French desserts meet American flavor with these brownie batter macarons!
Brownie batter isn’t necessarily ringing Christmas spirit. But eating batter is all part of the holiday eating frenzy. With all of this baking, it’s impossible to not snag a tiny bit (several spoonfuls) of raw batter.
I love fusing the classic french macaron with an American flavor. Honestly, what’s more American than a brownie? Okay there are several things, but in terms of desserts, the brownie is regionally specific to North America. Brownies trace back to the 19th and 20th centuries. The fudgey, dense, and moist dessert bar is neither a cake or a cookie. The brownie slowly trickled into famous home scientist cookbooks and became more than a mere snacking cake.
A hybrid of sorts, the brownie is tender yet chewy. But what about in it’s raw stage? The raw batter or dough sometimes tastes better than the finished product. A cross between cookie dough, cake batter, and hot fudge, brownie batter is the reason to lick the bowl clean.
Looking online, I was unimpressed with the recipes for brownie batter frosting. I dislike using boxed mixes, but there wasn’t a scratch made version in sight.
So to the drawing board I went! This brownie batter macaron filling is essentially an eggless batter. Powdered sugar is added to give the frosting more body so it doesn’t ooze out of the macaron shells. The brownie batter filling still has that slightly granulated particular texture of the real deal brownie batter.
If you find that the brownie batter macaron filling is getting too thick and clumpy, warm it up over a double boiler and mix it with a rubber spatula.
To go the extra mile, I painted the Brownie Batter Macarons with a bit of liquid food coloring. A gentle stroke of a brush gave the macarons a more polished appearance.
So have fun with flavor! Take the sleek and stunning macaron and give it a nostalgic comforting twist with a dose of brownie batter filling!
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- 165 grams almond flour
- 165 grams powdered sugar
- ⅛ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 150 grams granulated sugar
- ¼ cup water
- 115 grams aged egg whites (approximately from 3 to 4 large eggs)
- ½ teaspoon cream of tartar
- food gel coloring
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup (1 stick, 4 ounces) unsalted butter, melted
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ⅓ cup heavy cream
- Line baking sheets with parchment paper set aside. Fit a piping bag with a #3 or #5 tip place it in a tall glass, set aside.
- In a food processor combine the almond flour, powdered sugar, and salt and pulse for 4 to 8 seconds, 3 times. To ensure consistent texture, scrape down the sides and bottom of the food processor's bowl. Sift these dry ingredients TWICE into a large bowl. Set aside.
- Combine the granulated sugar and water in a small sauce pan over a medium-high heat. Clip on a candy thermometer to monitor the temperature. Stir the mixture gently around to dissolve the sugar.
- While the sugar syrup is heating up, start whipping the egg whites and cream of tartar in a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Whip on a medium speed until medium peaks form, about 2 to 3 minutes. If the syrup isn't ready, lower the mixer's speed to keep the egg whites aerated.
- When the candy thermometer reads 230 degrees F, add your food coloring. Cook until the thermometer reads 235 degrees F. Remove from heat.
- Turn the mixer speed back to medium. Place the saucepan on the very edge of the mixing bowl's side. You do not want the hot syrup to come in contact with the actual moving whisk (you'll have hot syrup fly everywhere). Slowly and steadily stream the hot syrup mixture into the egg whites. Raise the speed to medium-high and whip until stiff peaks form and the meringue is glossy and lukewarm in temperature, about 4 to 5 minutes.
- In the bowl of the dry ingredients, form a well in the center of the bowl. Spoon ⅓rd of the meringue into the center and briskly stir the meringue into the dry ingredients with a rubber spatula moving in a circular motion. Once the dry ingredients are mostly wet, add the rest of the meringue, folding it with a stroking motion as if you were folding egg whites into a cake batter. The consistency of the batter should be the consistency of lava.
- Put into the already set up piping bag. Using a template or free-form, pipe the shells evenly onto the parchment lined baking sheets. Once piped lift and 'tap' or 'drop' the baking sheets onto the counter, leasing the air bubbles. Do this 3 to 4 sets each 3 to 4 times, rotating the pan each time.
- Let the macaron batter set so it is not sticky to the touch, about 10 to 15 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 200 degrees F.
- Bake macarons to dry the shells for 15 minutes, rotating halfway.
- With the macarons in the oven, raise the temperature to 350 and bake the shells until feet develop and they're able to lift off of the parchment, about 9 to 10 minutes.
- Remove from the oven, let it rest for 5 minutes before transferring the macarons to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Combine the flour, cocoa powder, sugars, and salt in a bowl. Whisk in the melted butter, vanilla, and heavy cream, switching to a rubber spatula at the end. If the mixture is too thick, heat it up on a double boiler until smooth and spreadable.