Chocolate C"Hunk" cookies

Wowzers! I'm tired! I chase a couple of toddlers for a couple minutes and I'm done for...I don't think that's a good sign. But couldn't resist the little toddler giggles that were escaping their precious little mouths.

So I am somewhat recuperating, and sipping some tea and talking to you.

I would LOVE to say that I have a plate of these steamy c"hunks" next to me, but I don't. I think my weight watchers tracker wouldn't even post a number for these lookers, it would just give me a big frowny face :-(

But I can still get some pleasure out of sharing them with you. I can imagine us sitting together with our cup of teas listening to Michael Bublé  and just taking our time eating these warm, gooey, rich, nutty chunks of heaven....yeah I know you can see it too...aaaaah (can you tell I haven't had many sweets lately) 

But seriously these cookies resemble a mix between a brownie and a rich chocolate cookie. and are totally worth the time. These cookies are a knock-off of the version sold at the popular Levain Bakery, 

Make sure you don't bake them too long, they can become quite dry and crumbly.

Best is to take them out when they still seem slightly gooey in the middle, not a lot mind you but just slightly, you don't want them to be too gooey.

 I will just sit here with my milk-less tea and grapes, trying really hard to imagine they taste like chocolate.

but on a different note, I've really been impressed with the weight watchers system. granted when people ask me how I feel, my response goes something like this...

Them: "so how are you feeling now? since you've been on the program for a couple weeks now. you should be feeling great...right?"

Me: "uhm, have you ever seen a drug addict in rehab?" "yeah that's how I feel"

Them: "...oh...my ...I'm sorry..."

Me: "Oh no it's actually really great!" insert quirky smile*

It really does feel like a detox...but a good one! a needed one! (well I guess any rehab or detox is good)

I've been "forced" to make a lot of good choices in my foods and eating habits!

but enough said ...my hubby is waiting to use the computer....so i'll leave you with these awesome cookies, think of me while you make and eat them  ;-)

Giant Double Chocolate Cookies

Yield: 12 very large cookies
Ingredients:

• 1 cup (2 sticks) cold, unsalted butter, cubed
• 1¼ cup sugar
• 2 large eggs
• ½ cup dark cocoa powder
• 2¼ cups all-purpose flour
• ¼ tsp. coarse salt
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 2½ cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup walnuts

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350˚ F.  Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.  In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the butter and sugar. 
2.  Beat together on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes.  Blend in the eggs one at a time, scraping down the bowl as needed.  Mix in the cocoa powder until well blended.  Add the flour, salt and baking powder to the bowl and mix on low speed just until incorporated.  Fold in the chocolate chips and nuts with a spatula.  Transfer the dough to a work surface and knead briefly by hand to be sure the ingredients are well combined.
3. Divide the dough into 4 ounce portions (or divide into 12 equal pieces).  Roll each portion of dough into a ball and flatten just slightly into a disc.  Place on the prepared baking sheets, a few inches apart.  Bake 16-20 minutes.  Let cool on the baking sheets 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Recipe adaptedfrom Annies eats who adapted it from My Baking Addiction, who adapted it from Parsley, Sage, Desserts and Line Drives, inspired by Levain Bakery

Oatmeal Cookies, Tea and Good Company!

Proverbs 27:9 

The heartfelt counsel of a friend is as sweet as perfume and incense.

What a "fresh of breath air"...lol I mean a "breath of fresh air"!My mind has begun to slowly deteriorate as my children begin to grow smarter. I sometimes wonder if they just outright suck the senses right out of me...it's a theory!

