Monday, February 17, 2014

Cookie Monster Macarons

Cookie Monster Macarons
COOOOOOOKIE. I made Cookie Monster Macarons! It made me extremely happy. You see, the Cookie Monster is my spirit animal. It was meant to be. Even my terrible user handle stephcookie came about because I originally started writing my blog posts as The Cookie Monster, then Steph the Cookie Monster, which was just way too long so it became stephcookie. Anyway you don't care about that. LOOK AT THESE MACARONS!
Cookie Monster Macarons
SQUEE! So ridonkulously cute. They were a total pain in the butt. Mainly because I decided to make them this weekend, which turned out to be the wettest, most disgustingly humid weekend. It was not the best idea. My first batch of macarons were a sloppy, soggy mess that looked more like alien fried eggs rather than cookie monster macs. So after wasting a day of baking, I made another batch and waiting for hours for them to dry before baking. It was so bloody humid that I think they were actually less dry after all that waiting! Luckily the husband saved the day by bringing out a fan and pointing it at the stubborn macarons, and they finally dried enough for me to pop them in the oven. Success!
Cookie Monster Macarons
It was totally worth making that second batch. I want to hug them! They're not too complicated; dark chocolate ganache filling because I wanted a dark coloured filling so it would look like Cookie Monster's mouth (I was originally inspired by these awesome Elmo macarons), and plain macaron shells tinted with blue colouring (except for the white eyes) and blue sugar crystals for a bit of texture. Ooh and tiny chocolate chip cookies wedged in between the shells. If you'd rather have a less boring macaron flavour you could replace the ganache with this cookie dough buttercream. Mmm.
Cookie Monster Macarons
The cookie monster cupcake has been around forever and I love how cute they are, but these cookie monster macarons are so me and so perfect for this blog. I'm so glad I made them! For those of you who are tempted to recreate them, I would definitely not recommend them for beginner macaron makers because piping on the extra bits for the eyes makes it tricker. To make your life easier you could just bake plain blue macaron shells and use royal icing after you've baked the shells to pipe on the eyes. But I prefer when it's all part of the macaron shell, like all my other macaron animals.
Cookie Monster Macarons
So make sure you're patient if you decide to make these, rushing will only lead to alien fried egg looking things. Oh and don't pick the most ridiculously humid weather to make macarons in. It will only end in tears.
Cookie Monster Macarons
Aaand I couldn't resist making a gif. Enjoy!
Cookie Monster Macarons
Cookie Monster Macarons
(makes about 20 macarons)
Note: These macarons are a little trickier, if you are a beginner with macarons read up and practice plain macarons first. BraveTart has lots of useful advice and info on the subject
100g egg whites, at room temperature
1/4 tsp salt
110g almond meal, at room temperature and well sifted
200g icing (confectioner's) sugar
50g sugar (I use caster/superfine)
Optional: 1 tsp powdered egg whites (available from The Essential Ingredient), helps to stabilise egg whites but is not necessary, blue food colouring (preferably gel or powdered), black food colouring or edible black ink, blue sugar crystals to decorate
  1. Line two baking trays with good quality baking paper. 
  2. Place icing sugar in food processor and pulse for a minute to remove any lumps. Stir in almond meal and pulse for about 30 seconds to combine. (If you don’t have a processor just sift together with a fine sieve.) Sift into a large mixing bowl and set aside. 
  3. Using an electric mixer, beat egg whites and salt (and egg white powder) in a medium mixing bowl until it reaches soft peaks. With the mixer on high speed, gradually add sugar and beat until it reaches stiff peaks.
  4. Add meringue to your dry mixture and mix together with a spatula, quickly at first to break down the bubbles in the egg white (you really want to beat all the large bubbles out of the mixture, which is easily done by smearing the mixture on the bottom and side of the bowl with your spatula), then mix carefully as the dry mixture becomes incorporated. Place 1/3rd of a cup of the mixture in a separate bowl (you can skip this step and use royal icing to pipe on the eyes after baking the blue shells). With the remaining mixture, add blue food colouring and mix until it starts to become shiny again. Take care not to overmix, the mixture should flow like lava and a streak of mixture spread over the surface of the rest of the mixture should disappear after about 30 seconds. Mix the plain white macaron mixture to the same texture.
  5. Place blue mixture in a piping bag with a 1cm round piping tip. Pipe circles about 3.5cm wide on your prepared trays, leaving about 3cm space around each one. Tap baking sheets carefully and firmly on the benchtop a couple times to remove any large bubbles. 
  6. Place white mixture in a piping bag with a narrower round piping tip (I used a 3mm wide tip). Set aside and allow the blue piped circles to dry for half an hour. 
  7. Sprinkle blue sugar crystals over the top of the circles, then carefully pipe two small white circles on top of HALF of the blue circles to form the eyes. 
  8. Leave to dry for about 60 mins more, until when you press the surface of one gently it does not break/stick to your finger. This will help prevent any cracking and help the feet to form on the macs.
  9. Preheat your oven to 130-150°C (265-300°F), depending on your oven (fan-forced ovens may need to be set as low as 100°C, it really depends) . You can place the sheet of piped shells on top of an upside-down roasting tray or another baking tray, for better heat distribution. 
  10.  Bake for 20-25 minutes, depending on the size of your shells. Carefully test if the base of the shell is ready by gently lifting one and if it’s still soft and sticking to the baking paper, then it needs to bake for a few minutes longer. 
  11. Remove from the oven and cool on the tray for a few minutes, then gently remove from the sheet and place on a wire rack to cool. 
  12. Use an edible ink pen or a skewer dipped into liquid food colouring to draw on eyes over the white circles.
Cookie Monster Macarons
For the chocolate ganache:
Note: can be replaced with this cookie dough buttercream 
100g good dark/semi-sweet chocolate, finely chopped
75ml thickened or pure/heavy cream (min 35% fat unthickened)
Mini chocolate chip cookies, to decorate
  1. Place chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl and set aside. 
  2. Heat cream in a small saucepan on medium-low heat until it just comes to the boil and then pour over the chocolate. Leave for about 3 minutes to allow chocolate to melt. 
  3. Use a whisk to combine mixture until it is smooth. Chill, whisking it every 5 minutes to ensure it stays smooth, until the mixture thickens but is still pipable. 
  4. Place in a small piping bag (ziplock bags with a corner snipped off are handy for this), pipe on one of the blue bottom shells and sandwich with a top shell that has eyes, with a cookie wedged in the middle. Repeat with remaining shells. 
  5. Chill macarons in an airtight container overnight to allow flavour to mature. Serve at room temperature.
Cookie Monster Macarons
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60 comments:

