Lavender Macarons with Chocolate Ganache

Having balance has always been one of my greatest desires. It seems that on weeks when my social calendar is full, I find myself distracted at work. Or on ones that I am kicking butt at work, I see my quiet time suffer. When I spend too much time alone, I miss my friends and have a deep ache to reconnect with them.

It is hard to have it all.

So, I'm trying to mold my worlds together. I received a good piece of advice recently: fit people into the activities that are already happening in your life. It is less exhausting, and bringing people into the mundane, the regular, somehow brings an intimacy with them that you can't receive doing new and exciting things.

I often have friends who ask me to teach them to make macarons. There is something alluring about these little french cookies that are both delicious and freakishly beautiful. So, when Cat said she'd like to learn to make macarons, I made it happen.

When there isn't anything exciting going on on Saturday nights, I usually stay in and catch up on some baking projects, often thinking of friends whom I can give little treats to know that they are thought of. This is something I'd usually do alone, but Cat is a friend whom I'd been meaning to catch up with, so fitting her into my usually-solo Saturday night baking was a compromise I was more than willing to make.

Let's all let people into some parts of our life that we normally wouldn't, shall we? It makes it more possible to have it all (almost) . . .  including delicious macarons.

Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies (Gluten-Free)

I make a special stop every time I'm in the grocery store to the fancy chocolate aisle. I usually go for something dark chocolate and salty, but lately my trips to Whole Foods have had me fawning over the chocolate covered marshmallows. Marshmallows are not usually my cup of tea, but for some reason, I pull them off the shelf every time I'm there to read the box, only to be reminded once again that these are not gluten-free.

Sometimes life just isn't fair.

Fueled with the injustice of it all, I made homemade chocolate cookies, and homemade marshmallows, and covered them with some high-quality bittersweet chocolate. I will never try the boxed chocolate covered marshmallows, but I am one million percent certain that these are better. They're so good. Just make them. The end.

Butterscotch Oatmeal Cookie Peach Ice Cream Sandwiches

Photo by Becky Rosenthal

This, to me, has been the Summer of Peaches. So, when my dear friend, Becky, suggested we make ice cream sandwiches together, I was all, "Yes! Peach ice cream! Butterscotch cookies!" Becky has excellent taste and she was all for not only letting me come over to bake them with her, but even making the delicious peach ice cream ahead of time so that it would be ready when I got there (and assembled the sandwiches, and took the photos, and edited them, and sent them to me . . .).

Becky is super generous like that. If you don't know her (though so many of you Salt Lakers probably do), you should. She does events and shares her love of food and Salt Lake with as many people as she can.

And I'm lucky enough to get to bake delicious things with her--though not as often as I'd like, and not often enough to keep up with the many many wonderful recipes she and I scheme up together.

These cookie-ice cream sandwiches are some of our best work yet. The cookies are rich and caramel-y, which compliments the sweet-tartness of the peach ice cream so well. Seriously, they are so good. Go make them. Now.

Chocolate Coconut French Macarons

I've long since had a fond affection for Almond Joy candy bars. I rank the almond-coconut-chocolate combination right up there with peanut butter and jelly. I generally don't let myself buy candy bars anymore because I will eat them all embarrassingly quickly. So, instead of the store-bought, who-knows-what-they're-filled-with candy bars, I decided to incorporate these lovely flavors into sweet, airy French macaron cookies that I could share . . . not hoard all for myself.

The Last of Fall: Pumpkin Snickerdoodles

I feel like I've beaten a dead horse when I talk about how much I love fall, so I'll keep this short. Yesterday, Salt Lake was 70 degrees and sunny and looked something like this:

Today was the first snow of the season that stuck. I had to brush my car off several times, I wore leggings under my jeans, and busted out the tiny dog sweater that Lola hates so much. Usually I greet winter begrudgingly, feeling myself well up with anger when I see expensively decorated fake Christmas trees in the lobby at work and screaming "NOOOO!" at the radio when I hear Christmas songs before Thanksgiving. But this year's Fall was so gloriously wonderful and longer than normal, I think, that I will choose to accept the snow.

