Chocolate Macarons With Nutella Filling

 My friend Alexis and I are back at it again! The sky is the limit with two people who love food the way we do.

 I may have taken a sampling of one of these babies. 

 Since they are so small, I eat several but only count it as a single serving.

The perfect treat to offer to guests. You will look very impressive.

On second thought, don't share, which means more for you.

Chocolate Nutella Macarons: Makes between 15-20 macaron sandwiches.

Ingredients:

1. 1 cup powdered sugar
2. 1 cup almond meal/flour
3. 2 tbsp cocoa powder
4. 2 large egg whites (at room temperature)
5. 5 tbsp granulated sugar

Instructions:

1. Cover two baking sheets with parchment paper and if need be, draw 1 1/2" circles spread 1" apart along each one. (I highly recommend doing this as it helps make more uniform macarons).
2. Preheat oven to 300 degrees. 
3. Sift together powdered sugar, almond meal, and cocoa powder twice. This is a crucial step and should not be skipped. The finer your flour, the more perfect the tops of your macrons will be.  (I use a food processor to make my almond meal more fine.)
4. Using a hand mixer/stand mixer whip the  egg whites into a heavy froth. As you do so, add 1 tbsp of sugar every minute or so. Do this until the egg whites form stiff and glossy peaks, which is called meringue. 
5. Fold the meringue into the flour mixture with a rubber spatula until it reaches the consistency of "molten lava". Resist the urge to over mix. This will cause the batter to become runny and the macarons will not form "feet", the classic sign of a French macaron. 
6. Put the batter into a piping bag and pipe out 1" circles. The batter will spread, so the cookie will be bigger. Be sure to leave room between each circle. Once you have filled a tray, lift the tray about 6" off the table and let fall. This will allow any air bubbles to pop. 
7. Allow both sheets to sit out for 35-45 minutes, or until the macaron have created a film on their surface. 
8. Bake one sheet at a time for 16-17 minutes. You do not want the bottoms to brown so be careful not to over bake. 
9. Allow to cool for several minutes before removing from the parchment paper. Line up matching macaron to make sandwiches.
10. Take a spoon and put a dollop of Nutella (don't be shy about how much you use) in the center of half of your macaron. Take the corresponding macaron and sandwich  the Nutella. 
11. Being extra gentle, slowly twist each macaron in the opposite direction as the other to evenly distribute the filling. 
12. Although you can eat them right away, (let's be real, you have to sample your work immediately- I sure do) they taste even better when they have been refrigerated for at least a couple of hours. They last up to 5 days refrigerated.