french macarons

i absolutely love french macarons and tried baking them several times. i realized that i can eat the whole batch in one sitting, so i stopped making them for myself =)

over the weekend, i tried making sugar-free macarons so clara can enjoy them with me… they didn’t come out as pretty as real macarons should, but clara still loved them…

ingredients

for the cookies:

35g (1egg) egg white.

1T (1.5g) Splenda

3T (21g) almond flour

3T (4.5g) Splenda

Pink food coloring 2 drops

1/8t strawberry flavor (Bickford)

(food coloring & strawberry flavor can be skipped if it doesn’t work with your diet)

for chocolate ganache:

1/2T (7.5g) Cream

14g Unsweetened baking chocolate

1T (14g) butter (softened at room temperature)

1T (1.5g) Splenda

To make macaron shells:

whisk egg whites to firm peaks adding 1T(1.5g) of Splenda slowly. add flavor and color if you’re using them.

mix well almond flour and 3T(4.5g) Splenda. Add to the beaten egg whites. Fold in to combine

pour into piping bag with a plain nozzle about 1cm in size.

line the baking sheet with parchment paper.

pipe out round sizes (3/4 in – 1 in) holding the nozzle close to the paper

leave for 30 min – 1 hr to set

preheat oven to 320.

bake on center rack for about 9 min (it depends on the oven. try touching and moving it side to side. it should not be wobbly)

leave on baking sheet until they cool

To make the ganache:

heat cream and Splenda in a small sauce pan (remove from heat before boiling) and pour over chocolate pieces and mix well. add butter and mix well. let it cool and thicken to thick syrup consistency (you can place it in the refrigerator for about 5 minutes to speed up the process, but don’t leave it too long. you don’t want it to harden). use about 1/2t of ganache for each macaron.

Keep them in the refrigerator or freezer.

(makes about 15 mini macarons)

(Approximate Ratio 2.5:1, each macaron should be less than 0.5g of carb depending on how many you yield)