Step into fancy with these beautiful Raspberry White Chocolate Macarons. They are bursting with raspberry flavor and are naturally gluten free!
ME BEFORE THE RECIPE…
Ironically one of Braelyn’s all time favorite songs is “I’m so Fancy…” by who knows what artist. I have no idea who sings the original song because I am the lame mom whose kids listen only to the Kidz Bop version of trendy, mainstream music. Translation: I’m the mom who will do anything to assure her daughters don’t grow up as boy obsessed, sassy mean girls, and if that means bustin’ moves to fresh beats sung by prepubescent tweens who drink “strawberry milkshakes all night” as opposed to “strawberry champagne on ice”…well, so be it.
Now I say ironically this is her favorite song because that girl is far from fancy. Don’t get me wrong, she cares about her looks; her frequent pucker lip, pouty faces in the mirror can attest to that. However, she never ever wants to put any actual effort into looking nice. Girl won the gene pool lottery for natural beauty, so she’s become complacent with rolling out of bed, brushing her hair, and magically looking half decent. Oh the envy I feel!
I insist on curling her hair on Sundays which she moans and groans about every single weekend. Funny how her legs conveniently break every Sabbath day around 10:30 in the morning. “Mom!!! I can’t stand this long!!!” To which I reply with my ever so empathetic, “Suck it up Braelyn. Beauty is a pain.” In my defense, it literally takes five minutes tops to curl her hair. Even if her legs were broken, she should be able to stand that long.
And don’t even get me started on our lack of “fancy” at the dinner table. Braelyn isn’t the only culprit. Now maybe I’m overly anal about table manners because my entire childhood consisted of my dad slapping my elbows off the table, insisting that I chew with my mouth closed, and demanding that I always use proper utensils. Now being a respectable adult (or so I’d like to think), these simple rules seem like no brainers to me. Why then can NOBODY follow them???! Ever.
Dinner at our house usually looks, sounds, smells something like this: Emry mistaking her shirt, pants, tablecloth, chair (really anything) for a napkin, Braelyn dancing around the table (or if she’s sitting, at least one leg is repeatedly hoisted in the air in some kind of dancer’s pose), and everybody confusing our kitchen for India because for some reason belching, burping, and farting seem to be perfectly acceptable. It’s a zoo I tell you.
And so what do I do???
I transform into my father, spouting out demand after demand for proper table manners, hoping that somewhere, someday at least one of the rules might stick. But for now, I’ll just have to close my eyes and try to enjoy my meals in peace.
So you can imagine my delight when Braelyn’s church youth group organized an etiquette dinner. Hallelujah! Amen! Sign her up!!! I was the first mama to respond and was beyond willing to contribute to this fancy meal. I’ll do anything to drill some more table manners into my children. And when I say anything, I mean anything…even making macarons.
Alrighty, alrighty. I’m gonna be real with you. Macarons can send you to your grave. They can be finicky little buggers that will drive you to your wits end. They should be simple, but they’re not. WHY???!
Although they can be finicky if you don’t follow the directions just right or appropriately execute every single step, they are well worth the learning curve. Mastering a perfect macaron is like qualifying for the Boston Marathon of baking. Essentially, perfecting the macaron catapults you into pro baker status as far as I’m concerned. And once your pro, you get to start experimenting with different flavors, fillings, and toppings. It becomes kind of an obsession at that point…or so I’m told.
HERE COMES THE RECIPE…
I’ve been dabbling in macaron making for a few weeks now and I have to say that these Raspberry White Chocolate Macarons are my all time favorite. A fluffy raspberry vanilla cookie with a crisp shell, fresh raspberry buttercream, a white chocolate coating, and crushed pistachios…what’s not to love?!
Now before I go any further, there are two versions of this cookie. The one pictured is made using the raspberry puree version. This method takes a bit longer because you puree raspberries, strain out the seeds, and then reduce the sauce over the stove top. I later discovered you could skip all these steps, and throw freeze dried raspberries into the blender with your almond flour and powdered sugar, then sift out the seeds. The powder also gives the cookies a beautiful redish pink color that’s hard to pass up. Either method works great, so just follow whichever is most convenient.
Anyhow, these raspberry white chocolate macarons are dainty and pretty and perfect for a roomful of princesses learning how to chew with their mouths closed. Braelyn would have been happy enough if I sent her with a plate of chocolate chip cookies to share, but I insisted her dessert be something special. These raspberry white chocolate macarons are special indeed.
Not only do these cookies have a hint of raspberry flavor, but the buttercream is bursting with all kinds of raspberry goodness. It’s essential you either cook down your raspberries or use freeze dried raspberries for a concentrated flavor. Otherwise you won’t reach that level of raspberry wow! And trust me, macarons aren’t worth making if they’re not going to be wow!
Now I know most macarons are complete with just a cookie and filling. But ya’ll know me. I don’t stop at ordinary. I have to take it a step further…or in this case a dip further. I’m all about dipping my macarons in chocolate; creamy, dreamy white chocolate. And then, of course, a dusting of chopped pistachios was a must, not only because they’re pretty but also because they’re delicious.
I’m not sure that these cookies taught Braelyn anything other than the fact that some cookies are indeed small enough to shove in your mouth all at once, but at least they’re more sophisticated than shoving an Oreo in your face. And if you pop it in your mouth with your pinky in the air, I’ll count that as an improvement.
