Caramel Walnut Macaroons Recipes

SALTED CARAMEL COCONUT MACAROONS

Steps:

• Arrange racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper or nonstick foil.
• Stir coconut, flour, and salt together in a large bowl. Stir in sweetened condensed milk and vanilla extract until well blended. Use a medium cookie scoop to scoop and drop 2-inch balls of dough onto the prepared sheets. Using your thumb, make an indentation in each dough ball.
• Bake in the preheated oven until coconut is toasted and bottoms are golden, 15 to 17 minutes, rotating pans halfway through. If cookies puff, re-press centers with the rounded side of a measuring teaspoon. Cool on the sheets for 5 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack; cool completely.
• Spoon a scant teaspoon of caramel topping into each indentation. Sprinkle each with several flakes of sea salt.

WALNUT CARAMELS

Steps:

• Line a 13x9-in. pan with foil; grease foil with 2 teaspoons butter., In a large heavy saucepan, combine cubed butter, sugar, 1 cup cream and corn syrup. Cook and stir over medium heat until a candy thermometer reads 238° (soft-ball stage). Stir in remaining cream very slowly so that mixture does not stop boiling., Using a pastry brush dipped in water, wash down the sides of the pan to eliminate sugar crystals. Cook and stir until thermometer reads 245° (firm-ball stage)., Remove from heat; stir in walnuts and vanilla. Immediately pour into prepared pan (do not scrape saucepan). Let stand until firm, about 5 hours or overnight., Using foil, lift candy out of pan; remove foil. Using a buttered knife, cut caramel into 1-in. squares. Wrap individually in waxed paper; twist ends.

MOCHA-WALNUT MACARONS

Steps:

• Place egg whites in a large bowl; let stand at room temperature 30 minutes., Preheat oven to 275°. Place confectioners' sugar, walnuts, cocoa and coffee in a food processor; process until finely ground and set aside., Add salt to egg whites; beat on medium speed until soft peaks. Gradually add superfine sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating on high after each addition until sugar is dissolved. Continue beating until stiff glossy peaks form. Carefully fold in walnut mixture until blended., Pipe or drop by rounded teaspoonfuls 1 in. apart onto parchment-lined baking sheets. Air dry for 30 minutes before baking. Bake 18-20 minutes. Remove macaroons from baking sheet to a wire rack; cool completely. Remove from parchment; store in an airtight container.

SALTED CARAMEL BANANA MACARONS

Steps:

• Cook's Notes: You don't need to go out and purchase older egg whites, you can simply used the eggs that you've had in the refrigerator for the last 4 or 5 days. After you separate the eggs, make sure you allow the egg whites to come to room temperature before whipping. Room temperature egg whites whip better and faster if at room temperature.
• For the meringue cookies: Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Prep 2 half sheet pans with parchment or silicone baking mats.
• Sift together your almond meal and powdered sugar and set aside.
• In the bowl of a standing mixer, or with an electric hand mixer, beat the egg whites on low speed until foamy. Begin sprinkling in the meringue powder as you beat. Then increase the speed to medium and beat until soft peaks form. If adding food coloring at the point, you can divide the meringue, add to a separate bowl and dye as desired (see Cook's Note, below). Beat to combine. When you get to soft peaks (the peaks will curl when the whisk is lifted from the mixture), carefully proceed; you want firm glossy peaks in your meringue, you do not want to beat all the way to stiff peaks (peaks stand up straight when a whisk is lifted from the mixture).
• Add a third of the almond mixture, folding it in gently. Once combined, add the remaining almond flour in 2 batches. Be very, very gentle! Make sure to fully incorporate all your ingredients, but do not over-fold.
• Spoon the mixture into a pastry bag fitted with a plain 1/2-inch tip. (You can also use a ziptop bag with a corner cut off.) It's way easier to fill your bag if you stand it up in a tall glass and fold the top down before spooning in the batter.
• Pipe 1-inch mounds of batter onto the prepared sheet pans. Using a wet fingertip, tap the mounds to a smooth tip. Alternately, pick up the pan with both hands, and holding it level, tap it firmly onto the counter several times. Allow any residual water to dry out. Sprinkle each cookie with fleur de sel. Allow the cookies to rest 30 to 60 minutes, depending on the humidity.
• Bake the cookies for about 15 minutes, 1 sheet at a time. Let the cookies cool.
• For the filling: In a heavy bottomed saucepan set over medium-high heat, combine the sugar and 2 tablespoons water. Slowly let the sugar melt and turn into caramel (do not stir). Carefully add the butter and heavy cream and stand back as it will release a lot of steam. Stir until everything is fully incorporated. Add the fleur de sel.
• In a small bowl, mash the ripe banana with a fork. Once the caramel has cooled, add it to the mashed banana. Spread the mixture on the cookies, making sandwiches. Place in the refrigerator and allow to mature for at least 24 hours.

