Macaroon Kiss Cookies Recipe - Creations by Kara (2024)

FAQs

What's the difference between a macaron and a macaroon cookie? ›

A macaron is a meringue-based sandwich cookie that is tinted with food coloring. A macaroon is a drop cookie made with shredded coconut. The preparation for these two cookies is also very different. Macarons require multiple steps and painstaking precision, while a batch of coconut macaroons is very easy to prepare.

Coconut macaroons: Think of the coconut macaroon as a cousin to the above macaroons. These tasty goodies are made with shredded coconut, sweetened condensed milk, eggs, vanilla, and salt. More importantly, they look different from the above two – they often look a little more round and a little lumpier.

A macaron is a meringue-based sandwich cookie made with almond flour, egg whites, confectioners' sugar, and food coloring. Common fillings include buttercream, ganache, and fruit-based jam.

Macarons are the French adaptation of the Italian macaroon, and according to Food Network, they were first created in France after the King's Italian wife brought over a chef from Italy. Therefore they can be traced back to the same origin: that Italian maccarone “cake or biscuit.”

Macaron Ingredients Are Expensive

Instead, they're made with almond flour, which costs more than nine times as much—and that's at Costco. “Finely ground almond flour gives structure, texture and mild flavor to macaron shells,” says Taste of Home food stylist Josh Rink.

Macarons are typically more expensive than other baked goods due to their labor-intensive preparation, high-quality ingredients, and delicate nature.

There are basically three methods you can use to make macarons: French, Italian, and Swiss.

French macarons are softer with chewy shells and more subtly sweet taste, giving you more of that distinct almond flavour. Whereas Italian macarons are more crisp, even powdery at times and have a more pronounced sweet taste. A trained eye may even be able to tell the difference simply by looking at them.

Macarons are notoriously finicky. Beat your egg whites too little or too much and you're left with flat macarons. Fold in your powdered sugar and almond flour a few too many times and the tops crack. Even a rainy day (something completely out of your control) can ruin them.

Macarons can help you stay within your recommended daily calorie intake if they're eaten in moderation. A single macaron may contain less than 90 calories, and snacking on only a couple of these treats at a time shouldn't add to your waistline.

Are macaron cookies healthy? ›

Even with the tasty fillings, macarons are still healthier desserts when compared to other sweets, such as cupcakes. For instance, three macarons have around 210-300 calories compared to a single cupcake with around 400 calories.

Coconut macaroons have a very old and interesting background. They actually date back to 8th or 9th century Italian monasteries and did not contain coconut but almond paste. The word macaroon comes from the Italian word “ammaccare” which means to crush as it had almond paste in it.

The often colourful sandwich, filled with a ganache is the French Macaroon or Macaron. Italian macaroons - also known as Amaretti, share the same base ingredients of ground blanched almonds, egg whites & sugar - but the biggest difference is the texture.

Why do so many people mispronounce the French confection called “macaron” as “macaroon”? Probably because there are two cookies with almost identical names, and very similar ingredients. If you don't speak French, the two words look very similar.