What a breath of fresh air to sit down, with a cup of warm tea, a warm cookie and a good friend! God made us relationship minded, and the craving for acceptance and craving for company stems from that very concept. We are made to help each other and support one another.
My husband and I LOVE practicing hospitality, it's what makes us tick, it gives us a fulfillment. We want people to leave with a breath of fresh air, to be encouraged and their spirits lifted. And in return I feel uplifted and blessed beyond words! I really miss the opportunities to just hang out, relax, talk and sip some good ol'hot tea and munch on some sinfully delicious cookies ;-)

We here in America have lost the beautiful art of "hospitality", a lot of us including me have turned to "entertaining"."Entertaining" is a whole different concept than "hospitality",
entertaining people is to show off or have your guests leave with the feeling of awe and slight inadequacy. Hospitality is to truly cater toward others true needs, is to entertain without the need to impress or to receive flattery, your guests leave uplifted and blessed.
I read a poster on pinterest one day. that wrote those definitions, it suck with me and really made me think hard about what my motives are when inviting people over. Am I just seeking acceptance through impressing others? if so I'm going about it in an entirely wrong way. Nothing is ever about me. It's first and foremost about God then others so when I practice hospitality it should be for the edification of my God then with His help I can go on and minister toward others. regardless of the meal I serve or the state of my home.

So thank you dear Aunt for joining me today and uplifting my soul with our nice talk! it did my heart good! and I have a lot to learn from you! ;-)

These cookies were made by my little blessing and enjoyed thoroughly by us ;-), they are the first cooking project he actually asked to do (instead of me probing him to help). So I was definitely not going to say no to his eager little brain. But h the impatiance of little hands! before we knew it there was flour everywhere and in every single container in his reach. a lot of guess work later we arrived at these final products! I must say they rival my favorite oatmeal raisin cookie by far!
so hope you enjoy! Make some of these and invite a friend over to share them! will do the heart good ;-)

Spiced Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup butter flavored shortening
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 cups rolled oats
• 1 cup raisins

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, butter flavored shortening, brown sugar, white sugar, eggs, and vanilla until smooth. 
3. Combine the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and salt; stir into the sugar mixture. 
4. Stir in the oats and raisins. 
5. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.
6. Bake 10 to 12 minutes until light and golden. Do not overbake. Let them cool for 2 minutes before removing from cookie sheets to cool completely. Store in airtight container. 

1. 

Be my valentine?

 “Love is a temporary madness, it erupts like volcanoes and then subsides. 

And when it subsides, you have to make a decision. 

You have to work out whether your roots have so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part. 

Because this is what love is. Love is not breathlessness, it is not excitement, it is not the promulgation of promises of eternal passion, it is not the desire to mate every second minute of the day, it is not lying awake at night imagining that he is kissing every cranny of your body. 

 No, don't blush, I am telling you some truths. 

That is just being "in love", which any fool can do. 

 Love itself is what is left over when being in love has burned away, and this is both an art and a fortunate accident.”

― Louis de Bernières, Captain Corelli's Mandolin

So true! I love this quote...I hope my husband and I are entwined at the roots (lol TMI huh!) Love is a beautiful thing but it's also one of the hardest things I've had to learn. Being "in love" and actually loving are two completely different things. And I have a lot to learn!
With Valentines day come and gone (and of course I'm late..as always with my post) I'm reminded what a huge fuss is made about being "in love" yet so many people forget the actual work involved in Love and will gladly chop down the so lovely tree mentioned above once it's lost the blossoms and start over with a newer more beautiful looking tree. Yet that new tree has absolutely no roots and neither do they...it's sad.
Love is a verb!
but in the light of valentines, my son and I did make cookies (yes they actually were made before valentines, just didn't get to the decorating part until later)

Here was my valentines: ;-)

- Royal icing recipe adapted from sweet sugar-belle's, click here for the recipe

- Sugar cookie recipe courtesy of Annie's eats, click here for the recipe

Chocolate Peanut Butter No-Bake Cookies

Wow what a mouth full huh! As I sit here eating the last...num num...cookie I realize...yikes...I just ate a whole plate full! So much for new years resolutions!
But these are great! very peanut buttery (just like my hubby likes it). It's like dipping a huge spoon into the peanut butter jar and then turning around dipping it into the chocolate fountain and then stuffing it into your mouth.
I'm not a huge peanut butter fan, don't get me wrong...I like it within reason. These are slightly too peanut buttery for me, but as I said my hubby LOVES them this way so win win I guess.
It's late and I'm rambling...I blame the chocolate-peanut buttery goodness ;-)
These are really easy to make, but be sure to follow the directions. If you don't let it boil for 2min the cookies won't set!!! very important! But have fun making them!
Enjoy these little "mind-fumbling" goodies!

