Watermelon Macarons

Serves 24 cookies.

Ingredients

• ⅔ cup almond flour
• 1½ cups powdered sugar
• 3 large egg whites (room temperature)
• 5 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Buttercream filling:

• 1½ cups unsalted butter
• 4 oz cream cheese, cubed
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon watermelon flavoring
• Optional – black decorating gel for seeds

Instructions

1. Prepare a baking sheet by lining with parchment paper and prepare a piping bag by adding a large, circle pastry tip and set aside.
2. Sift powdered sugar and almond flour together in a large bowl and set aside. You should have a very fine powder with no lumps.
   
3. Next, add the room temperature egg whites and the sugar to stand mixer with a whisk attachment and mix on setting 4 for 3 minutes.
   
4. Increase the speed to setting 7 and whisk an additional 3 minutes.
   
5. Increase the speed one more time to setting 8 and whisk 3 more minutes. Your whites should be very thick and fluffy.
   
6. Add vanilla and food coloring to the mixture and whisk for one more minute on setting 10.
   
7. Add the almond flour mixture to your egg whites and use a spatula to incorporate everything into a nice smooth meringue. About 35 stirs — don’t overmix.
   
8. Add the mixture into a piping bag fitted with a round tip and pipe 1-inch circles on your parchment paper.
   
9. Bang the cookie sheet on the counter to remove any air bubbles.
   
10. Preheat oven to 280 degrees and set cookies aside for 20 minutes.
    The top of the cookie should be slightly sticky to the touch after 20 minutes — this prevents them from cracking in the oven.
    
11. Bake for 12 minutes, remove from oven and let cool.
    

To prepare the filling:

1. Mix buttercream and cream cheese in a stand mixer until smooth and creamy.
   
2. Add confectioner’s sugar ½ cup at a time until it hits the consistency you like — about 3 cups.
   
3. Add 1 teaspoon of watermelon flavoring and mix well.
   
4. Pour into a piping bag fitted with a round tip.
   
5. Pipe a generous dab onto one cooled cookie and sandwich with a second cookie.
   
6. To add the seeds as I did, simply pipe a tiny bit of black decorating gel on top of the pink cookie.

Enjoy!