Hazelnut Macarons
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These French macarons make such a beautiful dessert or party favor. The hazelnut, pumpkin, and maple flavors work so well together for fall! (naturally gluten-free)
Do you guys know/follow Marcie from Flavor the Moments? This is one classy lady, I must say. Marcie is a culinary school graduate and you can totally tell. She knows her shtuff when it comes to food, as evidenced by our Mystery Dish ingredients list for this month:
- pork
- fennel
- kabocha squash
- hard apple cider
- heavy cream
- orange
- farro
- hazelnuts
- quince
- thyme
- maple syrup
- brussels sprouts
Right? I mean they all go together.
I remember hearing somewhere that "if it grows together, it goes together," and I think this list is evidence of that. Marcie's list was so spot-on this month, I had trouble even narrowing it down to just a few ingredients for my Mystery Dish recipe for October.
I ended up with hazelnut macarons as a starting point because I'd just been gifted 2 lovely bags of hazelnut flour by the good folks over at Bob's Red Mill. I'd been itching to play with it ever since.
I'm happy to report that it works beautifully as a replacement for the almond flour in a traditional French macaron recipe. So beautifully in fact, that it may even be better than the original.
Especially when paired with squash, cream, and maple. Such a wonderful combo, with a hint of cinnamon. Kabocha squash is a type of pumpkin, so it's just perfect for this time of year and it works beautifully as an accent to the fluffy cream cheese filling.
I'm not sure if the camera picked it up, but I accented the shells with a little of this metallic Gold Color Mist by Wilton. The effect is so stunning. It gives the most beautiful sparkly gold finish. I've messed around with luster dust on occasion, and it works well when you need to only bring out a few details with a little paintbrush, but the metallic Color Mist gives such an easy and consistently gorgeous result for something that wants an even wash of shimmer. If you're into cake or cookie decorating I highly recommend this product! (<--not sponsored!)
Baked Apple Donuts with Maple Glaze by Yummy Healthy Easy
Baked French Toast Casserole by I Want Crazy
Hazelnut Maple-Glazed Cinnamon Rolls by I Dig Pinterest
Hazelnut Macarons with Pumpkin Maple Filling by Baking a Moment
Honey-Thyme Roasted Pork Tenderloin from The Pajama Chef
Italian Sausage and Ravioli Skillet by Simply Gloria
Kabocha Squash Curry with Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Farro by Chez CateyLou
Maple Glazed Fennel and Brussels Sprouts by The Well Floured Kitchen
Pear Hazelnut Bread with Orange Maple Glaze by Blahnik Baker
Shaved Brussels Sprouts Salad with Apples, Bacon, and Hazelnuts by Flavor the Moments
Shaved Brussels Sprouts Harvest Salad with a Hard Apple Cider Vinaigrette by Joyful Healthy Eats
{Vegan} Orange Hazelnut Maple Cinnamon Rolls by Sweet Tooth Life
You may notice we've added a bunch of new members! Please sure to give them lots of love 🙂 And special thanks to Marcie for hosting and organizing!
I'll be back on Friday with a fun giveaway; see you then!
As an amazon associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Ingredients
- 120 grams hazelnut flour
- 200 grams powdered sugar
- 100 grams egg whites
- ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
- ⅛ teaspoon kosher salt
- 30 grams granulated sugar
- 4 ounces cream cheese, (half a brick), softened
- 3 tablespoons pure pumpkin puree
- 3 tablespoons pure maple syrup
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 drop tulip red gel paste food coloring
- 1 drop ivory gel paste food coloring
- 1 drop yellow gel paste food coloring
- ¼ cup heavy cream,, cold
Instructions
To Make the Hazelnut Macaron Shells:
- Measure the hazelnut flour and powdered sugar into the bowl of a food processor. Pulse the mixture to a fine powder, and sift. Re-process any large bits that remain, and sift again. Discard any large bits that still remain.
- Whip the egg whites, cream of tartar, and salt on medium speed until frothy.
- Slowly add the granulated sugar (about a teaspoon at a time), while continuing to whip. Once all the sugar has been incorporated, turn the speed up to high and whip until the meringue looks glossy and holds stiff peaks.
- Dump all the almond flour mixture into the meringue at once. Fold together until the batter falls from the spoon in one long, continuous ribbon.
- Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a large round tip, and pipe rounds about 1 inch in diameter onto parchment-lined baking sheets.
- Slam the baking sheet on the counter to force out any large air bubbles, and allow to dry for 30-45 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F and bake for 15-16 minutes.
- Cool completely on the baking sheet, then peel off and sandwich with Pumpkin Maple Cream Cheese Filling.
To Make the Pumpkin Maple Cream Cheese Filling:
- Place the cream cheese, pumpkin, maple syrup in a large mixing bowl and whip until fluffy.
- Add the cinnamon and food coloring, and mix until combined.
- Slowly drizzle the cold cream in, with the mixer on medium speed.
- When all the cream has been incorporated, turn the mixer up to high speed and whip until stiff peaks form (about 30-45 seconds).