So if you’re looking for a fun challenge, go ahead and whip up a batch of these raspberry white chocolate macarons. Wait, I lie; there’s no such thing as whipping up a batch of macarons. Let’s be real. It’s more like go ahead and meticulously measure and bake a batch of these macarons. I promise, if you win the macaron war, you’ll earn enough confidence to last you at least until Christmas.
YOU MIGHT ALSO ENJOY…
- For the macarons:
- 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons superfine almond flour* (see notes)
- 1⅔ cups powdered sugar
- ⅓ cup freeze dried raspberries or 1 teaspoon raspberry puree* (see notes)
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 3 large egg whites, room temperature
- ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar (optional but recommended)
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- ⅛ teaspoon pink or red gel food coloring (optional)
- For the filling:
- 5 tablespoons butter
- 1⅓ cups powdered sugar
- pinch of salt
- 1 tablespoon reserved raspberry puree or 1 tablespoon freeze dried raspberry powder, sifted* (see notes)
- 1 tablespoon heavy whipping cream
- For decorating:
- 4 oz. high quality white chocolate baking bar or 1 cup white chocolate melting wafers (I prefer Ghirardelli)
- ½ teaspoon shortening or oil (omit if you are using melting wafers)
- crushed pistachios
- If not using freeze dried raspberries, begin making raspberry puree for cookies and filling. If using freeze dried raspberries, move on to next step of preparing baking pans. Rinse berries and add them to a blender. Blend until smooth. Strain mixture with a fine mesh strainer over a small saucepan to remove seeds. Add lemon juice and stir. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat to simmer and cook for about 10 mins until mixture becomes like a thick gravy, stirring occasionally, but frequently toward the end to avoid burning. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Mixture should cool to the consistency of jam. Set aside.
- Prepare baking pans by using two aluminum baking sheets covered with silpat mats. Set aside.
- In a blender, combine almond flour, powdered sugar, ⅓ cup freeze dried raspberries (if not using puree) and salt. Pulse until a find powder forms. Sift over a medium sized bowl to remove any larger pieces of almonds and raspberry seeds in the flour. You may need to stir and gently push the spatula against the mesh strainer/sifter toward the end to get the majority of the fine flour through. Discard pieces left in mesh strainer. Set aside.
- In a large metal or glass bowl, add egg whites. Whisk on low speed until frothy. Add cream of tartar. Add ¼ cup granulated sugar slowly, while continuing to whisk. Once sugar is incorporated, increase speed to high and whip just until stiff peaks form. When you remove the whisks, the peaks should stand straight up. This should not take more than 6 mins from beginning of beating egg whites until the end. Do not over beat.
- Add 1 teaspoon of cooled raspberry puree (if not using freeze dried raspberries) and food coloring (optional) to bowl with eggs. Whisk on low speed just until color is even. Add egg white mixture to almond flour mixture. Using a large spatula, fold egg whites into almond mixture using gentle strokes. Fold mixture together until lumps are smooth and mixture resembles consistency of lava (think center of molten lava cake: still thick but smooth and airy, not sandy or gritty looking). This should take about 65-80 strokes.
- Add mixture to piping bag fitted with large round tip (size 10 or 12) and pipe 1" circles of batter straight down, slightly swirling as you lift, about 1" apart on first baking sheet covered with silpat mat. After piping first baking sheet, firmly bang pan on counter to remove air bubbles and allow mixture to slightly spread out and flatten. Repeat with second baking sheet.
- Let pans sit on counter for 30 minutes until shells are no longer sticky to the touch.
- About 5 mins before shells are ready to bake, preheat oven to 275 degrees. Bake cookies for 18-24 mins until lightly browning at bottom of feet and shells feel set to the touch. They should be stiff and remove easily from parchment paper. If still sticking, bake a little longer. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely on cooling rack. Bake one pan at a time and begin with the pan you piped first.
- To make filling, beat together butter and 1 cup powdered sugar until light and fluffy. Add a pinch of salt, raspberry puree or sifted freeze dried raspberry powder (crush up raspberries in a bag and sift out seeds to make 1 tablespoon), and whipping cream. Beat until incorporated. Add remaining ⅓ cup sugar and beat to combine. Increase speed to high and beat for about 2 minutes until light and fluffy. Add more sugar if needed for a thicker filling. Add more cream if you want your filling thinner.
- To assemble macarons, turn upside down and match up similar sized shells. Pipe frosting inside one of the shells and sandwich with the other. Continue until all shells are filled.
- To make white chocolate coating, break white chocolate bar into pieces in a microwave safe glass dish or pour in melting wafers. Heat at 50% power for 1 minute. Stir for at least one minute until smooth. If there are still lumps, return to microwave for 15 second increments at 50% power, stirring in between. Add shortening or oil if using a baking bar and stir until smooth.
- Dip one edge of assembled macarons in white chocolate mixture and shake off excess. Do this quickly so the warm chocolate doesn't melt the buttercream. Lay cookies back on silpat mat and sprinkle with crushed pistachios. Refrigerate until white chocolate coating hardens, about 20-30 mins.
- To store macarons, lay flat in an airtight container layered with parchment paper in fridge for up to 1 week or in freezer for up to 3 months. Serve at room temperature.
- Macarons are best after sitting a day in the fridge and then sitting out at room temperature before serving.
