Ingredients
- 3 eggs separated at room temp
- 1 3/4 cup powdered sugar
- 1 cup almond flour(fine as possible)
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- gel food coloring of your choice
- FILLING (classic butter cream but there are other flavors you can make)
- 2 sticks of unsalted butter at room temp
- 3 cups of sifted powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2-4 tbs heavy cream
Preparation
Step 1
3 eggs cracked in a bowl room temp for at least 30 minutes (makes fluffier airier meringue) separate yokes by hand into a separate bowl from the whites.
Add 1 ¾ cup powdered sugar, 1 cup of almond flour(extra fine is possible), 1 tsp salt, to a food processor and pulse at least 10 times to get this as fine as possible. The finer the better. Sift after food processor to remove and chunks.
Beat the 3 egg white that you have at room temp with a pinch of salt until milky white. Add ¼ cup of granulated sugar a little bit at a time. Once all the sugar is added, keep beating until stiff peaks form. You should be able to turn the bowl upside down and have it not move.
Add ½ tsp vanilla
Add gel food coloring of your choice
Add 1/3 of the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients at a time and fold in aggressively. ***When the batter is right it should look like wet sand ribbons. Once you can make a figure 8 with the batter without it breaking, you are done mixing and good to go. IMPORTANT NOT TO OVER OR UNDER MIX!!! Do the figure 8 test to get it right*****
Fill a piping bag with a round tip and some batter. Put a dot of batter into each corner of the pan to secure the parchment paper. USE PARCH PAPER. Squeeze batter onto pan-each cookie about an inch and a half wide. Once they are piped drop and bang the tray to eliminate air bubbles and make smooth surface on top. Let them rest at room temp for 30-60 minutes (better with 60) They will get a weird film on top that you should be able to graze for finger gently across the top and it will be smooth and should not indent
Bake at 350 for 17 minutes
Do not open oven door. If they are sticking that means that they are under baked. Pop them back in for a minute or 2. Let cool on the baking sheet for 15-30 minutes When they are done they should lift right off the paper. Transfer to wire cooling rack. Make sure they fully cool and dry out before filling.
Filling (classic butter cream for now)
2 sticks of unsalted room temp butter
Cream in a bowl. When good and fluffy add in 3 cups of sifted powdered sugar. Once combined, add 1 tsp vanilla. And then 1 or 2 tbs of heavy cream. You can add a tbs at a time if necessary to get to right consistency. Add to piping bag with round tip and pipe in center just smaller than the cookie. Press top on and done. WAIT to eat for 24 hours to develop flavor and texture.