Before we proceed with the recipe, I’ll first throw in a little DIY on how to make almond

flour. Almond flour can be pretty expensive if bought as it is, but if you have time or are

looking to save a few bucks, then this is how you can make your own.

You’ll need some almonds, of course.

The amount you use will depend on the amount of flour you want to make.

Boil some water and put the almonds in a heat-prove container. Then pour the boiling

water over them until submerged, and wait for 1 minute. 

Then drain them quickly and run cold water through them until they are cool enough to

handle.

Lay them on a paper or a tea towel and pat dry. You’ll see that the blanching process

has caused the almond skin to shrivel.

Peel or squeeze the almonds out of their skins. 

Now this should be an easy process if your rinsing water was pretty cold and/or you

have long nails. I never thought I’d wish I’d grown my nails until today. I kept getting

almond pieces under my nails and they hurt like you wouldn’t believe.

Anyways, once that’s done, preheat your oven to 350F and lay the almonds out on a

baking sheet.

Bake for 10-15 minutes until dry. Watch the almonds - you don’t want them to turn too

brown.

After that’s done, it’s just a case of getting out your food processor or mill or coffee

grinder. Fill it until 1/3 up at a time and pulse until you get a fine powder. 

Warning: over grinding can cause the almonds to clump together and turn into almond

butter, because the almonds will release its natural oil if over-ground.

For this particular recipe, you’ll need to sieve the almond powder to get a finer, lighter

texture. 

Trust me, there’s a difference between these 2 almond flours - a 30 minute’s worth of

arm-work difference.

And so after you’ve got your almond flour, be it home-made or store bought, it’s time to

make some macarons.

As with my previous TL-DR walkthroughs, there’s going to be some commentary

alongside the recipe (written verbatim, in bold).

The recipe was written in metric measurements, but I’m going to include both the

original values given and the approximated US cup & spoon conversion that I used.

With macarons it is recommended that you go with the metric, since it’s all about

accuracy, but if push comes to shove, the converted measurements are pretty close.

MACARONS (basic recipe by Cristina)

[ 100g almond flour + 175g powdered sugar + 100g aged (1-3 days) egg whites + 30g

granulated sugar ]

[ 1 cup almond flour + 1 1/3 cup powdered sugar + 7 tablespoon aged (1-3 days) egg

whites + 2 ½ tablespoon granulated sugar ]

Level 1:

Sift the almond flour and powdered sugar as well as any dry flavoring together -

it is advisable to not put more than a tablespoon of dry (like cocoa powder or

matcha).

If there are any lumpy things (no more than a teaspoon), dump that lumpy stuff

out. You want smoothness.

I just wanted to make some macarons, as it is. No funny BUSINESS  with coloring or

flavor just in case it messes up the chemistry or whatever. If you’re still on shaky

grounds I suggest starting out with the basic recipe until you’re confident to venture out

to different flavor or coloring agents.

Level 2:

With a handmixer or standmixer, begin whipping the eggs. As soon as they

begin to foam, add the granulated sugar and whip those babies until they form

stiff peaks.

I didn’t even think about taking pictures during this step as it might be a distraction and

cause something to go wrong. This step went pretty smoothly.

Level 3:

Add a bit (about 1/3) of the dry ingredients into the egg white mix now and fold

until combined.

Don’t be bashful with the folding - make sure the dry ingredients is mixed in thoroughly.

Level 4:

Then all of the rest and fold in until mixed thoroughly.

I once read, I think it was on Canelle et Vanille’s blog, that it's recommended to give the

batter 50 turns, or 50 folds. This, of course, is a highly researched and

calculated number, because under or over-folding could be quite scandalous, or so I’ve

read.

I decided to just take her word for it.

Level 5:

Put inside a piping bag fitted with a round tip.

Pretty self explanatory. You’d want a round plain tip that’s a little bit wide.

To easily manouver the piping bag, put it inside a tall glass while you fill the mixture in.

Level 6:

Pipe them out onto parchment paper as 1-2 inch rounds.

Hold the piping bag perpendicular to the tray and squeeze until you reach the required

diameter. Make sure to space the shell out evenly. 

A note from C:

The only thing I forgot to mention, which is why yours did not turn out as perfectly as

you’d like them, is that when you pipe, hold the tip as close to the sheet as possible and

don’t pull UP. Just kind of spread down and when you’re done piping, smack the baking

sheet down a couple of times before you let them sit. 

Level 7:

Let them SIT for 60-90 minutes.

Seriously, let them sit pretty for the allotted time. If you want to know what’ll happen if

you don’t - heck, I'll show you what’ll happen if you don’t.

The sitting process allows the macarons to create a film around the shell that will

prevent it from collapsing. This step is also crucial if you want to get the little macaron

“feets”. 

Level 8:

Then pop them into the oven at 280 degrees F for 17 minutes.