So, I send fall off with this recipe for soft and chewy pumpkin snickerdoodles, which taste like fall and happiness and all things wonderful. And even if the snow doesn't melt for a long while, there are glorious things in the word such as canned pumpkin so that you can have fall flavors long into the winter.

Pumpkin Snickerdoodles

makes about 3 dozen

adapted from Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book

1/2 cup butter

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup pumpkin puree

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1 1/2 cups all-purpose gluten-free flour

1/4 cup sugar + 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Cream together butter and sugar. Scrape down bowl. Add pumpkin puree. Stir together remaining ingredients (except the cinnamon sugar) and add to mixing bowl. Mix until combined. Refrigerate 24 hours.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Scoop dough by the tablespoon and roll into a ball. Roll in cinnamon sugar. Place on ungreased baking sheets and bake about 12 minutes, until cookies are set but still soft. Cool completely before removing from the baking sheet.

Pistachio & Raspberry Macarons (Or, If at First you Don't Succeed . . .)

Is there ever a recipe that you want so badly to make but never have any success with it? For me, it was french macarons.

The first time I tried to make macarons, I wasn't careful with how I folded in the egg whites (not surprising since I'm always in a rush). The macarons spread out all over the baking sheet and were completely unusable. The second time, I was a bit more careful. It was in vain: the same thing happened. I blamed the recipe and threw in the towel . . . for about a week.

I couldn't get those stubborn little cookies out of my head. I tried a new recipe and the dainty cookies were lovely when baked. I decided to fill them the next day and kept them in the oven so I didn't have to mess with them until then. Well, I decided to make a cake with a friend the next day and preheated the oven. In about 10 minutes, a smell overwhelmingly like burnt popcorn filled my kitchen. I glared at the oven, dreading what I'd find when I opened the oven. I found dark and crispy little macarons, burnt to a crisp awaiting me. And then that thing happened where you start laughing but you're actually crying, trying to keep it together because I wasn't alone. That was the end of my macaron baking . . . for the time being.

About a month after that, my friend, Becky, emailed me, asking if I'd ever made macarons. I regaled her with the tales of my failed macaron-making, but decided I would try one last time. I don't like to pass up a chance to bake with Becky.

So, we got together, and after a whole lot of recipe tweaking, measurement conversions (a good chance to practice the math you learned in elementary school and probably never use), and a quick trip to get a baking sheet we were lacking, Becky and I had made ourselves a beautiful and delicious batch of perfect pistachio macarons. And for that, I am eternally grateful.

So, the next time you just can't get a recipe right, keep on trying, preferably with a friend, until you're successful. Just remember that old saying: If at first you don't succeed, try, try, (try) again.

Pistachio and Raspberry Macarons
makes about 30-35 sandwich cookies

4 egg whites, aged overnight
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
a few drops green food coloring
1 cup superfine sugar
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup almond flour
1/2 cup finely ground pistachios
1/2 recipe perfect buttercream frosting (or other frosting that is actually dairy-free)
6 oz fresh raspberries, lightly mashed

 

Photo by Becky Rosenthal of The Vintage Mixer

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with silicone mats (preferable) or parchment paper laid over guides for sizing the cookies.

In the bowl of a mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat aged egg whites and cream of tartar on medium speed until soft peaks form. Slowly incorporate the sugar. Quickly mix in a few drops of green food coloring and mix until stiff peaks form.

In a separate bowl, sift together  ground almonds, pistachios, and powdered sugar. Carefully fold in egg white mixture.

Place the mixture in a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2 inch round tip. Following the guide (see photo above), pipe circles onto the silicone mat or parchment paper laid over the guide. Let rest about 30 minutes, until the top of the macarons are dry. Remove guide before placing pans in the oven.

Bake macarons for about 15 minutes, until the macarons are set and have some nice feet on them. Cool before CAREFULLY removing from the baking sheet.

Make the buttercream frosting. Fold in slightly crushed raspberries. Spoon a bit of the frosting onto half of the cookies. Place the other half of the cookie on top. Then do a little happy dance because you've just made the most beautiful and delicious macarons you've ever had :)