Almond Orange Macaroons

Total Time: 35 mins Preparation Time: 10 mins Cook Time: 25 mins

Ingredients

• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup unsifted confectioners' sugar
• 1 orange, zest of
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 (7 ounce) package almond paste, diced
• 3 large egg whites

Recipe

• 1 place the oven rack in the lowest position possible in your oven.
• 2 preheat the oven to 300°f.
• 3 line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
• 4 place the sugar, confectioners' sugar, orange zest and salt in the bowl of a food processor together with the steel knife.
• 5 grind the zest very find with the sugar.
• 6 this will usually take 3 20-second whirls of the processor.
• 7 scrape the work bowl with a spatula in between whirls and stir up the sugar mixture.
• 8 scatter the diced almond paste evenly over the sugar mixture and give the processor about two more 10 seconds whirls.
• 9 the texture should be like coarse meal.
• 10 again, scrape the work bowl in between whirls.
• 11 add the egg whites and mix with about two 5 second whirls.
• 12 don't forget to scrape the bowl at half-time.
• 13 remove the steel knife and set aside.
• 14 working directly from the food processor bowl, scoop up the dough in rounded 1/2 teaspoonfuls and drop onto the parchment lined baking sheets.
• 15 space the cookies about 2 inches apart, these babies really spread as they bake.
• 16 bake the cookies, one sheet at a time, until lightly browned and crackly on top, about 20-25 minutes.
• 17 remove the cookies together with the parchment paper to a wire rack to cool.
• 18 to remove the cooled cookies from the paper, loosen them carefully around the edges with a spatula, using short strokes.
• 19 these are not brittle cookies, and you should get the hang of it soon enough.
• 20 you can layer the macaroons between sheets of wax paper in an airtight tupperware, and store them in a cool, dry spot.