Peanut Butter and Chocolate Macaron
These Peanut Butter and Chocolate Macaron have amazing flavor from the Jif™ Peanut Powder baked into the shells. The whole kitchen smelled like peanut butter and I was in heaven! It can all #StartWithJifPowder! This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone.
Did the New Year sneak up on you? Because it sure did sneak up on me. I blinked and it was October. I blinked again, then Christmas! You get the picture. It just seems like the years fly by now. And, if you’re anything like me, New Year’s has a new meaning. It means that you’re going to start a new plan for a new you. This year, the new me starts with Jif™ Peanut Powder.
After almost two years of having injuries, I finally feel like I am at a place where I can start to lose some of the weight gained while being injured. Yeah, I know, I shouldn’t have just eaten whatever, but what can ya do when you’re a food blogger and you make good food? Eat it!
Well, not this year. This year, I’m not going to eat everything in sight. I’m going to change my eating habits and track what I eat. I’m going to be more active and test out this knee of mine and see how strong I can actually get it. I am DYING to get back on a mountain and start hiking again. I had high hopes of doing that this weekend, but, well, mother nature didn’t cooperate. Or is it old man winter?
Either way, we have 28+ inches of snow. So, what’s food blogger to do when she’s cooped up inside all weekend and basically a slave to the snow? She bakes cookies. Not just any cookies, but she bakes MACARON! They’re the soufflé of cookies. They’re super finicky, they’re technically challenging, and they’re OH SO rewarding! And, they’re even more rewarding when you use the new Jif™ Peanut Powder.
What? You haven’t heard of Jif™ Peanut Powder? Okay, I’ll give you slack since you’re probably not as obsessed with peanut butter as I am. So, here’s the skinny. Jif™ Peanut Powder is amazing. It has that delicious peanut butter flavor that you’re looking for, but with 85% less fat than traditional peanuts. Oh, don’t worry, all those lovely nutrients and protein are still there, but it just has less fat than its traditional counterpart. And since any kind of oil or fat can kill a good macaron, this is a win win for me.
You know what the best part is? This Jif™ Peanut Powder is made of one ingredient; PEANUTS. That’s it. No sugar, no additives, no salt; nothing but pure, delicious, peanut bliss in an amazing powdered form. Not only is it perfect for baking, but since I’m a HUGE advocate for PB&B (that’s peanut butter and banana) I’m always putting a couple of tablespoons of this peanut packed powder in my breakfast smoothies, oatmeal, and even add it my baked goods. Because, well, you can’t have enough peanut flavor in peanut butter cookies, can you? And just look at how gorgeous those cookies really are!!
So, I know you’re asking, “What’s this got to do with the New Year New You that you spoke of earlier in this post? And what does any of that have to do with making macaron cookies?” Before, if I wanted to make some peanut macaron, I would have had to use straight up peanuts. Now, don’t get me wrong, I love peanuts. But, what I don’t love is all the fat in the peanuts. This new Jif™ Peanut Powder gives me the flexibility to make delicious peanut, macaron without all that fat that’s involved in using regular peanuts. Since I LOVE making these cookies and I LOVE making peanut flavored cookies, this makes the new me OH SO HAPPY!
Since I’m trying to master these delicious cookies it also helps to have options. Jif™ Peanut Powder. comes in chocolate flavor, too! YAY! It has semi-sweet chocolate and a hint of sugar that is perfect for baked goods like muffins, scones, or even some banana bread. Yup. There I am with the banana and peanuts again. I could easily put the chocolate powder in these shells and have even more amazing peanut and chocolate flavors.
I also love that I can find it in my local grocery store. WalMart of Manassas always has a great range of products to help with the New Year New You attitude I’m taking on. As you can see, the Jif™ Peanut Powder is right there on the shelf with the rest of the peanut butter products. Which is, conveniently, next to the jellies. Hello PB&J smoothie, muffins, or quick bread! Yum!
So, head on over the WalMart and pick up your own bag of Jif™ Peanut Powder for a New Year New You!
Peanut Butter and Chocolate Macaron
These Peanut Butter and Chocolate Macaron have amazing flavor from the Jif™ Peanut Powder baked into the shells. The whole kitchen smelled like peanut butter and I was in heaven! It can all #StartWithJifPowder!
Ingredients
- 4 ounces almond meal
- 7 ounces powdered sugar
- 1 ounce Jif™ Peanut Powder
- 4 ounces egg whites, room temperature
- pinch cream of tartar
- 35 grams granulated sugar
- 4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate
- 3 tablespoons half and half
- 1 tablespoon butter
Instructions
- Place half the almond meal and the half powdered sugar in the bowl of a food processor and process until the mixture is finely ground. Sift into a large bowl and repeat process with remaining almond meal and powdered sugar along with the peanut powder. Sift the mixture two more times and set aside.
- Place the egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer. Sprinkle the cream of tartar over the eggs and hand mix the two together with the whisk attachment for the stand mixer. Fasten the whisk attachment and beat the mixture on medium speed until foamy. Slowly add the granulated sugar and beat on medium speed until soft peaks form. Increase the speed to high and beat until stiff peaks form.
- Sift 1/3 of the almond mixture into the bowl with the meringue. Fold the ingredients together with a large spatula until incorporated. Continue sifting and folding until all the almond mixture is incorporated into the meringue and the mixture should drip slowly off the spatula; like lava flowing. (I suggest search Youtube to get a good visual of this texture. For me, it’s like pouring a really thick brownie batter or quick bread batter.)
- Transfer the batter to a large piping bag fitted with a 1/2 inch tip and pipe 1 1/3 inch rounds onto a silpat covered baking sheet. There are several different templates out there. Two that I liked are here and here.
- Preheat oven to 300.
- You’re going to LOVE this next part! Once all the batter has been piped or your sheets are full, grab the edges of the pan, secure the silpat with your thumbs (or any extra batter) and rap the pans on the counter. This releases any remaining air bubbles in the meringue. Continue rapping the sheets, turning occasionally, until no more air bubbles surface. If there are a few that are being stubborn, take a toothpick and carefully pop them yourself. Allow the macaron to rest on the counter at least 30 minutes.
- Once they’ve rested and the tops are no longer sticky to the touch, bake at 325 for 9 minutes. Rotate the pans front to back and top to bottom and bake an additional 9 minutes. Do the wiggle test to see if the meringue is cooked. If the tops move easily from side to side when wiggled, indicating the meringue isn’t completely cooked, then continue to cook in 4 to 5 minutes intervals until they no longer wiggle.
- Remove from heat and allow to cool completely before filling.
- While the macaron cool, make the ganache.
- Place the chocolate chips and cream in a microwave safe bowl and microwave on high one minute. Stir with a spoon. If the chocolate is not completely melted, microwave at 15 to 20 second intervals, stirring in between, until the chocolate is completely melted. Add the butter and stir well to combine.
- Pour into a piping bag with a 1/2 inch tip and allow to cool to room temperature before piping a quarter sized dot of ganache in the center of the shell. Top with a matching shell. Repeat with remaining shells and ganache.
That’s a lot of snow! I’m glad you were able to get some baking in! I’ve not used Jiff powder but I think you’ve found a great use for it! These macaroons are beautiful!
Thank you, Kathy! They were delicious macaron. Everyone at work loved them, too. I can’t wait to make them again.