I love how you combine dall the ingredients, and the photos are gorgeous too.
Thanks Catalina! So glad you liked; thanks for the sweet comment! 🙂
Marcie IS amazing and so are you Allie! So gorgeous and creative - pinned!
Isn't she though? So stinkin' talented. Thank you so much for pinning Trish, and for the sweet comment! Hope you have a blast with your boys tonight 😀
These macarons are beautiful Allie! Great way to express your creativity using hazelnut flour, squash and the gold color mist (I must get it now)! I bet these are super delicious!
They were really good! The filling was really fluffy and it just melted right into the shells. I'm so happy you like them, Mira! Thanks so much for the great feedback 🙂
Gorgeous!! I've always been intimidated about making macaroons!! These would be perfect for a party, and think of how impressed everyone would be lol Thanks, Allie! Hope you're having a great week!
Thanks Kelly! Don't be intimidated; they are so much fun! And you can really get creative with all the flavor possibilities. You'd be awesome at macarons! You should definitely give them a try 😉
These are the most beautiful macarons I've ever seen. Great job, Allie! The hazelnut flour sound incredible and that squash maple filling, I could eat it with a spoon.
I may or may not have done just that, ahem. Thank you!!! I'm so pleased that you like them Jen. Thanks so much for the sweet compliments! Hope you have a great weekend, hon 🙂
These macarons look great. I like adding ground or chopped pistachio as well to my macarons. What is hazelnut flour? I followed the link, but it still seemed a bit alien to me.
Is it ground hazelnuts? Or does it have wheat added to make it a flour? Sorry for all the questions, but I'm in the UK and I'm curious for future bakes 🙂
Thank you! Pistachio sounds great! It is ground hazelnuts, just as you suspected! No wheat whatsoever, that's what makes these naturally gluten-free. It's a really great product! This was the first recipe I tried with it, but I'm looking forward to adding it to other things too, like cakes and stuff. Thanks so much for the comment and for the great question!
These macarons are stunning, Allie! The metallic gold mist is such a nice touch - looks so so pretty! Love the mystery dish ingredients you used - the hazelnut flour sounds amazing with the cinnamon, squash, maple filling. The photos are just stunning too - wish I could grab a few right now! p.s. love your new profile pic - you look gorgeous 🙂
Aw thank you! I figured it was about time I updated it, lol! That other one was old and not very good. So happy you liked the macarons too! The gold mist was a last-minute addition but I really loved the result. Have a fun weekend, Kelly! xoxo
Wow! These macarons look amazing! I've always had trouble making these (but they are one of my favourite treats), I think its partly because of our warm climate. But seeing these beauties makes me want to give them another go!
You know I was having some trouble over the summer too, with macarons. I think when it's really hot or humid you have to be especially patient with the drying step. I found that if I let them go for as long as 45 minutes to an hour, I had much better results. And that part about the batter dropping from the spoon in one long ribbon? That was so key for me. Hope that helps Jessica! Thank you so much for reading sweetie, and for the awesome feedback. Have a great weekend! 😀
GORGEOUSSSS
These macaroons and these pictures are just gorgeous! I love the detail with the colored edge on the shells. Just beautiful!
I continue to be mesmerized by the all of the gorgeous going on in your treats. These hazelnuts macarons are truly stunning, so much so, that I don't know if I could take a bite out of one!
Oh thank you so much Justine! But you totally should 😉
These are gorgeous Allie!! I have wanted to make macarons for so long and yet just never have taken the plunge! Love love this flavor combo!
Yay! I'm telling you, once you start you won't be able to stop! There are so many possibilities... Thanks Ashley! xo
Oh, you made these macarons so pretty!! I love this whole mystery ingredients series. It is fun to see what you ladies come up with!! 🙂
Thanks Renee! Isn't it crazy how much variety you see from the same list of ingredients? I'm always so blown away. So glad you enjoy; thanks so much for the great feedback!
Thank you for your very kind words, Allie! I loved these the second I saw them on FB -- these are some of the most gorgeous macarons I've ever seen, and I love the flavors you've combined! I've only used kabocha squash in savory recipes, so I love what you did with it here. AND I just won a bag of hazelnut flour from Bob's Red Mill, and I'm so excited to use it for my first batch of macarons! Thank you for the inspiration. 🙂
Yay! Congratulations Marcie; I can't wait to see what you make with your hazelnut flour! Thank you again for hosting this month, Marcie, and I meant every word I said 😉
Oh you are definitely right. Hazelnut macarons are even better than the traditional almond meal ones. Love love the squash and maple combination in the filling. Stunning pictures as always 🙂
Thank you Zainab! Don't you just love that hazelnut flour? I really liked the nuttier flavor they gave to the macarons 😀
I love what you did with the ingredient list this month Allie! Your macarons are so pretty too- love that gold shimmer
Thanks Meghan! They were looking just a little blah. So glad I had a can of that shimmer in my cupboard! Thanks for the sweet comment; hope you're having a great week! 😀