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Chocolate peanut-butter macarons, to be exact

This was the very first time I’ve ever attempted parisian macarons, and I’ve wanted to try to make them for a long long time. In our latest SOB installment, the pick was mine and I jumped on the chance to make these. Charity was game from the get-go, and we were off running!

I regret that I did this very last minute, as all things in my life have been lately.  To say life is crazy is by FAR an understatement!  I’m in the middle of changing jobs and its an all-consuming process, not to mention a lot of all-nighters at work lately, too.

These macarons were good.  They weren’t exactly as I wanted them, which just means I’ll be forced to tweak the recipe/technique.  Oh shucks!  I think they just were undercooked.  I thought I’d let them develop enough of a skin, and I thought I’d let them bake long enough.  I should’ve known when they were IMPOSSIBLE to remove from the parchment.

As I looked at the bowl of dry ingredients versus the bowl of meringue, I wasn’t sure that the meringue would take all of the drys.  I was amazed to see that it combined just beautifully… and after running to the computer to look at Helen’s tips, I realized that the profound deflation was to be expected. WHEW.  The main things I want to play with are flavor combos and cooking times.   I’m happy with the recipe!  Thanks, Helen!

For the recipe, I used sweet Helen’s basic macaron recipe, simply adding 3 tablespoons of cocoa powder to the dry ingredients.  For the filling I went back to the peanut-butter chocolate truffle recipe I did not too long ago, and I do think that was a raving success!  They just need to have been baked more…

So Charity, what are we tackling next?!