Hazelnut Macarons Recipes

HAZELNUT MACARONS

Steps:

• Line three large cookie sheets with parchment paper. On a fourth sheet of parchment paper, use a permanent marker to draw 1 1/2-inch circles, 1 inch apart, to create a pattern. Set aside.
• Fill a 2-qt. saucepan with 1 1/2 inches water. Bring to boiling over medium-high. Reduce heat to medium-low to maintain a gentle simmer. For meringue, in the metal bowl of a stand mixer combine the 3 egg whites, the granulated sugar, salt, and cream of tartar. Place bowl over simmering water, making sure water does not touch bottom of bowl. Cook 8 to 10 minutes or until sugar is dissolved (about 150°F), stirring constantly with a rubber or silicon spatula.
• Return bowl to stand mixer. Using the whisk attachment, beat egg white mixture on high 8 to 10 minutes or until stiff peaks form (tips stand straight) and bowl is cool to the touch. Add hazelnut liqueur the last 1 minute of beating.
• Meanwhile, using a coarse-mesh sieve, sift together powdered sugar, almond flour, and ground hazelnuts into a large bowl. Discard any larger pieces (up to 1 Tbsp. total) that remain in sieve. Add the 2 egg whites to flour mixture; stir with a spatula until a thick paste forms. The mixture may seem crumbly at first, but will come together after mixing.
• Fold and press one-third of the meringue into almond-hazelnut paste. Repeat, folding and pressing in remaining meringue by thirds. Batter will be thick at first, but will loosen as you fold. Pressing the mixture during folding helps to release air bubbles. Continue folding until batter falls off the spatula in a thick ribbon and you can draw a figure 8. Batter should be loose enough that it does not hold its shape but stiff enough that you can still see the figure 8 after about 10 seconds. (It is better to slightly undermix than to overmix.)
• Fit a pastry bag with a 1/4-inch round tip. Fill bag two-thirds full with batter.
• For each batch, slide parchment pattern under the plain parchment sheet on a cookie sheet. Pipe batter onto parchment, stopping just before batter reaches the outline of circle. Firmly tap cookie sheet five to 10 times on the counter to release air bubbles. Using a toothpick or the tip of a sharp knife, pop any remaining bubbles that come to the surface. Slide out parchment pattern; repeat with remaining prepared cookie sheets. Let stand 15 minutes or until tops are dry to the touch.
• Meanwhile, preheat oven to 325°F. Bake macarons, one sheet at a time, 10 to 12 minutes. Tops of cookies should be firm and not slide when gently touched. Immediately slide parchment paper off cookie sheet onto the counter; allow macarons to cool completely.
• Prepare Hazelnut Buttercream Filling. Spread filling onto bottoms of half of the macarons, using about 1 1/2 tsp. for each. Top with remaining macarons, bottom sides down. Refrigerate up to 5 days or freeze up to 2 months. Hazelnut Buttercream Filling
• In an extra-large bowl beat butter with a mixer on medium 1 to 2 minutes or until creamy. Beat in 1/2 cup of the powdered sugar. Beat in cream and salt on low until combined. Gradually beat in the remaining 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar just until combined. Beat on medium 5 minutes or until light and fluffy, scraping bowl as needed. Beat in hazelnut liqueur on high 1 minute more. If desired, beat in chocolate hazelnut spread.

HAZELNUT MACARONS

Steps:

