PB&J Macarons

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If you’re like me, two words generally come to mind when faced with recipes for Parisian macarons: “Too hard.”

But really, they need not be so scary. This unfussy version is easy as can be, and doesn’t require piping or weighing your ingredients. The result might be a bit more homespun than Pierre Herme, but they’re decidedly delicious nonetheless, with cloudlike cookies which give way to a substantial smear of comforting, creamy white chocolate peanut butter and sweet preserves. Perhaps Santa would like these on his plate instead of the usual (just a thought)!

Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour (includes cooling and filling)
Total time: 1 hour and 20 minutes
Yield: 16 macarons

Ingredients

For the cookies:
1/2 cup egg whites (about 4)
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/2 cups almond meal or flour

For the filling:
1/2 cup preserves of your choice (I like raspberry)
1/2 cup White Chocolate Wonderful peanut butter

Procedure

1. Preheat oven to 325°F.

2. Beat egg whites until frothy. Gradually beat in sugar. Continue beating
until very stiff and glossy. Stir in the vanilla, salt, and almond flour.

3. Drop heaping tablespoons of dough 2 inches apart on a parchment-lined sheet. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until lightly browned on the edges. Remove carefully with a spatula while still warm.

4. Turn the cookies over and try to pair like-sized cookies next to one another. Choose two to start. On one of the cookie half, spread a thin layer of preserves; on the other half, spread White Chocolate Wonderful peanut butter. Sandwich the halves together gently. Repeat with the remaining cookies.