Instructions

Spiced Apple Macarons

1. 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).
2. Preheat oven to 300 degrees and prepare a pastry bag with a round tip. I used Wilton 2A.
3. 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
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. 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

1. 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.
2. Use applesauce to fill macarons. Drizzle with salted caramel. Fully assembled macarons should be enjoyed within a day.