The simple Macaron

The simple Macaron.

I have read for so long how hard these were to make and then a couple of weeks ago my mom made some on her blog:

click here

I had intended on making them and just never got around to it. She made it look so simple. I decided to go for it. Went to buy the almond flour and that's as far as I went! $11.50 for a small bag of almond meal/flour. Oh goodness. Not happening...I'm too frugal. Funny how we'll spend money on some things and not others. I'll drop perfectly good money on my favorite olives, yet almond flour was a no no. Maybe because I cannot grow olives, but I was pretty sure I could grind my own almond flour?

I researched. Almond flour is just ground blanched almonds. You can even use any almond! Well now, I can do that! I went to Whole Foods (lucky me to have one...almost and hour away! It's a rare treat to go) to check out the price of almond flour knowing that would be a more "normal" item there rather than a "luxury" item at the regular grocery store. The price WAS slightly lower than the grocery store, but still more than I planned on spending.

I went over to the bulk food isle and there, there was my answer. Blanched slivered almonds at $5.95 a POUND! WAY cheaper than the flour! When you grind whole things they tend to "fluff" up, so I knew it would make a great deal.

I added small amounts to my blender and pulsed. It made a fine "meal". Don't pulse to long or the natural fat in the almond releases and cakes it up. When I had a bowl of meal I added the correct amount of meal and confectioners sugar to my food processor and pulsed that till I had a very fine flour. I then passed it through a mesh strainer 2x's so I had a super fine flour. It sounds more laborious than it actually was.

The rest was so easy! There are so many tutorial on the web. I found this one to be the best:

pastry pal

Here are my Macarons.

Aren't they cute? Notice the "feet" on them? That means I did it correctly!!!!

Now aren't they cute? All this being said. My hubby loved them, I'm sure the kids will love them, but I think they are too sweet. I'm more a veggie girl and baked goods are not something I go gaga over. I could eat one or two, but a plate full would make me feel ill. My hubby downed about 12! They must be good?

Until next time Dear Reader,

Chatty Cathy