Chocolate Peanut butter No-Bake Cookies

Ingredients

• 2 cups sugar
• 4 tablespoons cocoa
• 1 stick butter
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 cup peanut butter
• 1 tablespoon vanilla
• 3 cups oatmeal

Directions

1. In a heavy saucepan bring to a boil, the sugar, cocoa, butter and milk. 
2. Let boil for 1 minute then add peanut butter, vanilla and oatmeal. 
3. On a sheet of waxed paper, drop mixture by the teaspoonfuls, until cooled and hardened. 

Personalized Christmas Cookies such a cute gift idea!

Oh my word, oh so late but yet still worth it :-)
I'm the one who makes all these incredible lists...about %10 of all things on the lists get done. These cookies were one of the projects that got done before Christmas.
I got the idea from one of my favorite blogs "The sweet adventures of sugarbelle"
who had featured these lovely cookies on Glorious treats I love both these blogs, the ideas they come up with are amazing and the cookies just ooze with charm...
These were so cute I couldn't resist! the little faces with the Christmas hats were adorable!
they were fairly easy to make, just took a butt load of time. I didn't post the step by step pictures but Sugarbelle gives a step by step walk through on how to decorate these cuties. Click here for step by step tutorial.

I had mistaken the rum extract in my cupboard for the almond extract (don't worry I caught myself before adding it to the cookie dough lol) but the cookies are so much better with it. Also add some clear almond extract to the royal icing, it makes all the difference. I also found that the ideal thickness for the cookies was 1/4 inch thick. I used my regular rolling pin, but I know that the fondant roller works really great with the added rubber-bands. You can buy the rolling pin here  and the bands here or you can buy the set in walmart.
This time round I used sugar-belle's recipe for sugar cookies and her recipe for royal icing.

Royal Icing

 
Ingredients 

• 2lbs (1bag) confectioner's sugar 
• 1/3 c. plus 1Tbsp meringue powder 
• About 3/4 cup water

Instructions

1. Add the dry ingredients first. Use your mixer’s whisk attachment to incorporate the sugar and meringue powder. 
2. Add the extract to the water and slowly add it to the dry ingredients while mixing. At first the icing will be very liquid-like. 
3. Continue to mix it at medium-high speed until it is fluffy and stiff peaks form, about 7-10 minutes. Mixing times are approximate, keep your eye it icing and stop mixing as soon as it becomes stiff. Over mixing and oil-containing extracts can keep the icing from setting up, so keep this in mind as you work.
4. This recipe makes enough icing to decorate at least 9-10 dozen cookies. Royal icing will keep at least a month. I prefer refrigerating it, but it can also be left at room temperature.

Sugar cookies

Ingredients

• 1 c. {two sticks} of REAL unsalted BUTTER, softened
• 1 1/2 c. confectioner’s sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 scrapped vanilla bean
• 2-3 tsp flavoring {pick what you like, I prefer almond}
• 2 1/2-2 3/4 c. all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. salt

Instructions
Cream together softened butter and confectioner’s sugar.  Crack the egg into a separate bowl, and add the flavoring and the vanilla bean.  I use emulsions, but extract also works well. Add that to the butter sugar mixture and mix until the egg is thoroughly incorporated.  In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt, then add little by little to the mixture.
I can tell the dough is ready when most of it sticks to the paddle.When I touch it, it has a little give, but does not stick to my fingers.
Roll out on parchment to about 1/4 an inch thick, use flour for dusting as necessary.  Then, cut and bake at 400 degrees for 7-8 minutes.  This version makes 2-2 1/2 dozen, doubled, it makes 4-5 dozen.
When they are cool, they are ready to decorate.

