Macaroons with Buttercream Fillings

I have commented before that one of the treats of my daughter coming home from College is to have her in the kitchen with me.  The other benefit is that she is the real baker so she is teaching me a lot.  I also like her willing to try stuff attitude.  This attitude has helped us try many things that we have never baked before.

In an ode to Christmas, we made multi-color macaroons with different fillings but the main creation was a green cookie with a reddish filling.  We were not exactly sure why but our 2nd batch rose much better in the oven than our first batch did.  They both tasted good but the green macaroons had more of the shape that one would expect.

Recipe
Macaroons with Buttercream Fillings:
Macaroon Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 7/8 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup egg whites (about 5 large eggs)
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 3 drops food coloring

Directions:

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.

Stir together the confectioners’ sugar and all-purpose flour and sift it.  In a mixer with a whip attachment, whip the egg whites until frothy. Add the sugar (and food coloring if using) and whip until stiff but before too many peaks form.  Add in the all-purpose flour in 3 equal parts blending well.  Fill a pasty bag 1/2 to 3/4 of the way up.  (I learned this time that if it is too full, it goes all over.)  Pipe dots of meringue on some parchment paper on a sheet pan. We made these somewhere between a quarter and half-dollar size. Bake about 13 – 17 minutes until light brown forms along the edges of the cookie.  Let cool and peel off.

ButterCream Filling:
Ingredients:

• 1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks), softened 
• 3-4 cups confectioners (powdered) sugar, sifted (I have started to do this with most recipes)
• 1/4 tsp table salt
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract
• up to 4 tablespoons low-fat buttermilk
• 2 tbsp of raspberry syrup

Instructions:
Beat butter for a minute with  paddle attachment in a mixer on medium speed. Add 3 cups of powdered sugar, one at a time and turn your mixer on the lowest speed until the sugar has been incorporated with the butter. Increase mixer speed to medium and add vanilla extract, salt, and the buttermilk and beat for a couple of minutes. Add the raspberry syrup and incorporate fully.  If your frosting needs a more stiff consistency, add more sugar. If your frosting needs to be thinned out, add more buttermilk.