If you’ve ever gone apple picking and didn’t know what to do with all of your apples, let me give you a suggestion: apple butter macarons.
Now, I didn’t make my own apple butter for these because I’d already bought some. If you can/want to make your own apple butter, you absolutely should. It’s delicious and these macarons probably couldn’t taste more like autumn if they tried.
While I didn’t make my own apple butter, I did use a local apple butter from Hood River, home of the fruit loop. If you ever find yourself in Oregon in the fall, you absolutely have to go to the fruit loop. Apple picking, pumpkin patches, wine & cider tasting. You couldn’t ask for more.
These macarons are the ultimate autumn treat. I know we get oversaturated with pumpkin this time of year, but let’s not forget about apples. After all, an apple a day keeps the doctor away, right?
To start off with, for these macarons we’re whipping up our own apple pie spice. Can you buy it at the store? Yes. But I have all of the spices I need at home, so it’s easier for me to make my own. Here’s what you need:
- 4 tbsp. cinnamon
- 1 1/2 tsp. nutmeg
- 1 1/2 tsp. cardamom
- 1 tsp. ginger
- 1/2 tsp. allspice
For full autumn flavour we’re putting the apple pie spice in the shells and in the buttercream. Then we’re adding a nice dollop of apple butter to really round it out. These might be the greatest seasonal macarons I’ve ever made. I LOVE these.
I hope you all love these as much as I do, I’m pretty sure you’ll be making these all season long!
Apple Butter Macarons
Ingredients
- Macaron Shells:
- 138g almond flour
- 125g powdered sugar
- 1 tsp. apple pie spice
- 105g egg whites
- 105g sugar
- Filling:
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
- 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp. apple pie spice
- 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 tbsp. heavy whipping cream
- Apple butter
Directions
- Step 1 Shells:
- Step 2 To start, put the almond flour, powdered sugar, and apple pie spice in a food processor and blend thoroughly. Sift into a bowl to ensure there are no lumps.
- Step 3 In the bowl of a stand mixer (make sure it’s clean and dry), beat the egg whites until foamy. Slowly add the sugar, about 2 tbsp at a time, beating on a medium speed. Once the sugar has dissolved, increase speed to medium high and beat until a thick glossy meringue forms. The mixture should form stiff peaks and you should be able to tip the bowl over your head with none of the mixture coming out.
- Step 4 With a large, flat rubber spatula, gently fold 1/3 of almond flour/powdered sugar mixture into egg whites until combined. Repeat until all of the almond mixture has been added. Fold to combine until you see no streaks of almond flour in the batter. The batter should be pretty fluid, a lot of people describe as a lava-like consistency. It should run smoothly off the spatula when you pull it out. This part comes with practice. Once you know the consistency, you’ll just be able to feel when it’s ready.
- Step 5 Pipe the batter into circles onto parchment or silicone lined baking sheets. Bang the tray a few times on a table to remove air bubbles and allow to sit for about 30 minutes before baking. To see if they’re ready for baking, touch your finger to them. If you get batter on your finger, they need to rest longer.
- Step 6 While resting, preheat your oven to 300°F with a rack placed in the lower third of the oven. Bake, one sheet at a time, for 15-18 minutes (this depends on your oven, my old one was fine at 15 minutes, this one needs 17-18). The shells should cool completely before you remove them from the parchment/silicone.
- Step 7 Filling:
- Step 8 Beat the butter until light and fluffy. Slowly add in powdered sugar and apple pie spice. Beat for 3 minutes.
- Step 9 Add in the vanilla extract and heavy cream, beat for another 5 minutes, until light and fluffy.
- Step 10 Assembly:
- Step 11 To assemble, pipe a ring of apple pie spice buttercream onto one half of each macaron pair and fill with a dollop of apple butter, then gently sandwich together.
- Step 12 Store in an airtight container in the fridge. Allow to come to room temperature before eating.
