Mickey Mouse French Macarons Recipe

Mickey Mouse French Macarons

Ingredients

Almond Cookies
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup sifted almond flour (for gluten-free try Bob's Red Mill flour used by Disney) or meal
• 1 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup sugar
Buttercream
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup confectioners' sugar

Instructions

1. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper and set them aside.
2. Over a small bowl, separate the egg whites from the yolks. If any yolk slips into the bowl, scoop it out with an eggshell half so that the whites will beat properly. Discard the yolks. Let the whites sit at room temperature for 30 minutes.
3. Sift together the almond flour (for gluten-free try Bob's Red Mill flour used by Disney) or meal and the confectioners’ sugar into a medium-size mixing bowl .
4. In a second bowl, using an electric mixer set on medium speed, beat together the egg whites and the salt until foamy, about 2 minutes.
5. Increase the mixer’s speed to high and gradually add the sugar. Continue to beat until stiff, glossy peaks form, about 1 minute more.
6. To make the meringue, gently fold the egg whites into the almond mixture with a rubber spatula, being careful not to deflate them.
7. Place some of the meringue in a pastry bag fit with a 3/8-inch round tip, or a ziplock plastic bag with a corner snipped.
8. Beginning at the corner of one cookie sheet and holding the bag perpendicular to the sheet’s surface, squeeze out enough meringue to make a 1-inch disk.
9. Pull the tip away from the disk with a quick circular motion to avoid making a peak (a misshapen cookie can be gently molded with a wet finger).
10. Continue piping the cookies, spacing them 2 inches apart and refilling the bag as needed, until all the meringue is used.
11. Gently tap the bottom of each cookie sheet against the countertop to further flatten the cookies (they should be about 1/4-inch thick), then allow them to sit at room temperature until dry to the touch, about 1 1/2 hours.
12. Heat the oven to 325 degrees. Bake the cookies, one pan at a time, in the center of the oven for 10 to 12 minutes. Allow each pan to cool on a wire rack.
13. Whisk together all the ingredients for the buttercream in a medium-size bowl until the mixture is smooth and shiny.
14. Fill a clean pastry bag with the buttercream (alternately, use a snipped plastic bag, or a butter knife or spatula).
15. When it’s time to pipe your meringue onto the cookie sheet, instead of making a single round mound, make three mounds. One large one an inch wide, and to small ones on the sides for Mickey’s ears.