200 g almond flour
160 g powdered sugar
40 g Dutch process cocoa
150 milliliters egg whites, divided at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
¼ cup water
Get ready
Line 3 sheet pans with parchment and using a cookie cutter draw 1 ½ inch circles separated by an inch. Turn the parchment over so the ink doesn’t touch the cookies. (There are silicone mats with the circles already drawn available.)
If the egg whites are below 70° F, microwave for 5 seconds at the lowest power level 1 of 10. Repeat until the whites are at or slightly above 70° F as measured by an instant read thermometer.
Make a paste
Sift together the almond flour, powdered sugar, and cocoa. Stir in half the egg whites. Continue stirring with a flexible spatula mashing against the sides of the bowl until a uniform paste develops.
Make an Italian meringue
Bring the granulated sugar and water to a boil. Use a pastry brush and cold water to brush down any sugar clinging to the sides of the pan. Continue boiling until the mixture reaches 247° F.
While the sugar mixture boils, in a mixer fitted with a whisk, beat the remaining egg whites until stiff peaks form.
With the mixer on low pour the hot sugar syrup between the whisk and the side of the bowl. Once all of the sugar syrup is incorporated, turn the mixer to high and beat until the bottom of the bowl is cool to the touch.
Make the batter
Fold the meringue into the flour mixture. Continue stirring until a uniform mixture of the consistency of lava forms. While you don’t want to knock all the air out of the meringue it takes some force to mash the paste into the meringue against the sides of the bowl.
Pipe and bake
Fill a pastry bag fitted with a plain ½ inch tip with half the batter. Pipe inside the circles on the parchment. Refill the pastry bag and pipe the remaining batter.
Lift the pan 8 inches above the counter and let the pan fall to the counter several times. Repeat with the remaining pans. This is to release any air bubbles. Allow the pans to sit at room temperature for one hour until a skin forms that is dry to touch.
Preheat the oven to 350° F. Bake one pan at a time for 6 minutes then turn the pan and bake for 6 more minutes or until the cookies are firm to touch. Bake the remaining pans of cookies one at a time.
Cool and fill
Cool completely on a rack. Pair similarly sized and shaped cookies. Pipe ganache onto the flat bottom of one cookie then gently press its mate on top. Repeat with the remaining cookies.
Pack in an airtight container with layers separated by wax paper and refrigerate overnight before serving. This will soften the cookies.
Adapted from the Parisian Macarons recipe at Food 52.
