Salted Caramel Spiced Apple Macarons #appleweek
Happy Thanksgiving to my Canadian friends! Hope you all had a great weekend.
Thanks to Mr. Columbus, it’s a three-day weekend and it does not feel like Monday today. I’m going to keep this post very short so I can carry on with my lazy Monday plans which includes waking up after 10 am (check), sharing these salted caramel spiced apple macarons with you (almost check), and meeting my mother-in-law at the mall at 2 pm for a girls’ date!
I went to our annual apple festival this Saturday to enjoy more apples. I may have a problem which is why I am dedicating an entire week to apple recipes! Get ready for some great apple creations to celebrate my favorite fall harvest. Starting with these scrumptious salted caramel spiced apple macarons.
One of the first things I made with my 15-pound haul of apples was a big batch of applesauce and I used some to fill these salted caramel spiced apple macarons. There is nothing like homemade spiced applesauce. It makes your house smell heavenly and is much better than store-bought. I always can my applesauce to enjoy it year long.
The macaron shells are perfectly spiced with cinnamon and nutmeg and are filled with homemade applesauce and topped with salted caramel sauce to give you a delightful fall sandwich. Just make sure you have a glass of milk to go with these cookies.
Macaron Update: Since I made these S’mores macarons, I have acquired a kitchen scale (thanks LTP!) and this is reflected in the recipe below. Using exact measurements has helped me make more successful batches of macarons and I would strongly suggest you get a scale if you are having difficulties with macarons.
Salted Caramel Spiced Apple Macarons
The macaron shells are perfectly spiced with cinnamon and nutmeg and are filled with homemade applesauce and topped with salted caramel sauce to give you a delightful fall sandwich.
Ingredients
Spiced Apple Macarons
- 4 ounces (115g) almond flour
- 8 ounces (230g) powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- 5 ounces (144g) egg whites, room temperature
- 2 ½ ounces (72g) granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon salt
Filling
- 3 medium apples (I used a combination of Macintosh, Granny Smiths, and Galas), peeled, cored, and chopped.
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar (or more if you want it sweeter)
- 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
- 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- A pinch of nutmeg
- 2 tablespoons water
Topping:
Instructions
Spiced Apple Macarons
- Line two sheet pans with parchment paper. I used a 1½-inch round cookie cutter to draw circles on the parchment paper and flipped the paper (drawing side down).
- Preheat oven to 300 degrees and prepare a pastry bag with a round tip. I used Wilton 2A.
- Using a food processor, pulse the powdered sugar, almond flour and spices into fine powder. Sift several times until there is less than 2 tablespoons of almond bits left. Add in almond bits to sifted dry ingredients
- In the bowl of an electric mixer with the whisk attachment, combine the egg whites, sugar and salt. Whip on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form, about 5-7 minutes. Add the vanilla extract and whip for another minute.
- Add the dry ingredients to the meringue in two additions and fold with a rubber spatula. Gently fold to deflate the meringue by pressing against the side of bowl and scooping from bottom until batter is smooth and shiny; about 20-25 folds. To check consistency, drop a spoonful of batter and it should have a peak that quickly relaxes back into the batter. Start checking the batter after 20 folds.
- Transfer batter into pastry bag and pipe the batter into the pre-traced circles on the baking sheet. Tap baking sheet hard on counter to release any air bubbles trapped in the batter.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes until hard and slightly golden, rotating cookie sheets halfway through baking time. You should be able to peel off the macaron from the parchment. Cool completely on cookie sheets before peeling from the parchment.
Filling
- Combine all the ingredients in a small pot and bring to boil over medium heat. Lower heat and simmer until apples are soft, about 15-20 minutes. Remove from heat and mash apples with a fork or potato masher. Let cool to room temperature before using. You will have way more apple sauce than you need to fill the macarons.
- Use applesauce to fill macarons. Drizzle with salted caramel. Fully assembled macarons should be enjoyed within a day.
Stay tuned for more apple recipes this week! Have a great day 🙂
Dear Zainab, These macarons look perfect and delicious. I look forward to your week of apples. I hope you had a wonderful holiday weekend my dear. Sounds like a perfect day! Thank you for sharing. Blessings, Catherine xo
Thanks Catherine! I did have a great day and it’s been a slow working day today lol!
My oh my! These look so gooood. I haven’t tried my hands at making macarons yet, but this recipe makes me want to so badly! Perfect for fall!!
Thank you very much! You should give it a try soon.
Hope you had fun today! I seriously cannot get over these macarons- love that caramel drizzle on the top! And I bet they taste incredible!
Thanks Meghan! I had a great day and now paying for it lol!
Hope you had a great girl’s date at the mall today! These macarons ROCK! Just perfect for fall. Thanks for sharing, girl!
I sure did Stacy! Thank you very much.
You do macarons so well, and I love the apple goodness! That salted caramel is the perfect topper. Very creative!
These look so amazing, Zainab! I have never made a macaroon before but these make me want to starting baking right now!
I hope you are doing well though!
Ciara, you should start! They are worth the time. So chewy and good.
Those look amazing! You’ve definitely mastered the art of macarons, for sure!! And yay for apple week!!!! 🙂
Thanks Renee! Apple week was your idea 🙂
I wish I could make macaroons as gorgeous as these! They came out beautifully, and I’m sure that they taste amazing as well! I made salted caramel sauce this weekend and I’m dying to try it with these ;D
Oh you so can Consuelo! They are not hard..just detailed oriented. Hope you try them with your super awesome caramel sauce. Just saw your recipe and can’t wait to try it.
Lovely macarons!! Enjoy your girl’s date! 🙂
Thanks dear! We had a great time!
Oh my gosh, Zainab, I’m totally dying over these! I love the idea of apple macarons with spice in the shells, and that caramel drizzle has me drooling over my keyboard! Can’t wait to see what other apple recipes you have up your sleeve this week! Ps- your photo is STUNNING!
Thank you so much Allie. I love making macarons even though they can be annoying sometimes. And there are so many ways to customize them! Creative heaven for an uncreative soul like me lol!
I love apples, especially local apples. Hopefully, I’ll have some later in the week so I can try these beautiful macarons!
Yes! I hope you get a few pounds of local apples to use 🙂
What beautiful macarons! I especially love the drizzle of salted caramel on top. I’ve been a bit scared to try macarons, but I think I ought to take the plunge. But I”ll definitely get a new kitchen scale first (mine is an old analog scale that only measures to the nearest ounce — and even then, I don’t think it’s accurate!)
I’m so excited to read what else you have in store for apple week. And you’re absolutely right — homemade applesauce is amazing! I’ve been using it in my apple recipes so far and it make such a huge difference!
Hope you have an enjoyable time with your mother-in-law. Girls’ days are so much fun!!!
Thanks Jamie! We had a nice lunch. I think you will be able to make macarons just fine. Maybe with a more accurate scale lol! Although when I first started I used recipes with cups and teaspoons and even though they worked great, I always had a bad batch for every good batch. Now it’s much accurate or I could just be getting better lol!