Nutella Macarons

To make the macaron shells In a bowl of food processor, combine the fine almond flour with powdered sugar, and cocoa powder. Blitz 16 times, then sift together into a bowl. Do not push down the coarse bits, just discard them. Set aside. In a completely dry and grease-free glass mixing bowl combine the egg whites and cream of tartar, and use a hand mixer to beat on high speed until they start to get frothy. SLOWLY add in the granulated sugar and continue mixing at high speed just until you get stiff peaks.

Add half of the dry mixture into the meringue and fold by going around the outside of the bowl and cutting through the center, repeat until there are no dry spots. Add the remaining dry mixture and repeat folding until you get a molten lava

The batter should look smooth and uniform. Fill a pastry bag fitted with a large round tip with the batter. Pipe 1 ½-2 inch even circles onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone mat. If you're new to this, I recommend that you get a silicone mat with a macaron template like this one and it will help you get uniform circles. Gently tap the bottom of the baking sheets on the counter 5-6 times and pop any large air bubbles that come to the surface by using a toothpick and moving in a circular motion. Let the macarons set for 45 minutes to 1 hour until they form a shell Preheat the oven to 320°F (160°C). Bake the macarons for 15-17 minutes or until you can touch the tops of the cookies and they do not move around on the “feet”. Do one baking sheet at a time if you're using more than one. Remove from the oven and allow to completely cool before trying to remove them from the pan.

While the cookies are cooling, make your filling by mixing the softened butter and Nutella in the bowl of a stand mixer equipped with a paddle attachment. Beat on high speed for 3-4 minutes or until smooth. Slowly add the powdered sugar and mix until just combined. Add the heavy cream and slowly increase the speed to high and mix on high speed for 3-4 minutes or until you get a nice “whipped” consistency. Add the buttercream to a pastry bag with a large circle tip (I used the 2A for the filling as well)Flip over half of the macaron shells and pipe a generous circle of buttercream on the center of each cookie.

Enjoy!!!!