  1. too cute and omg that gif is hilarious! you're such an inspiration :) COOOOOKIE <3

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  2. i was waiting for you to blog about these after seeing them on instagram! so cute! the gif reminds me of pacman hehe

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  3. These are incredible. Beth and I squeed out loud. Love the gif!!!

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  4. teehee so fricken cute and the gif is the best!!

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  5. These make me so happy! You did such an amazing job (as always). Oh and I love the gif too!

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  6. love that gif. its like cookie monster meets pacman! love this concept steph. and yes you braved the humidity to bake.. haha now that deserves a pat on the back in itself! me love. me want cookie nowwwww!

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  7. Oh I am in love! No wonder you are so known for your perfect macarons

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  8. THESE ARE SO CUTE!! wooooww!! and so much detail! especially with the bulgy eyes! yeah I love the gif as well ^_^ I'm not sure I can attempt this... but yeah! well done on such a cute bake :D

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  9. Wasn't the weekend ridiculous? Much hotter and we could have been in Singapore. That food gif is the cutest. Ever.

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  10. OH MY GOD. This is so brilliant. You've officially outdone yourself. No, *really*.

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  11. This is way too cute!! OMG, you have great ideas!! congratulations!!

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  12. This is brilliant :)

    www.byguldahl.dk

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  13. Oh my goodness!! These are unbelievably adorable!! Favourite macarons yet!! Jen x

    http://jenniferbakes.blogspot.ie

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  14. Did your husband enjoy the rewards of eating after he helped with the fan?? haha

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  15. These are absolutely incredible! Love, love, love! :D

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  16. That GIF!! So so fun. Love these so much.

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  17. They are so adorable...love the cookie monster gif.

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  18. They look so adorable! The monster gif is so fun.

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  19. haha! "stephcookie" ... spirit animal! too much. the gif is awesome... and these are just too cute for words! xo

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  20. Omg Steph, you've really outdone yourself with these ones. They are SO cute!!

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  21. This are amazing- such a great idea! I'm definitely going to practice my macaroon skills before I have a go though.

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  22. OMG...they are sooooo cute!

    a hug from Austria
    Tanja

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  23. ah, way too cute to eat! i've never seen macarons made into a cute cookie monster before.. the possibilities are endless!

    M.

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  24. Oh my gosh, I HAVE to make these. Adorable.

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  25. These are the cutest! I wish I could bake in times like these :P

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  26. Love it!!! Oh, my goodness, they are so cute.

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  27. totally adorable & I love the gif :)

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  28. Oh my.. These are AMAZING! Definitely trying to make these too this weekend!

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  29. Вы макарон - гений!)

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  30. These are the most amazing things I've seen in a long time. Totally made my night!

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  31. OMG SQUEEALLLLLLLL!! These are just too adorable!!!! You are amazing!!

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  32. Beautiful, funny and originals!!! ;)
    Tamara

    elsecretoendulzado.blogspot.com.es

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  33. These are adorable!! My little cousins would absolutely love them :)

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  34. These are too ridiculously cute!!! I love the gif! Great job!

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  35. Wow, that's unbelievably creative, love these!

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  36. They are adorable! I love your gif as well!

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  37. You slay me! These are FRIGGIN ADORABLE! And that last gif?! *foaming at the mouth*

    I'm going to have to try to make these for my director's farewell do. She's obsessed with Cookie Monster (she used to make me watch a CM video every morning when we were on a project together, just to set the tone, apparently) and would absolutely bawl her eyes out at these.

    You're a goddess. A GODDESS I TELL YOU! Yes, sorry about the caps, but they were necessary to show you exactly how much I love you right now.

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  38. Too cute for words!! Love the gif. You are amazing!

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  39. Very very cute you are monstrously talented

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  40. These look amazing! I'm very impressed with your skills in making perfectly shaped macarons!

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  41. COOKIE!!! Seriously unreal as usual ;D

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  42. These are perfection!!! Love your site!

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  43. I love these, I love how you used sugar crystals to make him look fuzzy! I also love your animated gif! I made some cookies like this with regular cookies because I was too timid to try macarons, but maybe next time!
    http://www.instructables.com/id/Double-Cookie-Cookie-Monster-Cookies/

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  44. These are absolutely brilliant!!

    Rosa

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  45. the gif is so cute! and the macarons look too perfect to eat!

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  46. No way, these are the best and cutest cookies ever! Well done!

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  47. What a fabulous idea! Congratulations on a super site. These monsters - and the gif image at the end - are ingenious!

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