• Before you start, get all of the ingredients ready. Prepare a large piping bag, fitted with a large round tip, I use a 1/2" diameter tip. Set aside.
• Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mat.
• Measure out all of the ingredients.
• Sift the hazelnut flour. Measure the hazelnut flour after sifting it, because hazelnut flour tends to be very lumpy, and you want to make sure you're using only the very fine crumbs. Which is why it's important to measure it only after sifting. I needed about double of the amount of hazelnut flour to obtain 30 grams of finely sifted flour.
• Combine the sifted and measured hazelnut flour with the almond flour, and powdered sugar, and sift them together. Set it aside.
• Whisk the sugar and the egg white powder (if using) in a bowl, and place it over a pan with barely simmering water. Add the egg whites to the sugar and whisk the mixture until frothy and the sugar is completely melted. It will take a couple of minutes. You can test by touching the mixture between your fingers, and if you feel any sugar granules just keep whisking the mixture over the water bath.
• Make sure the bottom of the bowl isn't touching the simmering water because you don't want the whites to cook.
• Also, don't overheat the sugar syrup, this may cause issues down the line, such as wrinkly macarons.
• Transfer the syrup to the bowl of a stand mixer.
• With the whisk attachment, start whisking mixture on low for about 30 seconds, then gradually start increasing speed to medium. Whisk on medium for one to two minutes, until the mixture is white and starting to become fluffy. Raise the speed to high, or medium-high and whisk for a few minutes until stiff peaks are formed. Best way to check this is to keep your eye on the whites. Once they get glossy and you start seeing streaks formed by the whisk, it might be time to stop.
• Whisk until stiff peaks have formed. When you pull your whip up, the peak should be stiff and shooting straight up, with possibly a slight bend at the top, but not bending down to the side.
• Pour the sifted powdered sugar, almond flour, and hazelnut flour into the stiff meringue.
• Start folding gently forming a letter J with a spatula.
• Add the food coloring at this point, if using. I've added a touch of pink gel food coloring.
• How to know when to stop folding the batter: It's time to stop folding when the batter is glossy and has a thick and flowing consistency. There are several ways to test this.
• If you are used to making regular almond flour macarons, you will notice that the hazelnut macarons have a thicker batter, and won't flow as effortless as the almond flour ones. The hazelnut flour will make for a thicker, and sort of lumpy batter, not as smooth as the only almond flour batter.
• So the way to test if the batter is ready is pretty much the same as the almond flour macaron batter, only a bit thicker, less flowy.
• First, pick up some batter with the spatula and try to draw a figure 8 with the batter that is dripping off the spatula. If you can form just a couple of figure 8s without the batter breaking up, that's one indication that it might be ready.
• There's another test you can do. I call it the Teaspoon test.
• Grab a teaspoon of batter and spoon onto the parchment paper or silicon mat. Wait a minute to see how it behaves.
• If the batter stays stiff, forming a point and doesn't spread out, fold a little bit more, about 3 folds.
• Test again.
• Once the batter spreads out a bit and starts to look glossy and smooth on top, on the parchment paper, it's ready.
• You don't want your batter to be too runny either. So be careful not to overmix. It's always best to undermix and test several times until the proper consistency has been achieved.
• When you hold the spatula with batter on top of the bowl and the batter falls off the spatula slowly but effortlessly the batter is ready. The batter will keep flowing off the spatula non-stop, but not too quickly.
• Transfer the batter to the piping bag.
• Place the piping bag directly 90 degrees over the center of each macaron template. Apply gentle pressure and carefully pipe for about 3 seconds, and then quickly pull the bag up twisting slightly.
• Once you've piped as many circles as you could, bang the trays against the counter a few times each.
• Use a toothpick to pop any air bubbles in the surface of the shells.
• Let the trays sit for a while so the shells will dry out a little bit. I usually leave about 20-40 minutes, depending on how humid the day is. You'll know they're ready when you gently touch the surface of a macaron and it seems dry.
• Pre-heat the oven to 325ºF.
• Bake one tray at a time.
• Bake for 5 minutes, rotate tray.
• I bake each tray for about 15 to 20 minutes.
• When baked, the macarons will have a deeper color and formed feet. If you try to move a macaron, it shouldn't feel jiggly. If the macaron is still jiggly, keep baking.
• Remove from the oven and bake the other tray.
• Let the macarons cool down before proceeding with the filling.
• Place the milk and 2 tbsp of sugar in a small saucepan, over medium heat, and bring it to almost a boil. Make sure to turn the heat off before it actually comes to a boil. The sugar should be melted with the milk. Meanwhile, whisk the egg yolk with the remaining 2 tbsp of sugar and 1 tablespoon of cornstarch, until lightened in color.
• Slowly pour about a couple of tablespoons of the milk over the yolk mixture, while whisking non-stop. This is called tempering the egg, and it means to slowly add the hot mixture to the yolk so it doesn't cook it. Keep adding the remaining milk very slowly, while whisking the custard. Once all the milk has been added to the yolk, return the whole mixture to the saucepan that you used to heat the milk by pouring through a strainer, to retain any bits of yolk that may have cooked.
• Add the ground hazelnut to the custard. Place the pan over medium heat and start cooking, while stirring non-stop. Keep heating the mixture and mixing it with a wooden spoon or spatula, making sure to scrape the sides and bottom very well while you cook it. The custard will start to get thick and it will look lumpy for a while, just keep stirring over medium heat. After a couple of minutes the mixture should be thick like a cream, and smooth. At this point, remove the pan from the heat, and add the vanilla extract, and unsalted butter to the custard. Pour it in a small bowl, cover it with a plastic wrap, placed right on the surface of the custard, so it doesn't form a skin as it cools. Place it in the fridge to chill completely.
• Start by sifting the powdered sugar, and set it aside.
• Place the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer, and cream at medium-high speed for 2 minutes. Add 1/2 cup of the chilled Hazelnut Custard to the mixer and cream it with the butter for 45 seconds. Turn the mixer off and add 1 cup of the sifted powdered sugar in. Mix on low until the sugar is incorporated with the butter and custard, then raise the speed to medium-high, and cream for another minute, until creamy and thick. If the buttercream is too soft and runny, add more powdered sugar as necessary. And in case the buttercream is too stiff, add one or two teaspoons of milk or water to thin out the buttercream.
• I melted the 1 oz of chocolate in the microwave, placed it in a piping bag, snipped the end with scissors, then I piped some different sizes circles and swirls on top of the shells.
• Once the chocolate was dry, I placed a tiny bit of edible gold on top of the chocolate swirls to decorate.
• Place the Hazelnut German Buttercream in a piping bag fitted with a round tip.
• Pipe on the bottom shells, then top with another shell.
• These macarons can be stored in the fridge for up to 5 days, or in the freezer for up to 1 to 2 months.