A few notes about sugarbelle's recipe…

• The dough DOES not need to be refrigerated.  That’s why I liked it she is truly a genius  
• The dough needs to rest a little after mixing, it will firm up a little bit after a minute or two
• The recipe doubles well
• Baking times are approximate.  You must KNOW your oven.  Watch them the first few times you bake them. Get a thermometer, and do not over bake.  If the cookies are browning you have gone too far.
• This dough can be flavored any way you like.
• The cookies freeze well
• There is a lot of leavener in these cookies.  This is not a typo.  The general rule is less leavener so they don’t spead, but I’ve never been one to follow the rules.
• This recipe does spread a little.  If you don’t like that add a little flour.
• Speaking of flour, start with 2 1/2 cups.  Add another 1/4 of a cup if the dough seems to sticky.
• If you don’t like salt, leave it out altogether.
• If you only have salted butter, use that and reduce the salt.
• I prefer decorating day-old cookies.  They are less likely to leach oil back into your icing if they have had a day or two to “dry out”.  They are still soft, however.

Again these recipes were adapted from "The sweet adventures of sugarbelle"


 

Birthday Girl Sugar Cookies

 

Today is our 4th anniversary!!! wow 4 years married to my best friend and two precious kids later...I can honestly say that I am still head over heals for my man and can't imagine spending my life with anyone else! he's truly amazing and has been an amazing husband and dad to our kids ;-)
Sadly we were not able to celebrate today since I'm down at my parents and he's working full time :-( but don't worry I have something up my sleeve for when I get back... :-)
right now I'm indulging in a big slice (the last piece) of my ice-cream cake as I type this...so please excuse the "sticky" spelling ;-)  mmmm so good
Well, I have come to the end of my wonderful stay with my parents. It's a bittersweet feeling, sweet because I get to see my man and bitter because I have to leave my parents. I have enjoyed their company and help with the kids. But I am ready to be home ;-)
We have a lot going on right now and need to do a lot of praying! but we are excited for what God has in store for us ;-)

As I said today's our 4th anniversary but it's also both my brother and sisters birthday (no they're not twins they are six years apart). So in honor of his and her birthday I felt I had to make something. Of course a cake would have been the obvious choice but she said she wouldn't be home on her birthday :-(  so a cake wouldn't be a good choice.
I saw these recipes...again on Annie's-eats blog (I love her blog and her cute cookies and cakes!) I saw these sugar cookies with royal icing and thought they were sooooo adorable. I've never really worked with royal icing and sugar cookies are (in my opinion) holiday cookies. so I've never been adventurous and creative in making sugar cookies so this was taking it to an all new level; 1. it's not a holiday, 2. I'm going to try to make these with the same techniques as Annie's and 3. I have never in my life made royal icing and I've heard it's a royal pain in the butt...
Well surprisingly I really had no problems with the royal icing and actually really enjoyed decorating the cookies so in other words...I'm HOOKED!!! both the recipes are keepers and I will definitely make them again! I only had one cookie cutter at the moment (minus of course all the holiday cookie cutters I have laying around). You can find an immense amount of different cookie cutters at Wilton's.com or at Michael's or Joannes all extremely adorable. I can't wait to practice, practice and again practice and hopefully become as good as Annie ;-)

The sugar cookies were a breeze to make and last quite a long time! they have a lovely almond flavor.
the Royal icing is very easy (my experience was really pleasant ;-)...hope yours will be too!)  and versatile, if it's too runny add more sugar, too thick add more water!

