French Macarons with Mint Ganache

How pretty are these??? Did I make them?  No, not these but I have wanted to try my hand at making French Macarons for quite a while now and today was the day.

Here are ones I made.   Not too bad for my first try.  They were not as difficult as I had thought but I can see how I need to get my technique perfected. :)  I even used a piping bag for the first time and I believe that all I need is some more practice .

I piped most of the cookies too big and they definitely need to be a more “petite” size.  Seems like the bigger ones were the ones that cracked.   But, on the smaller ones I was able to get the coveted “feet” and and the smooth tops like you see on real ones from a Parisian bakery.

Next time, I will definitely pipe them a smaller size.   For this batch, I tinted them with green food coloring and filled them with a mint chocolate ganache.  So good!

Here is the recipe I followed for the Macarons:

Fine Cooking Magazine French Macarons

and here is the recipe for the Mint Ganache.

Chocolate Mint Ganache

1/2 Cup heavy cream

4oz. mint chocolate chips

1 Tbsp. butter

Heat the heavy cream and the mint chocolate chips in a sauce pan over low to medium heat.  Stir gently until all of the chocolate melts.  Stir in the butter.  Mix well.  Set aside to cool.  Refrigerate for 10 to 15 minutes to speed up the cooling.  Cool till the ganache is a nice spreading consistency.  Use it to fill your macaron cookies. 

My next attempt I’m thinking that lemon will be the next flavor I give a try.