HAZELNUT MACARONS

Steps:

• Place egg whites in a small bowl; let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes., Preheat oven to 350°. Place hazelnuts and confectioners' sugar in a food processor; pulse until nuts are finely ground., Add salt to egg whites; beat on medium speed until soft peaks form. Gradually add superfine sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating on high until stiff peaks form. Fold in hazelnut mixture., With a pastry bag, pipe 1-in.-diameter cookies 2 in. apart onto parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake until lightly browned and firm to the touch, 9-12 minutes. Transfer cookies on the parchment to wire racks; cool completely., For the buttercream, in a heavy saucepan, combine sugar and water. Bring to a boil; cook over medium-high heat until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat. In a small bowl, whisk a small amount of hot syrup into egg yolks; return all to pan, whisking constantly. Cook until thickened, 2-3 minutes, stirring constantly; remove from heat. Stir in espresso powder and vanilla; cool completely., In a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, beat butter until creamy. Gradually beat in cooled syrup. Beat in confectioners' sugar until fluffy. Refrigerate until mixture firms to a spreading consistency, about 10 minutes., Spread about 1-1/2 tsp buttercream onto the bottom of each of half the cookies; top with remaining cookies. Store in airtight containers in the refrigerator.

HAZELNUT-MOCHA MACARONS

Steps:

• Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Grind 1 cup of the confectioners' sugar, the hazelnuts, and cocoa in a food processor until powdery, about 3 minutes. Sift mixture through a medium mesh strainer onto a piece of parchment paper, then discard any large pieces of nuts that didn't come through the strainer.
• With an electric mixer, beat the egg whites and salt until they hold firm but not dry peaks, about 2 minutes. Gradually add the remaining 1 cup confectioners' sugar, a tablespoon at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed; this can take up to 3 minutes. Beat for an extra 30 seconds until the peaks are firm and shiny but still not dry. Fold the nut mixture gently into the egg whites with a large rubber spatula. Transfer mixture into a large piping bag fitted with a 1/2-inch plain piping tip. Pipe 32 2-inch by about 1/3-inch thick rounds, evenly spaced, on each of the prepared pans. Set aside to air dry for 30 minutes before baking.
• Meanwhile make the filling: Put chocolate in a medium heatproof bowl. In a small saucepan, bring cream, with espresso powder mixed in, to a boil. Pour cream over chocolate and shake bowl gently so cream settles around the chocolate. Set mixture aside until the chocolate is soft, about 5 minutes. Whisk gently until smooth, taking care not to incorporate too many air bubbles. Cool at room temperature until set up.
• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
• Bake macaroons until set and puffed, about 18 to 20 minutes. Take care not to overcook the macaroons or they'll crack. Cool cookies for 5 minutes then gently peel from paper. Let cool completely.
• Spread 1 teaspoon of mocha filling on a cookie and sandwich 2 cookies together.

CHOCOLATE-HAZELNUT MACARONS

Steps:

• Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Put the hazelnuts, cocoa powder and 1 cup of the confectioners' sugar in the bowl of a food processor and process until the nuts are very finely ground and powdery, about 3 minutes. Sift with a medium-mesh strainer and discard any pieces of nuts that didn't pass through the strainer.
• Beat the egg whites and salt in a large bowl using an electric mixer on medium-high speed until they hold firm but not dry peaks, about 2 minutes. While beating, gradually add the remaining 1 cup confectioners' sugar, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed until the peaks are firm and shiny. Fold the nut mixture into the egg whites with a large rubber spatula until just blended. Transfer to a large piping bag fitted with a 1/2-inch plain tip. Pipe 32 two-inch rounds on the prepared pans. Set aside to air-dry for 30 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
• Bake until the tops of the cookies are puffed and set, 18 to 20 minutes. Take care not to overcook the cookies or they will crack. Cool the cookies for 5 minutes, then gently peel from the parchment and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
• Meanwhile, put the chocolate in a medium heatproof bowl. Heat the cream to a boil in a small saucepot over medium heat. Pour the cream over the chocolate and set aside until the chocolate is soft, about 5 minutes. Whisk until smooth; let stand at room temperature until thick but still spreadable. Sandwich about 1 teaspoon of the chocolate mixture between two cookies and repeat with the remaining filling and cookies.

HAZELNUT MACARONS

Steps:

• 1. Mix the 158 g water and 236 g granulated sugar in a small saucepan and set over medium heat. Gently mix the mixture until the sugar is dissolved. 2. Place the probe of the thermometer into the syrup and cook until it reaches 248F degrees. (see Note 1 at the bottom).3. Remove from heat immediately when the temperature is reached.* If the syrup has crystallized, discard and start over. Use the syrup cooking time (it might take about 10-15 minutes) to sift the dry ingredients and prepare the egg whites.
• 1. Sift the 106 g of almond flour and 106 g of hazelnut flour, 30 g of cocoa powder and 212 g of powdered sugar twice into a large bowl.2. Heat 172g of egg whites in the microwave in 5-7 second intervals, mixing after each, for about 30 seconds or until the egg whites are barely warm to the touch. 3. Add 82 g of egg whites to the sifted mixture. Pour the rest of the egg whites into a grease-free bowl and add a 1 tablespoon of sugar and set aside. 4. When the syrup is at about 240F, with a sturdy wooden spoon quickly mix egg whites with the sifted mixture until paste forms.
• 1. When the syrup is at about 243F to 244F, start to whip egg whites and sugar on medium speed, getting them ready for when the syrup reaches 248F and you can pour it into the fluffy egg whites.2. Once the egg whites are foamy and the syrup is at 248F degrees, remove the syrup off the heat, increase the mixer speed to high and slowly pour the syrup into the egg whites between the whisk and the bowl. Continue whipping until the bowl is cool to the touch and the meringue has reached stiff peaks.
• 1. Fold the whipped meringue into the almond/sugar paste in 3 additions, trying to reach the "lava" stage when the batter flows off the spatula into the bowl like lava, or when the batter dropped into the bowl takes about 30 seconds to dissolve into the rest of the batter, or when you're able to draw a figure 8 with the batter falling off the whisk. Stop immediately once you reach this stage as overmixing the batter will ruin the macarons. It is better to under-fold, then over-fold.
• 1. Fill the prepared piping bag fitted with the 1/2 inch round plain tip with the macaron batter. You can drape the empty bag over a tall glass to make it easier to fill the pastry bag.
• 2. Pipe the macarons onto the prepared parchment-lined (or a Silpat, but with Silpat you will need to increase baking time) baking sheet by pressing out 1.5-inch circles about 1 inch apart.
• 3. Rap the sheet against the counter 5-10 times to remove any large bubbles. If you use a softer surface to avoid the loud noise that comes with rapping the sheet on the counter, increase the number of raps. 4. Next, use a pin or something sharp to pop any remaining bubbles that have risen to the surface of the macarons, but haven't popped.
• 1. Place into a preheated to 350F oven and immediately reduce the heat to 325F. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before removing off the parchment paper.2. Bake the rest of the macarons in the same fashion, preheating the oven to 350F each time a new baking sheet is placed in the oven.
• 1. Fill a piping bag fitted with a 1/2 inch round piping tip with the Nutella filling and pipe about a tablespoon of the filling onto the first half of the macaron shells, then top with the second cookie, matching them by size and shape. 2. Press gently to adhere.
• Place the macarons into a container fitted with a lid and refrigerate or leave at room temperature for 24 hours before eating. This allows the flavors to mend and for the macaron to reach a fudgy and soft inside.

