This was a really fun recipe – cookie monster macarons!
Now first up i’ve made macarons before and they are pretty fiddly things to make indeed, but I wanted to make them a little more fun (and in a way easier I hope!). The cool thing about these is although they look a little rough on the tops from the ice cream scoop method we can cover them in our very own custom cookie monster blue coconut fur!
Start off by sieving the ground almonds and icing sugar together into a bowl, it’s really important that they are kept nice and fine. Mix together with a wooden spoon to combine then put to one side. Whip up the egg whites (ideally let them stand at room temperature for a bit if you can before whisking to help with the stiffening), whisk the whites til foamy then add the creme of tartar that will really help get those whites holding together, once incorporated add the sugar in batches whisking until shiny, blended through and glossy, then add the food colouring. It’s important to know that the colour of the cookie monster macarons themselves will not be bright blue unless you want to use a ton of food colouring which isn’t recomended (you could always divide up the recipe if you wish, but this makes at least 20 decent size ones!), but they will still be blue and our coconut will mask that anyway.
Once you have a nice blue mixture, sift in the sugar almond mixture and stir until combined through to a thick pasty batter texture.
Plonk on a lined baking tray, now this is the bit where I cheated as the tops will be covered by using an ice cream scoop for consistency (plus I do not really own a piping bag believe it or not) this works a charm although you get rough tops it really does save you time. Of course pipe away if you want them to look sexy. Let the macaron mixture stand for at least 20 minutes before baking, if you feel with your finger you will notice they will firm up slightly, this really helps them during the baking process.
Bake for 10 mins (gas mark 2 or equivalent) until firm and allow to cool fully before building. Spread nutella on the bottom halves with half a cookie sat on top. Give a light coating of nutella on the lids of the macarons then give a heavy coating of the blue coconut. Stick choc pieces to the white choc buttons using an icing pen (or more nutella) and sit on the coconut, then place the tops over the cookie’d bottoms!
Plonk them in the fridge for a few hours (if you can wait!) before serving, it will really make all of the difference and give you a really soft chewy macaron – really hope you enjoy these folks.