S'more Macaron

     Who doesn't love all the delicious flavors of s'mores in the summer? The sweet, toasty, marshmallows, the richness of the chocolate and the crisp, spiced, graham crackers. But what if you could upgrade them? Well, I did, and it's amazing. It didn't actually start as an upgrade, it was just a happy accident. See, my daughter has a friend that is gluten (and dairy) free and we all wanted s'mores. I know gluten-free graham crackers exist, but they aren't always easy to find in my small town and time was short. And you know what? The macaron I had been working so hard on for months, just happen to naturally be gluten-free. 

     So I've been working on perfecting my macaron technique for months now and I was thrilled with the challenge. A large number of graham cracker flavored recipes I looked up used pulverized graham crackers in the meringue with the almond flour and I obviously couldn't use that so I started experimenting. And it worked out really well. It has the right balance of flavors and a great richness that goes really well with the other ingredients. 

     The chocolate was the next step, we tried out several different options for dairy free. If you don't need dairy free you can use whatever you want, but if you want it without I recommend the Lindt Oat Milk bar for milk chocolate and Ghirardelli Dairy free for dark chocolate, but any of the three pictured work well. I decided to go with melting the chocolate and smoothing it directly onto the shell. It's not necessary really, but it makes for an easier experience while roasting. 

     A few other things we enjoyed that night for gluten-free options besides the macaron were gluten-free oreos, which are both gluten and dairy free, as well as most gluten-free grahan crackers are top alergen free. If you want gluten-free but aren't worried about dairy then Tate's Bakehouse gluten-free chocolate chip cookies and Sheila G's Brownie Brittle both make great wafters for s'mores. If you aren't gluten-free, they are all still really delicious. 

     There is a lot of hype, and fear, around making macaron. And some of it is earned and some of it isn't. I do recommend weighing all your ingredients to make sure they are close to the weights in the recipe, but one night I was 10 grams short of eggs and nowhere was open. It was either stop making the macs for the night or risk it. I decided to risk it. And they turned out just fine. Then I started experimenting with different weights and changing things around and found that it didn't really make a huge difference if it was a few grams here and there. What was really important, critical even, is the technique. Make sure your equipment is oil-free, your ingredients are lump free, and you have a strong meringue and you will be fine. 

     Fine, except then you also have to account for your oven. And mine is terrible, not conducive to making macarons. But I didn't know that until months in. See, I have a pizza stone in my oven and don't take it in and out, I just leave it there. So I just left it there while making macs and never thought about it twice. Until it broke and I got rid of it. And my macs started failing. And I realized that as the oven was heating, the pizza stone was absorbing the heat, and it was evening out the temperature in my oven. I got a new pizza stone and all has been well since. Some ovens are fine, but if yours isn't, try the pizza stone. 

     Two more tips. You have to use a thick baking mat for the feet to develop properly and bake them on the bottom of a cookie tray. Just flip the tray upside down so they get proper airflow and keep going. 

Smashing S'mores Recipes

• Dulce de Leche S'Mores from Palatable Pastime
• Indoor S'mores Bars from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Macaron S'mores from Pandemonium Noshery
• No Bake S'mores Cereal Bars from That Recipe
• Old Fashioned S'mores Fudge from Hezzi-D's Recipe Box
• Peanut Butter Smores Cookies from A Kitchen Hoor's Adventures
• Smores Campfire Cocktail from Jen Around the World

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S'more Macaron Recipe

100 grams egg whites

55 grams white sugar

20 grams brown sugar

1/2 tsp. strong vanilla

1/8 tsp black walnut extract

125 grams powdered sugar

125 grams almond flour

1 Tbsp. cocoa powder

dash cinnamon 

15 marshmallows 

7 oz. chocolate of your choice

Start by separating the egg white from the egg yolk, making sure that the yolk doesn't break and other isn't any yolk in the egg white or the whites won't whip properly. Weigh the whites until you have 100 grams and add to your clean mixer with the whisk attachment and beat on slow speed until starting to get bubbles. Increase the speed to medium and keep beating. 

Combine the brown sugar and the white sugar and set aside. 

Once the egg yolks are starting to look slightly foamy SLOWLY drizzle in the sugar and keep beating. Beat on medium until it's white and full. Once the egg whites hit the soft peak stage add the vanilla and black walnut extract and turn the speed to high. Keep beating until stiff peaks form. Beat until stiff peaks but stop as soon as you get there to avoid over-mixing. 

While the egg whites are beating combine the powdered sugar, almond flour, cinnamon, and cocoa powder and sift to combine and remove any lumps. As you are sifting you can break up lumps so they so through the sifter. If you have pieces, usually almond pieces, that are too big to fit through the sifter don't use then, just discard, or save and run through a food processor (gently, you don't want the nuts to release their oils and become butter) if you have less than 1/2 teaspoon of discard just ignore it and move on. If you have more than that, add an equal amount of almond flour back and sift in. I typically don't have any big pieces but that varies from brand to brand. 

Once the egg whites are whipped add 1/3 of the eggs to the almond flour mixture and fold in until it's about halfway mixed in. No need to be gentle here. Add the rest of the egg whites and continue folding. Fold, fold, fold, until the mixture is uniform, no almond flour or egg white pockets and the mixture can flow. At first, it will stay pretty solid but with continued folding it will get, liquidy is the wrong word, it's still thick, but more like yogurt that has been stirred. 

Place the macaron mixture into a piping back with a large, round, tip and hold it upright until you are ready to pipe. Place the tip a 1/4 inch above the mat, on the tray, and pipe a 1 to 1 1/2 inch circle of batter. Don't move the tip while piping, just squeeze it out and let the mixture spread to make the circle. Keep piping until the mat is full, leaving at least an inch between each pan. 

Pick up the pan and bang it on the counter a time or two. It will make the batter spread, and get rid of the air bubbles. The tops at this point should be smooth. If they aren't, you can run a toothpick through the points to smooth them or just leave them. It's really not a big deal either way, they taste the same. 

Leave the trays to rest for, usually around 25-30 minutes. Sometimes more, sometimes less. Leave them until the tops are dry to the touch. 

Preheat your oven to 315*F and place your oven rack on the second to top rack. Bake for 14 minutes and remove from the oven. Add the next tray and bake as before. 

Allow the macaron to cool on the mat for 15 minutes before removing. The macaron should peel right off if they are fully baked. 

Once all the macaron are baked, and cooked, melt the chocolate and spread on the macaron and leave the chocolate to set up. When you are ready use them roast your marshmallows as normal and sandwich like normal and enjoy WAY more than normal. 

Notes:

1) This recipe makes 30 shells, enough for 15 sandwiches macaron. The picture below is a double batch

2) Use a thick slipmat, some people have luck with parchment, I haven't. 

3) Check your oven temperature, if your feet don't rise or look ruffly and go out the sides instead of up then adjust your oven temperature. Usually cxhanging it 5 degrees does the trick. In my oven I do have to change the temperature based on the season, when it's hot I bake at 310-315. During the winter I was baking them at 320 with the same result.