Instructions

COOKIES

1. First, weigh out all of your ingredients.
2. Next, sift together your almond flour and powdered sugar in a large bowl and set aside.
3. Add your egg whites to the bowl of your mixer and start mixing on a medium speed until they get frothy. Add in the salt.
4. Gradually add your sugar to the egg whites and mix at a medium speed until you get a soft peak consistency. Add in the vanilla to the meringue mixture before adding in dry ingredients.
5. After the egg whites are the right consistency, add about 1/3 of the dry mixture to the egg whites and fold in until there are no dry spots left.
6. Add in the remaining dry mixture to the meringue and fold in until there are no dry spots. Begin to check for the “ribbon” stage, where the batter falls off in ribbons and you can make a figure 8 without it breaking off. Once you get to this consistency stop folding.
7. Divide the batter into 2  and place in 2 separate bowls. On the first bowl, put the yellow food coloring a drop at a time until you get the right shade. Do the same on the 2nd bowl with gray gel food coloring.
8. Prepare your 2 piping bags with a medium round tip. 1 for the yellow color batter and 1 for the gray color batter. Place your bag in a large cup to make it easier to add your batter. Slowly add in your batter.
9. To make a 2-color macaron, get another piping bag with a medium round hole. Place the yellow batter on one side of the piping bag and the gray-colored batter on the other side carefully, taking care to not mix the 2 colors as much as possible.
10. Place the macaron template under a silicon mat on a baking sheet.
11. Hold your piping bag completely vertical when piping and lift straight up. Making about 1 1/2 to 2-inch circles.
12. After you have piped all the batter, bang the baking sheet on the counter 10-20 times (seriously) to remove all air bubbles. Use a toothpick or something sharp to pop them.
13. Now it is time to let them dry. Leave them sitting on the counter for 30-60 minutes until you can touch them and you can feel a “shell” form over them. No batter should come off on your finger.
14. Preheat your oven to 300 degrees F. and bake your macarons for 10-15 minutes or until lightly browned. When you touch the top of the macaron it should not wiggle around.
15. Allow them to cool COMPLETELY before taking them off the baking sheet.

FILING

1. Place the cookie butter, cream cheese, powdered sugar, food coloring, and Vanilla into a large bowl
2. Beat using an electric mixer until thoroughly combined.
3. Divide the filling into 2 and place in separate bowls.
4. Color the first filling with yellow gel food coloring 1 drop at a time until you get the right shade of color. Do the same in the second filling with green gel food coloring.
5. To make the Chocolate Filling. With 2nd half, add the chocolate powder. Beat using an electric mixer slowly at first, and then beat faster after a minute until well blended.
6. Place the 2 bowls in the freezer for 5-10 minutes, or until the icing has thickened slightly but is still soft enough to pipe. Transfer to a piping bag with medium tips.

Assembly

When macarons have cooled, place them in similar-sized pairs. On one side, pipe enough amount of Buttercream. Place the top shell on. and refrigerate in an air-tight container overnight to age.

DECORATING THE JACK-O-LANTERN MACARONS

1. Decorate the macarons using edible markers. The designs or drawings can be, a bat, a spider, a white ghost, or a face. 
2. You may experiment with other designs such as cobwebs, witch hat,s or gravestones. You can practice the drawings on paper if you like.
3. After the decorations, refrigerate in an air-tight container overnight to age.