Macaroons with a cherry centre surrounded by marzipan-like dough and almond crust. This Gluten-free and Paleo recipe is made with ground almonds and honey.
Macaroons are small, circular cakes made by folding whipped egg whites into a dough made from ground almonds and sugar. Typically they are flattened into a disc shape to ensure even cooking (like in my Orange Almond Macaroon recipe), but I like the gooey marzipan-like centre you get from rolling into spherical balls.
Recipes for using up the leftover egg yolks:
Ingredients
- 50g flaked almonds
- 1 2/3 cups (150g) ground almonds
- 3/8 cup (101g) honey
- 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 2 large egg whites
- 10 dried sour cherries
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 160°C/320°F. Line a baking tray with baking paper.
- Roughly chop the flaked almonds – no need to be perfectionist about it, as different sized pieces add to the texture. Place in a small bowl and set aside.
- Combine the ground almonds, honey, almond extract and salt in a mixing bowl. Mix to form a crumbly dough – if you are using set honey, or finding it difficult to incorporate the honey, then lightly rub it between your fingertips until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
- Put the egg whites in a clean, dry bowl and whisk with an electric whisk for 2 minutes, until soft peaks form.
- Lighten the almond mixture by stirring in half of the whisked egg whites. Tip in the rest of the egg whites and gently fold in using a spatula: cut down the centre with the side edge of the spatula; scrape across the bottom of the bowl and up the side, scooping up the mixture as you go so that it is turned over and under; rotate the bowl 90° and repeat until fully blended. Be careful not to overwork the mixture and knock out the air, but make sure the bitter egg white is fully blended. You should have a thick dough.
- Wet your hands, then divide into 10 balls by loosely rolling between the palms of your hand. Insert a cherry into the centre of each ball, then roll between the palms of your hands again to smooth the sides. Take the bowl containing the flaked almonds and roll each ball around until evenly coated.
- Arrange on the lined baking tray. Leave some space between each macaroon, as they will spread slightly during baking. Use a pastry brush to lightly dab the surface of each macaroon with water.
- Transfer to the preheated oven and bake for 20-25 minutes, until lightly brown. Turn the tray halfway through for even colouring.
- Transfer onto a wire cooling rack using a palette knife or fish slice. Once cooled, transfer to an airtight container and store at room temperature, where they will keep for 1 week. If you prefer a chewier texture, leave on the cooling rack overnight before transferring to a container.