Macarons are one of the most well known French pastries. They’re sweet, colorful and lovable, who wouldn’t like them? The process to make them is tedious, but the outcome is well worth the wait. If you get caught without any green on St. Patrick’s Day, hand them one of these pistachio macarons and you might just avoid a pinch.

Ingredients:

– 140 grams of almond flour

– 130 grams of powdered sugar

– 90 grams of granulated sugar

– 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

– 100 grams room temperature egg whites

– 1 teaspoon pistachio extract

– 1 ½ teaspoon green gel food coloring

– 1/2 cup of unsalted chopped pistachios

In a food processor, blend the almond flour and powdered sugar until no visible chunks of the almond flour remain. Then, sift the mixture and discard pieces that don’t fit through the mesh.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, add your egg whites. Use the whisk attachment to whip the whites on high until foamy. Then, add the cream of tartar. Continue to whisk and incorporate the granulated sugar a spoonful at a time, sprinkling in the sugar at a very slow pace. Once that’s finished, add pistachio extract and food green coloring.

Once the egg whites are close to a stiff peak, take the mixer attachment off and whisk by hand until a perfect stiff peak forms. It is very important to not over-beat the whites.

Remove the bowl from the stand mixer and grab a silicone spatula. Add three spoonfuls of the dry ingredients and fold it into the egg whites. Be very careful not to deflate the egg whites. To ensure they stay fluffy, be deliberate in your spatula strokes. Wrap around the sides and cut down the middle, then repeat.

Add half of the remaining flour mixture and fold until combined. Add the remainder of the dry ingredients and fold until fully mixed. The next step is a process known as macaronage. Continue folding until the big bubbles are no longer there. Then, very gently, press the batter up against the wall of the bowl in order to rid the even smaller bubbles. Repeat this until the batter flows off your spatula long enough to form a figure eight.

Transfer the batter to a piping bag fitted with a #10 round tip. You can also use just the bag by cutting a fourth of an inch off from the tip. Pipe 1-1 1/2-inch circles onto parchment paper. To do this perfectly, swirl the tip and pull up once the desired amount of batter is pipped. Once all the batter is used, or you run out of room on the baking sheet, top them with pistachio pieces.

Set the macarons aside to rest and form a film. This will take about 40 minutes and you should be able to run your finger across the top of the cookie without it sticking. Place the cookies on the middle rack of the oven at 300 degrees Fahrenheit for 12 to 15 minutes, rotating the tray(s) halfway though.

Take them out and wait for them to completely cool before removing them from the parchment paper. Using a #6 round piping tip, you can, again, just use the bag cut about a quarter of an inch from the tip. Squeeze buttercream
around the edge of the back of a cookie, spiraling inward. Then layer another cookie on top. Let them rest in the fridge for one to three days for best results, but you can also go ahead and enjoy a few right away!