Rustic Walnut Macarons

This is an extremely simple way of making what has become known as an extremely sophisticated pastry. I wanted these macarons to look rustic and crackled–in short, old-fashioned macarons. If you prefer smooth macarons, click here for the recipe. These walnut macarons are made with neither Italian nor French meringue; in fact they’re made without any meringue at all. That’s why they’re so simple! There’s no need to leave them out to develop a crust, no doubling the baking sheets, no drizzling water under the paper when you take them out of the oven. Just combine the ingredients, pipe them out and pop them into the oven. The result is delicious. The macarons have the right degree of chewiness and their pure walnut taste is a treat for the palate. 

Recipe for 14 double macarons (28 cookies)

• 5 oz. / 150 g shelled walnuts

• 1 scant cup / 120 g confectioners’ sugar

• Scant 1/4 cup / 50 g egg whites

• Er …Well, there are just three ingredients!

Preheat the oven to 375°F / 190° C. Line a baking sheet with wax or parchment paper.

If your walnuts aren’t shelled, begin by shelling them. The weight given above is the net weight you’ll need for this recipe.

Place the walnuts in the food processor fitted with the blade knife and grind them finely.

Add the confectioners’ sugar and process briefly.

Don’t run the processor more than necessary; simply ensure that the two ingredients are thoroughly combined.

Add the egg white.

Stir with a spoon. You see, it’s hardly complicated, is it?

Spoon the batter into a piping bag fitted with a plain 1/3-inch / 9 mm diameter tip. Pipe out balls with a diameter of 1 ¼ inches / 3 cm. You should have 28 balls altogether.

And now, if you’ve already made macarons, just keep in mind that you don’t need to rap the baking sheet. You don’t need to do anything, in fact, except put the baking sheet in the oven for 12 minutes.

The photos below show what the macarons look like when fresh out of the oven: cracked, lightly golden, rustic, and mouthwatering.

While they are still hot, delicately remove them from the baking sheet. Note that at this stage, they are very fragile, so handle with care! As soon as you’ve removed 2 macaron shells, stick them together. It’s the sugar that ensures that they remain glued; they will firm up as they cool and the texture will be perfect.

Continue until you’ve put them all in pairs.

When they’re cool, store in an airtight container. Because they’re not garnished, they keep much longer than macarons with a ganache or other filling–at least two weeks.