Well That Didn't Work

That’s it. I give up, I can’t make macaroons.

For the past couple of years I give it a shot during Passover and I’m always disappointed with the results; too dry, too flat, or not flavorful.

This year I made chocolate ones and it was a disaster. I actually burned a batch. My first batch was under done, so back into the oven. I messed around with the next batch, got distracted and burned it. The remainders were too flat and not chewy enough. That and the difficulties in removing them from the pan, well the results were not pretty. I ended up with a small tin of cookies and a medium sized bag of crumbs.

I love a good macaroon. When I was in high school I would stop by a particular bakery once a week and get a scrumptious plain almond macaroon. It was big, thick, chewy and oh so delicious. I dislike the ones with coconut and here I learned that coconut was originally added to extend the shelf-life.

Since then I have found that I have a pretty good eye for a tasty macaroon. One time I was with a co-worker in San Francisco at a conference. She had spent the bulk of the day suffering from an intense migraine and had missed dinner. That evening our group planned on going on a bit of a walking tour of the city. By then J. was feeling much better and she came along to find something to eat. We found a New York style deli and stepped inside. As she was paying for her sandwich I noticed the macaroons. I pointed them out to her and said they looked good. She looked blankly at me and said she had never eaten one. So I then said well now I’m going to buy you one. She tried to pay for it herself, but refused to let her pay for the cookie. The cashier even joined in and said something along the lines of “Honey if she wants to buy you a cookie, let her.” I paid for four cookies and gave her one. Clutching our bags we walked on. Back at the hotel I dived into the bag and I was not disappointed. Neither was J. she was very appreciative of the cookie and looked forward to having more in the future.

I guess I’ll have to buy mine in the future. I think I’ll give these a shot sometime soon. The retailer is not far from my mom’s so I can maybe sample a few before splurging on a tub.