Click here for a very good tutorial on how to work with royal icing on cookies

Ella’s White Sugar Cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks)
1 cup confectioners sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 ½ t. almond extract
1 t. vanilla
1 t. salt
2 ½ c. sifted flour

Directions:

Cream butter. Add powdered sugar. Blend in egg, almond extract, vanilla, salt and flour. Chill dough until firm. Roll to ¼” thickness on well-floured surface. Cut with cookie cutters. Place on greased cookie sheets. Bake at 375° for 8-10 min. Cookies should not brown. Frost and decorate when cool. Yields ~40 cookies (small) 20 cookies (large).

Royal Icing

Ingredients:

4 cups powdered sugar, sifted
2 tbsp. meringue powder
5 tbsp. water

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.  Mix on low speed until the sheen has disappeared and the icing has a matte appearance (about 7-10 minutes).  Transfer the contents of the mixing bowl to an air-tight container.  This will be the stiffest consistency of the icing, and at this point it is still too stiff to use for decorating.  Add water a very small amount at a time and stir by hand until fully incorporated.  Continue until the icing has reached a consistency appropriate for piping.  (Remember, if you are having any difficulty piping, it is still too thick.  Add a little more liquid and try again.)  Using a pastry bag, pipe around the edges of each cookie.  Let stand so the icing will set.  Make sure to keep the leftover icing covered at all times when not in use so that it does not begin to harden.
Once all the cookies have been edged, transfer some of the remaining icing to a separate air-tight container.  Thin out by incorporating a small amount of water at a time, until the icing drips off the spoon easily when lifted and then smooths in with that still in the bowl.  If you go too far and the icing is too thin, add more sifted powdered sugar to thicken it again.  Once the icing has reached the desired consistency, transfer it to a squeeze bottle (or a plastic bag with a hole in one corner), and flood the area surrounded by the piping on each cookie.  If it does not completely spread to the edges, use a toothpick to help it along.  Allow to set.
Use the remaining thicker icing for piping decoration as desired.  Gel icing color is best as it does not add a significant amount of liquid.  Liquid food coloring can be used as well – add powdered sugar as needed to compensate for any thinning that occurs.

Recipes by Annie's-eats

Coconut and lime

Well I guess blogger decided they didn't like my coconut and lime post so they conveniently deleted it (not really they just had some maintenance done and my last blog was deleted :-(...) not what I call fun!
So as I said earlier in my other (deleted) post I am going through a coconut and lime craze this past week! and have been making so many delicious dishes; coconut-lime curry, coconut-lime desserts including these little gems...

Coconut/Malibu rum macaron with white chocolate/lime ganache

These were absolutely delish and I thought even though I fudged a little on the whipping part they turned out OK. the recipe said to use unsweetened shredded coconut, I only had the sweetened kind so used that instead and it turned out fine! The coconut on top of the macaroons toasted lightly during cooking time and where beautiful!
I used the same recipe than my last try at macaroons by Martha Stewart, I followed the tip on how to make coconut macaroons all except for the filling click here to view the original recipe.
And I used an easy white chocolate ganache recipe and just added 1Tbsp lime zest click here to see the ganache recipe (it's the video version)

Hope you enjoy! I did!

What better way to say I love you than cookies in a jar!

To my mother and my friend, I now understand most of the fustrations that came with kids lol and don't blame you at all in fact I will say this : You were right mom ;-) the two words moms love to hear lol
Today is another day God has granted me with my kids and that is a celebration and the best gift of all! so happy mothers day everyday because God saw it fit to grant me another day with these unbelievably precious, rambunctious, goofy, loving, insane and cute little individuals that somehow resemble me lol
so I hope your mothers day is an amazing one and I hope it never ends!

Oh, the comfort, the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person, having neither to weigh thoughts nor measure words, but pouring them all out, just as they are, chaff and grain together, certain that a faithful hand will take and sift them, keep what is worth keeping, and with a breath of kindness blow the rest away. ~Dinah Craik

Mothers day gifts-cookies in a jar

I think these are a great idea and I have been wanting to try these for awhile...so I did ;-)

Searching for a good recipe (and there are tons) I found this little gem from nestle (click link below)

These little treats in a jar came out really good!

