French Macarons Recipe with All-Purpose Flour

• Sift powdered sugar and flour together. Set aside.
• In a 2 quart bowl or larger, use a hand mixer and beat eggs for 30 seconds, add sugar. Continue beating until soft peaks form. If desired, add food coloring and vanilla extract at this stage. Beat until just combined.
• Add the dry ingredients into the meringue.
• Using a spatula, gently fold in the ingredients until the batter becomes shiny and drips smoothly off the spatula. It should ribbon off and sink back into the batter within 30 seconds. If it doesn’t do this, fold until you see the change. Do not over mix or you will have flat cookies.
• Place in a piping bag with a 1/4" (6mm) tip. Squeeze onto parchment paper or a silicone mat until 1 1/2″ (3.8cm) circles form, spacing 2″ (5cm) apart.
• Let sit until a skin develops. This step will depend on the humidity in your environment. On dry days, it can take as little as 15 minutes. When it hits above 75% humidity, expect it to take closer to 2 hours. Failure to dry the cookies will often result in cracks and cookies without feet. (Feet are the little ruffles that develop at the bottom of your cookies.)
• Once the skin forms, preheat the oven to 300F (150C.) Bake 16 - 20 minutes.
• Let rest 5 minutes and remove to a rack to cool completely before filling. I recommend an acidic flavor to balance the sweetness of the cookie.

Buttercream Instructions

• Blend sugar, vanilla, and butter together. You can use a mixer or mix by hand.
• Add in the milk if desired for a softer buttercream.