it out- that cranberry bread posted here a few years ago I've made at least twice (and that's a lot fo rme considering I don't bake!) think Mary Curry shared it...anyways I used this bowl to mix it in. my mom was big on finding pyrex bargains - I didn't care much for it at the time but last year I got more into it.
DeleteSusanna
I have one pretty blue Pyrex bowl (the dog dish from my friend!) and haven't really cared to collect any since I don't have a lot of room. But since my sister wanted that set so badly (she'd been looking for them forever!) and I grabbed it up... but that left us with two yellow. *shrug* There are worse things than a bright yellow mixing bowl. It's very sunny!
DeleteKav, I might skip the food coloring next, too. They're very pretty but I managed to stain one of my best shirts. So apparently I'm not old enough to handle the dyes!
ReplyDeleteJan, I bought the raspberry flavoring to add a drop to my lattes (raspberry syrup was too sweet) and I think I'm going to have it forever! It only takes a little but smells so good!
ReplyDeleteMissy, I've never made them before and it was super quick. It said it made 12 but it made 16 for us so maybe our scoop was smaller than theirs. And yes the hubby/kid pic made me laugh. He looks so irritated but that's really his default his expression and he was perfectly content
ReplyDeleteYikes! Excuse the typos! Typing on my tiny phone!
ReplyDeleteOh, I love this post. There's not one picture that doesn't scream spring. Just love all the vibrant colors. And the macaroons, of course. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Virginia.