These are a very slight twist to the Pumpkin Macarons with Spiced Caramel Filling I recently posted. But I couldn’t resist.
We’re just having too much fun with macarons now that I’ve mastered nut free macarons. Because everyone should have macarons! Plus, today is homemade cookie day and what cookie is more of a show stopper than a macaron?!
CARAMEL APPLE PIE MACARONS
(NUT FREE)
275 grams pumpkin seeds
250 grams powdered sugar
50 grams cocoa powder, optional
210 grams egg whites, at room temperature (approx 7 large eggs)
210 grams granulated sugar
For Filling:
Apple Pie Jam (Or Trader Joe’s Apple Cider Jam)
For Spiced Caramel Frosting:
1/2 cup unsalted butter
2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup homemade caramel sauce
1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2-4 Tablespoons heavy cream
pink salt, to taste
Grind pumpkin seeds in a blender or with a food processor. Sift with a fine mesh sifter. If you have more than a Tablespoon or two of clumps left regrind.
Sift pumpkin seed flour with powdered sugar and cocoa powder (if chocolate shells are desired) into a large bowl.
Set aside.
Beat egg whites until frothy, then add the granulated sugar. Continue beating to stiff peaks.
Add stiff egg whites to bowl with dry mix. Mix together until combined.
Now comes the “macaronage” step. Using a bowl scraper or spatula, push the mixture against the side of the bowl for several minutes. The idea is to deflate some of the meringue. You know it’s done when you can do the “figure 8 test”. When the batter flows off of the spatula allowing you to make a figure 8. If it falls off in big clumps and doesn’t “flow like lava” you need to continue the macaronage step.
Fit a pastry bag with a round tip (or do as I do. Just use a disposable pastry bag and snip the end off, no tip.) Fill the bag and pipe onto parchment lined trays (no silicone here!). I usually make smaller macs, so hold your pastry bag straight and push some batter out until you make a circle about 1 1/2 inches across (or make larger ones if you desire). Continue to fill tray, leaving a couple inches between each cookie.
Once you have a full tray tap on the counter 3-5 times. Continue with additional trays until done. Let rest on the counter for 15 minutes.
Bake at 250 degrees for 15 minutes (If you have convection you can bake at 275).
Add a couple minutes for larger macs. Until you get the hang of it break one open before removing tray and make sure it isn’t liquidy inside. Overbaking slightly is better than underbaking. They shouldn’t be browned but you want to see little “feet” where the macs have risen up.
Let cool.
Pipe a dam of frosting on half the macs, put a small dollop of jam in the center, then top with another.
Place in covered airtight container and chill for at least 24 hours. This allows the filling to soften the macs just a little and they will have a much chewier texture.
To make the frosting:
Beat everything together until fluffy and well combined. Add cream to desired consistency and additional salt to desired flavor. I like to use pink salt but sea salt works well here too.
If you want to paint the macarons just add a tiny bit of gel food coloring to a little bit of clear extract (I use lemon, again, no tree nuts in our house). Mix to dissolve then use a pastry brush to brush a stroke of color on the tops.
Ingredients
- 275 grams pumpkin seeds
- 250 grams powdered sugar
- 50 grams cocoa powder, optional
- 210 grams egg whites, at room temperature (approx 7 large eggs)
- 210 grams granulated sugar
For Filling:
- Apple Pie Jam (Or Trader Joe's Apple Cider Jam)
For Spiced Caramel Frosting:
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1/2 cup homemade caramel sauce
- 1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 2-4 Tablespoons heavy cream
- pink salt, to taste
Instructions
- Grind pumpkin seeds in a blender or with a food processor. Sift with a fine mesh sifter. If you have more than a Tablespoon or two of clumps left regrind.
- Sift pumpkin seed flour with powdered sugar and cocoa powder (if chocolate shells are desired) into a large bowl.
- Set aside.
- Beat egg whites until frothy, then add the granulated sugar. Continue beating to stiff peaks.
- Add stiff egg whites to bowl with dry mix. Mix together until combined.
- Now comes the “macaronage” step. Using a bowl scraper or spatula, push the mixture against the side of the bowl for several minutes. The idea is to deflate some of the meringue. You know it’s done when you can do the “figure 8 test”. When the batter flows off of the spatula allowing you to make a figure 8. If it falls off in big clumps and doesn’t “flow like lava” you need to continue the macaronage step.
- Fit a pastry bag with a round tip (or do as I do. Just use a disposable pastry bag and snip the end off, no tip.) Fill the bag and pipe onto parchment lined trays (no silicone here!). I usually make smaller macs, so hold your pastry bag straight and push some batter out until you make a circle about 1 1/2 inches across (or make larger ones if you desire). Continue to fill tray, leaving a couple inches between each cookie.
- Once you have a full tray tap on the counter 3-5 times. Continue with additional trays until done. Let rest on the counter for 15 minutes.
- Bake at 250 degrees for 15 minutes (If you have convection you can bake at 275).
- Add a couple minutes for larger macs. Until you get the hang of it break one open before removing tray and make sure it isn’t liquidy inside. Overbaking slightly is better than underbaking. They shouldn’t be browned but you want to see little “feet” where the macs have risen up.
- Let cool.
- Pipe a dam of frosting on half the macs, put a small dollop of jam in the center, then top with another. Place in covered airtight container and chill for at least 24 hours. This allows the filling to soften the macs just a little and they will have a much chewier texture.
To make the frosting:
- Beat everything together until fluffy and well combined. Add cream to desired consistency and additional salt to desired flavor. I like to use pink salt but sea salt works well here too.
- If you want to paint the macarons just add a tiny bit of gel food coloring to a little bit of clear extract (I use lemon, again, no tree nuts in our house). Mix to dissolve then use a pastry brush to brush a stroke of color on the tops.
