Recipe Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups almond flour
• 1 cup icing sugar
• 3 egg whites, at room temperature
• 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
• Pinch salt
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• Blue, red, yellow and green food coloring gels
• 1/2 cup M&M’S Milk Chocolate, divided
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, divided
• 2 tbsp butter

Directions:

Prep Time: 1 hour 15 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour

Total Time: 2 hours 15 minutes (+ 40 minutes standing time)

1. Preheat oven to 300ºF. In large bowl, sift together almond flour and icing sugar twice.
2. Using electric mixer, beat egg whites, cream of tartar and salt until frothy. Gradually add granulated sugar, 1 tbsp at a time, beating well after each addition. Increase speed to high; beat for 12 to 15 minutes or until stiff peaks form.
3. Divide equal amounts of almond flour mixture and meringue among four separate bowls. Tint each bowl with one of the food coloring gels to resemble blue, red, yellow and green M&M’S.
4. Fold almond flour mixture into egg whites until blended, smooth and shiny. To check consistency of batter, drop batter from spatula: it should slowly run from spatula in a ribbon back into bowl, and the edges should melt back into batter in about 10 seconds.
5. Spoon one color of batter into piping bag and cut off tip. Dab a bit of batter onto each corner of large baking sheet; line with parchment paper to keep parchment paper secure.
6. Holding piping bag perpendicular to baking sheet, pipe twelve (1-inch) rounds onto prepared baking sheet, about 2 inches apart. Repeat with remaining colors. Let stand for about 30 minutes or until skin forms on top of macarons.
7. Bake in batches for 12 to 15 minutes or until bottoms are lightly golden and cookies can be lifted easily from baking sheet. Let cool completely on baking sheet on rack for 10 minutes.
8. Reserve 24 M&M’S; set aside. Chop remaining M&M’S.
9. Heat cream in small saucepan set over medium heat just until boiling. Remove from heat. Stir in 1/2 cup chocolate chips and butter until melted; let cool completely. Transfer to piping bag and cut off tip. Pipe 1 tsp ganache over flat side of cookies. Sprinkle with chopped M&M’S. Sandwich with another cookie, pressing so that filling reaches edge of cookie.
10. In microwave-safe bowl, melt remaining chocolate chips, stirring every 30 seconds, for 60 to 90 seconds or until smooth. Drizzle over each cookie. Garnish each cookie with reserved whole M&M.

Tip:

• Macarons are best served the next day so flavors can develop fully.
• To master macarons, here are some basic tips: Make sure the egg whites are at room temperature. Sift the dry mixture well and fold into batter until batter is slightly runny. Tap baking sheets to remove any air from meringues before baking. Make sure that the tops of the meringues are dry before baking, as this will ensure that the cookie has a classic smooth top and raised feet

Nutrition Facts

Per 1 macaron

• Calories 170
• Fat 9g
• Saturated Fat 3.5g
• Cholesterol 10mg
• Sodium 35mg
• Carbohydrate 20g
• Fiber 1g
• Sugars 18g
• Protein 3g