FIRST-PLACE COCONUT MACAROONS

Steps:

• In a small bowl, combine the coconut, sugar, flour and salt. Add egg whites and vanilla; mix well., Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto greased baking sheets. Bake at 325° for 18-20 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack.

CINNAMON WALNUT MACAROON COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Line cooling racks with damp towels.
• Mix the flour, cinnamon and salt together and set aside.
• Beat the egg whites in a large bowl with an electric mixer on high until soft peaks begin to form, about 3 minutes. While the mixer is still running, gradually add the sugar, about a Tablespoon at a time, and continue beating until the mixture stands up in stiff glossy peaks, about 5 minutes of beating in all.
• Reduce the speed of the mixer to low and blend in the flour mixture and the vanilla and walnut extracts. (Do not overmix the batter at this stage, as the protein in the flour might become overdeveloped, which can result in chewy cookies.) Using a rubber spatula fold in the nuts.
• Drop the batter by heaping Tablespoons onto the lined baking sheets about 2 inches apart.
• Bake just until they are golden and set, about 15 minutes. Slide the paper liners, still with the macaroons attached to them, to the lined cooling racks. Let cookies cool completely then peel away the paper.

WALNUT CARAMEL CAKE

Steps:

• Prepare cake mix according to package directions. Pour half of the batter into a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking pan. Bake at 350° for 18 minutes. Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, combine the caramels, butter and milk. Cook and stir over medium-low heat until melted. Pour over warm cake., Sprinkle with the walnuts and chocolate chips. Pour the remaining batter over chips. Bake 35-40 minutes longer or until cake is set and pulls away from sides of pan. Cool on a wire rack.

COCONUT-NUT MACAROONS

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk together egg whites, sugar and vanilla in a large bowl. Add remaining ingredients and mix well with a rubber spatula or your hands.
• Use a nonstick baking sheet, or line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Wet your hands and make small piles of the mixture, each 1 to 2 tablespoons; place on sheet about an inch apart.
• Bake until firm to the touch and lightly browning on edges, about 15 minutes. Remove baking sheet and cool on a rack for at least 30 minutes before eating. These keep well in a covered container for up to 3 days.

CHOCOLATE CARAMEL MACARONS

Steps:

• Line two or three baking sheets with parchment or nonstick baking mats.
• In a bowl, whisk together confectioners' sugar, almond flour, cocoa powder and salt.
• Place egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment. Beat on medium speed until egg whites are white in color and hold onto the bottom of the whisk, 2 to 3 minutes. Continue to beat, slowly adding 40 grams (3 tablespoons) granulated sugar until peaks are stiff, about 1 minute.
• Using a rubber spatula, gently fold almond mixture into egg whites in 4 batches, until there are no traces of egg whites.
• Spoon batter into a pastry bag or a heavy-duty plastic bag, cutting a small hole in a corner of the plastic bag. Pipe 1-inch rounds of batter, an inch apart from one another, onto the baking sheets.. (Alternatively, use a 1/2 teaspoon measure to form the rounds.) Pick up baking sheets and bang them against work surface. Let sheets sit at room temperature for 30 minutes to dry tops. (Don't skip this step; it helps the macarons rise nicely.)
• Heat oven to 350 degrees. Bake macarons until puffed and firm, 10 to 12 minutes, rotating the sheets halfway through baking. Transfer sheets to rack to cool completely, then overturn cookies on the baking sheets so that flat bottoms are facing up.
• To make the caramel, combine the remaining 215 grams (1 cup) granulated sugar with 1/4 cup water in a clean, dry skillet over medium heat. Cook, swirling the pan occasionally to help distribute the sugar until it completely melts and turns a rich reddish brown (imagine the color of an Irish setter), about 15 minutes.
• Working quickly, spoon caramel over half the overturned cookies; immediately sandwich with remaining, unfilled cookies. If the caramel hardens before you're done, gently melt it over low heat and continue filling cookies.
• Fill a small saucepan with water and bring to a simmer. Place chocolate in a heatproof bowl and place over pot. Heat, stirring frequently, until melted. (Or melt chocolate in the microwave.) Using a fork, drizzle cookies with melted chocolate. Let the caramel and chocolate set at room temperature or in the refrigerator. The caramel should harden to the texture of hard candy.