Peanut butter macarons

Peanut butter is not that popular here in Slovenia, actually I first tried peanut butter about 3 years ago. I know that some people really like this stuff and I wanted to try it and see if it is really that good. I expected it to be sweet but it was the opposite. I liked it and I immediately decided  that I was going to make a dessert with it. Because I was in the middle of my macaron baking obsession I made a peanut butter filling for my macarons.

To make this filling you will need a few ingredients and all you need to do is to whisk them together well. I like to make my fillings a little less sweet, because the macaron shells are quite sweet themselves. 

These macarons can be adapted in many ways. You can add some jelly to make the classical combination of peanut butter and jelly. You can use store bought jelly and just spread it on top of a macaron or you can make your own jellies and place it in the middle of the peanut butter filling for a nice surprise. Another really great combination is chocolate and peanut butter. A simple filling using this combination can be a chocolate ganache with the addition of a tablespoon or two of the peanut butter and some powdered sugar. Whisk together and you will have a chocolate and peanut butter ganache.

For these macarons I have used unpeeled ground almonds, thats why in the pictures you can see some brown bits in the shells. You can use peeled or unpelled almonds but I prefer to use unpeeled, it gives the shells an extra nutty flavor and I think it looks nice and rustic.   

Peanut butter macarons

(Makes about 40 macarons)   

Time:

Preparation: 45min

Resting: 30min

Baking: 12-15min

Cooling: 25min

For the shells:

• 95g room temperature egg whites (45g+50g)
• 125g granulated white sugar
• 40g water
• 135g finely ground almonds or almond flour
• 135g icing sugar

For the filling:

• 100g peanut butter (any kind, I used smooth)
• 1 table spoon milk
• 25g butter at room temperature
• 2 table spoons icing sugar (to taste)
• 1 tea spoon vanilla extract

Making the shells:
The preparation of the macarons shells is the same as in the basic recipe.

Making the filling:

In the bowl of your electric or hand mixer combine butter and peanut butter, whisk until light and fluffy. Add sugar, milk and vanilla extract and whisk to combine. Spoon the mixture in a piping bag and set aside.

Assembly:

Pair the same sized shells together. Pipe the peanut butter mixture on the flat side of half the macaron shells, then top with the remaining shells. Put the macarons in the fridge to set. Let the macarons rest in the fridge for 24 hours to ensure the best texture. When you are ready to serve them, take them out of the fridge 20 minutes before serving.