CHOCOLATE-DIPPED HAZELNUT MACAROONS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325°. Place hazelnuts and 1/4 cup sugar in a food processor; process until nuts are finely ground. Add almond paste, egg whites and remaining sugar; process until blended, about 3 minutes., Cut a small hole in the tip of a pastry bag; insert a large star pastry tip. Fill bag with hazelnut mixture. Pipe 1-1/4-in. rosettes 2 in. apart onto parchment-lined baking sheets., Bake until light brown, 12-14 minutes. Cool on pans 1 minute. Remove to wire racks to cool completely., Dip bottom of each cookie in melted chocolate; allow excess to drip off. Place on waxed paper-lined baking sheets; refrigerate until set, about 1 hour.

CHOCOLATE MACARONS WITH TOASTED HAZELNUTS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees with rack in lower third. Place hazelnuts in a food processor; process until as fine as possible, about 1 minute. Add confectioners' sugar; process until combined, about 1 minute.
• Pass hazelnut mixture through a fine-mesh sieve. Transfer solids in sieve to food processor; grind and sift again, pressing down on clumps. Repeat until less than 2 tablespoons of solids remains in sieve.
• Whisk egg whites and granulated sugar by hand to combine. Beat on medium speed (4 on a KitchenAid) 2 minutes. Increase speed to medium-high (6) and beat 2 minutes. Then beat on high (8) 2 minutes more.
• The beaten egg whites will hold stiff, glossy peaks when you lift the whisk out of the bowl. Beat on highest speed 30 seconds.
• Add dry ingredients all at once. Fold with a spatula from bottom of bowl upward, then press flat side of spatula firmly through middle of mixture. Repeat just until batter flows like lava, 35 to 40 complete strokes.
• Rest a pastry bag fitted with a 3/8-inch round tip (Ateco #804) inside a glass. Transfer batter to bag; secure top. Dab some batter remaining in bowl onto corners of 2 heavy baking sheets; line with parchment.
• With piping tip 1/2 inch above sheet, pipe batter into a 3/4-inch round, then swirl tip off to one side. Repeat, spacing rounds 1 inch apart. Tap sheets firmly against counter 2 or 3 times to release air bubbles.
• Filling: Heat heavy cream in a saucepan until bubbles begin to form. Add chocolate and butter; stir to combine. Stir in chocolate-hazelnut spread. Let cool until thick and spreadable.
• Bake 1 sheet at a time, rotating halfway through, until risen and just set, 13 minutes. Let cool. Pipe or spread filling on flat sides of half of cookies; top with remaining half. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate.