CAMI AND ANGIE’S CHOCOLATE MACAROONS

My sweet Camelia decided to make chocolate macaroons; however, this time I wasn’t the primary baker, I was her assistant. Cami loves to bake. You can see how these macaroons turned out; however, I can tell you how yummy they were. She really made them in no time. After baking the Macaroons, it was just a matter of assembling and eat them. Yum!
 
Approximate Prep and Cooking Time: 35-40 Minutes
Approximate Cost: $4.42 or .74 cents per macaroon filled cookie
Servings: 6
 
A. Ingredients for Cookies
2 egg whites (.32)
½ cup of ground walnuts (.45)
3 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder (.50)
1 cup of powdered sugar (.60)
2 tbsp. granulated sugar (.10)
Pinch of salt

B. Ingredients for Filling
4 tbsp. unsalted butter at room temperature (.65)
1/3 c. cocoa powder (.40)
1 1/2 c. powdered sugar (.90)
1/4 c. evaporated milk (.30)
1/8 tsp. vanilla or almond extract (.20)

Directions
Line 1 or 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
Pre-heat the oven at 350 degrees.
For the cookie, grind the walnuts, powdered sugar and cocoa together. Set aside.
Beat the egg whites until they can hold their shape, then add the granulated sugar.
When the mixture is glossy and firm, add the dry ingredients slowly and do not beat, just fold it in.
Now spoon the batter into a waxed mold or use a pastry bag, piping in circles until it looks filled.
Either way, you can drop spoonful into a greased mold, easiest way.
Bake until they crack, about 15 minutes.
 
While the macaroons bake, prepare the filling by adding to a mixing bowl the ingredients listed in part B; butter at room temperature, the cocoa powder, powdered sugar, evaporated milk and vanilla or almond extract. Beat until smooth.
When the macaroons are done and cooled down, fill one with 1 tbsp. of the mix (or lots more…) and cover with another macaroon.

Done!
 
NOTE:
We made these cookies real large, the size of a chocolate chip cookie, therefore, we ended up with 12 large macaroons. However, if you make them smaller similar in size to Mexican Wedding Cookies, about 1 ½” you could get as many as 40-50 single cookies.