Chocolate Pistachio Macarons

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My husband continues to surprise and delight me!  I asked him awhile ago if there’s a flavor or dessert he wished I’d make and he told me how much he loved pistachios.  How did I not know this before?  I started brainstorming a dessert that would include pistachios and ways to pair them with chocolate.  Macarons came to mind, figuring I could swap ground pistachios for the almond meal normally in macarons.  Turns out it worked and created macarons that were a delicate shade of green as a side effect. 🙂

The biggest challenge of this recipe was finding unsalted pistachios.  I found shelled ones at Whole Foods, but they were kind of pricey.  You can certainly buy unsalted pistachios in the shell and then just take the time to shell them.

The process for making these cookies is very similar to the vanilla macarons I made awhile ago for book club.  Preheat your oven and then you’ll start by grinding up your pistachios.

Put them in a food processor or strong blender and process until they are the texture of sand.  As they start to grind up, change to pulsing.  You don’t want to blend them too long and have it turn into pistachio butter. Sift the ground pistachios through a fine mesh strainer and measure out what you need and put them in a bowl. If you have a little extra, set it (along with the pistachio pieces too big to fit through the strainer) aside for another time.

Add the powdered sugar to the bowl and stir with a fork to get out any clumps.

Next you’ll whisk the egg whites and granulated sugar together by hand in the bowl of a stand mixer or large mixing bowl, just until they’re combined.  Now turn the mixer on medium and beat for 2 minutes with the whisk attachment.  While that’s going, cover your cookie sheets with parchment paper. Then turn the mixer up to medium-high for another 2 minutes. Finally, turn the mixer on high and beat another 2 minutes, or until stiff peaks form and beat in the vanilla.

Gently fold in the pistachio and powdered sugar mixture.  You don’t want to lose too much of the air but still want everything combined, which takes about 40 folds.

Now put the dough into a piping bag fitted with a round tip and pipe 1 1/2″ rounds (about the size of a poker chip) on the first cookie sheet.

The cookies will grow a little bit in the oven so leave about an inch between each one. Put that first cookie sheet in the oven while you fill the next one.  Bake for about 12 minutes or until they are browned and firm in the center.  Put in the next sheet.

Let all of the cookies cool and start on the filling.  We’re going to make a simple chocolate ganache. Put the heavy cream in a small pot and cook over medium heat.  Pour the chocolate chips and butter into a large bowl.  Once the cream is hot to the touch, but not yet boiling pour it over the chocolate chips.

Whisk together until the chocolate chips and butter are melted and the mixture is smooth. Put it in the fridge for an hour to cool.

Now you’re ready to assemble the macarons!  Take the ganache out of the fridge and give it a stir,  It should have thickened but still be spreadable.  With a knife, spread about 2 teaspoons onto one cookie and cover with another to make a little sandwich.

This recipe should make about 3 dozen tasty little macaron sandwiches.  They are light and crunchy on the outside and marshmallow-y on the inside with a hint of pistachio flavor.  The bittersweet chocolate is the perfect rich complement to the sweet macaron.

 

Enjoy!