Caramel Macarons by: Cindy Bagheri

Caramel Macarons
Yield: 40 shells/20 Macarons
Prep Time: 2 hours (Not including rest time)
Bake time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 3 hours (Including rest time)
Sources that were used for this recipe: 
https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2016/09/easy-caramel-sauce-recipe.html
This recipe is by: Cindy Bagheri
Ingredients
For Macaron Shells:
 ¾ cup almond flour or almond meal
 1 ¾ cup powdered sugar
3 room temperature egg whites*
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
For the Salted Caramel Buttercream Frosting
1 stick room temperature butter
1 ½ cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup of homemade or store bought caramel (see below for recipe)
For Homemade Caramel
½ cup water
1 ¼ cup granulated sugar
⅛ teaspoon salt
1 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Steps for the Macaron Shells:

1. Place the almond flour and the powdered sugar in the blender or food processor and blend until fine and smooth. Place aside. 
2. Separate egg white from yolk, and blend egg whites and salt with an electric mixer on medium speed for 1 minute. Switch to high speed and beat for 3 minutes, just until stiff peaks form. DO NOT OVERMIX. Gently fold in the granulated sugar, a few teaspoons at a time. 
3. Very roughly*, fold in your powdered sugar/ almond flour mixture, ⅓ of the mixture at a time. Once combined, let rest for 20 minutes, uncovered. Meanwhile, fit your piping bag with a piping tip. 
4. Fill your piping bag with the macaron batter after it has rested. Pipe 11/2 inch circles on a tray with a sheet of parchment paper. Hit your tray on the surface to release air bubbles. Let rest uncovered until you can rub your finger on the surface of the cookie, and none of the batter rubs off, normally 45 minutes-1 hour. 
5. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. If you have an oven thermometer, now is a good time to whip it out to ensure the temperature does not rise to high or low.
6. Bake your macarons for 10 minutes. DON’T OPEN THE OVEN DURING THIS TIME! It will release the heat. 
7. Allow to cool completely before frosting

For the Salted Caramel Buttercream:

1. Cream room temperature butter until fluffy and smooth with an electric mixer. Beat in powdered sugar until you have a crumbly mixture. Mix in vanilla extract. Add in salted caramel (see recipe for homemade caramel below). Beat until completely combined and set in the fridge. 

For the Homemade Caramel:

1. In a saucepan, pour in water, sugar, and salt and melt on medium heat until it comes to a boil. Make sure you continuously stir with a fork or rubber spatula. After, simmer without stirring until the syrup is light amber colored. Shake the pot a lot, but DON’T MIX. 
2. Continue simmering until the color is darker amber. Reduce heat and add heavy cream IMMEDIATELY!
3. Keep simmering and knock back all foam and bubbles on the surface. Don’t leave the stove, or else the bubbles will overflow the pot. After about 3 minutes, turn off the stove, and pour syrup into a heat-resistant container. Leave uncovered and let it cool. The syrup may still be runny when hot*, but once it’s cool, it should be thick and sticky.

Assemble and Enjoy!

* The egg whites are best when cool so that they whip easier. It’s suggested that you leave it for about 2-3 hours out of the fridge and cool to room temperature. 
* If you roughly mix in the almond flour and powdered sugar, it will create a thicker batter, which will make it easier to pipe,
*The syrup will still be hot for a while, so let it cool completely before adding to the frosting, or else your frosting will get runny. If the caramel doesn't thicken up, it means the syrup did not get hot enough, so just pour it back into the pot and simmer, knocking back bubbles.