Mandelmakronen Almond Meringues Recipes

ALMOND MERINGUES

Steps:

• Position oven racks in the top and bottom thirds of the oven and preheat to 250 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment.
• Beat the egg whites and salt with an electric mixer on medium-high speed in a large bowl until foamy. Add the cream of tartar and continue to beat until soft peaks form. While beating, gradually add the sugar and then continue to beat until stiff peaks form. Beat in the almond extract.
• Transfer the mixture to a pastry bag fitted with a star pastry tip and pipe 1-inch meringues onto the prepared baking sheets, about 1-inch apart. Bake until the meringues are no longer glossy and feel light and dry when picked up, about 1 hour. Turn off the oven but leave the meringues inside with the door cracked open until the meringues are completely cooled and dry, about 2 hours more. The meringues can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days.

ALMOND MERINGUES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 225°F.
• Beat whites with a pinch of salt in a bowl with an electric mixer at high speed until they hold soft peaks. Add 1/2 cup superfine sugar a little at a time, beating, then continue to beat at high speed until whites hold stiff, glossy peaks, 1 to 3 minutes. Fold in remaining 1/4 cup sugar gently but thoroughly.
• Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Put a small dab of meringue on all 4 corners of each sheet, then turn paper over, pressing on corners to adhere parchment to baking sheets.
• Spoon meringue into pastry bag. You will be making 4 lattice cookies on each sheet, so work in 1 quadrant for each: Pipe 4 (4-inch-long) diagonal lines, about 5/8 inch apart, then pipe 4 (4-inch-long) parallel lines diagonally across original 4 lines, 5/8 inch apart, to form a lattice. Make 3 more lattice meringues on same baking sheet, about 1 inch apart. Sprinkle half of almonds over meringues. Pipe 4 more lattice meringues on second baking sheet in same manner, then sprinkle with remaining almonds.
• Bake meringues in upper and lower thirds of oven, switching position of sheets halfway through baking, until crisp and pale golden, about 1 hour total.
• Cool meringues completely on sheets on racks, about 1 hour, then carefully peel from parchment.

ALMOND MERINGUE COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease and lightly flour cookie sheets.
• In a large bowl, whip egg whites until soft peaks form. Gradually sprinkle in the sugar and keep whipping until the egg whites can hold a stiff peak, this will take about 5 minutes. Set aside about 1/2 cup of the egg whites. Add the lemon zest and cinnamon to the rest of the meringue, and fold in the almonds until everything is evenly blended.
• Drop mounds by spoonfuls onto the prepared baking sheets. Top each cookie with a smaller dollop of the reserved meringue.
• Bake for 15 minutes in the preheated oven, until golden brown. Remove cookies from the baking sheets to cool on wire racks.