S'mores Macarons

These s'mores macarons are made with a graham cracker macaron, homemade marshmallow fluff, and chocolate ganache. Each bite is a perfect sweet treat, and this makes for one of those desserts that will really WOW your friends.

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But let me be clear, I did not make these bad boys.

Though I'd love to take credit for these French macarons, all of the credit goes to my sister, Becca.

So, how did this sister collaboration come about? It all started with new photography backdrops I ordered.

I've been blogging since I was 11 (think LiveJournal and Xanga), but the first blog I had any success publicly with was a food blog I co-wrote with a college roommate and very dear friend. While makeup and lifestyle topics have largely taken over my current site, I've been itching to get back into sharing recipes.

And, after a decade of food blogging, I decided it was finally time to invest in my food photography. I purchased a few Replica Surfaces photography backdrops since my kitchen is... well, not so cute.

The first thing I did was reshoot one of my oldest and most viewed recipes, Easy Vegan Bisquick Pancakes. But hungry for more (figuratively and literally), I asked my sister if I could photograph her French s'mores macarons.

So, about those macarons...

This recipe is from Liv for Cake. Liv is a Vancouver-based recipe developer, and both my sister and I thank her wholeheartedly for this stellar recipe.

Below is a note from my sister, Becca:

The most helpful thing for me today was my mindset. I wasn’t worried.

The first time I made macarons, I read post after post about how difficult and tricky they are. How one misstep can ruin them. How even if you do it all right, the humidity outside may mess everything up.

The first time I made them, I ended up under-mixing because I was so worried about when to stop. Today, I decided not to worry because I knew the S'mores macarons would be great regardless.

In fact, I may have over mixed just a hair, but that’s okay. They are still great.

Recipe directions with notes

The full recipe card is below (and you can also visit Liv for Cake for her recipe notes), but here are a few comments from Becca.

1. Separate the egg whites and put them in a glass bowl to age. Cover with plastic wrap and poke a few holes in the plastic wrap. Some posts say you can do it for days but I did it overnight. It’s not necessary, but it’s supposed to help. Then put it on the counter to get to room temp when ready to use.
2. I put the dry ingredients in the food processor then sifted them. Then I put large bits back in the food processor because I didn’t want to miss any of the graham cracker flavor. Sifted one more time.
3. I watched a ton of videos on stiff meringue. The tip that helped the most was to look for a “birds beak” when you lift the whisk. Stiff but very slightly curved at the end. Added ivory and warm brown gel food color.
4. Folded a third of the dry mixture into the meringue, then folded in remaining of the dry. What helped me was looking for a lava/honey-like consistency. When you lift a spatula it falls off in a honey-like river and the stream continues long enough to make a figure 8. The batter doesn’t immediately sink into itself. Takes about 20 seconds for it to sink in.
5. Silpat mat made for prettier shells than using parchment paper because it made for better feet. Amazon also makes an Amazon brand version. I did some on a tray with parchment paper and used some extra batter to stick the paper to the tray. A small blob in each corner. It helped, but it wasn’t perfect.
6. I whacked my tray on the counter twice. Rotated 90 degrees. Whacked it again. Another 90. Whack. 90. Whack. Poked any remaining air bubbles with a toothpick.
7. Sat for an hour until the shells weren’t sticky when lightly touched. No longer shiny.
8. Baked my first tray for 15 minutes. The second tray had more shells so I baked it for 17. Don’t bake multiple trays at once.