I used quart mason jars-regular mouth (since they were out of wide mouth ones)

I put the recipe on the top of the jar and the lid helps keep it in place

Tada! the cookies turned out beautiful (thanks to my silpat)

mmmm don't lick the screen lol

I found the cutest cute polka dot tags click here to open it ;-)

I used the nestle cookies in a jar recipe just click here to view.

The recipe circles I just printed up in word you can print them here or make your own 

Follow the recipe as is and it will turn out great! enjoy and Happy mothers day!!!!

Raspberry Parisian Macaroons

So finally I dared to try the famously dreaded french macaroons! They turned out lovely and I am so glad I tried them, they are a little fussy but only if you skim through the directions and don't take the time to prepare all you need ahead of time. I suffer from extreme impatience when I cook, I have the final product in my head and I want to get to that perfection as quick as I can thus rushing and ending up with a less then perfect product. This time I was determined to do it right.
BTW in the recipe it calls for room temperature egg whites...a lot of people are very wary about this since they believe eggs are to be kept in the fridge.
In Belgium where I grew up the eggs were often kept on the kitchen counter and very rarely in the fridge so I can safely say that leaving your eggs on the counter for a day won't hurt them a bit!
If you still feel insecure about it you can test your eggs by gently submerging them in water.

• Fresh eggs will sink to the bottom of the bowl and probably lie on their sides.
• Slightly older eggs (about one week) will lie on the bottom but bob slightly.
• If the egg balances on its smallest tip, with the large tip reaching for the top, it's probably close to three weeks old.
• Eggs that float at the surface are bad and should not be consumed.

 That said here are the pics and instructions on making these beautiful and scrumptious cookies! have fun...
There are endless varieties on these delectable desserts. Just add flavoring to the basic batter and voila instant success! Try chocolate, coconut, peanut, pistachio, raspberry, and vanilla bean and I even found a recipe for chai-vanilla bean (pretty psyched about that one)

I used Martha Stewart's recipe click here to view it.

Ingredients

• 1 cup confectioners' sugar
• 3/4 cup almond flour
• 2 large egg whites, room temperature
• Pinch of cream of tartar
• 1/4 cup superfine sugar
• 3/4 cup seedless raspberry jam, for filling

First you need to seperate the eggs and let them get to room temperature (I separate them the night before, cover them with saran wrap and put them in the refrigerator until ready to use then I make sure I plan ahead and have them on the counter the morning I decide to make them)

Make sure you get all your equipment ready to go, so you're not rushing trying to find things the last minute...you definitely don't want to stress anymore than you need to with these little desserts ;-)

I didn't want to pay the $30 to buy already ground almond flour, instead I paid $4.49 for a bag of slivered almonds (without their skins!!!) and blended them to make my own flour. One bag let me make two batches of these lovely cookies so well worth it in my opinion!
If you opt (like me) to make your own almond flour just follow these simple directions:
(if not skip to directions)

Blending the almonds into flour

Almond Flour

• Place max. 2 cups at a time in the blender (anymore would make the almonds turn to almond butter instead of flour)
• Blend the almonds for 20 sec or until it resembles a flour like texture (again longer than this would turn the almonds into almond butter)
• Sift the almond flour twice before using

The almond flour after sifting

The left bowl in the picture picture should resemble your almond flour mixture and the almonds on the right are the courser almonds after sifting.Don't throw the coarser almonds away, I save them and use them for almond crusted tilapia or chicken or whatever else you use them for ;-)

The almond/sugar mixture being sifted

Almond flour and confectioners sugar

Directions

•  Next step we are going to pulse the confectioners' sugar and almond flour in a food processor until combined.Sift mixture 2 times.

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees ( I used my convection oven so heated the oven to 325 degrees).    Whisk whites with a mixer on medium speed until foamy. Add cream of tartar, and whisk until soft peaks form. Reduce speed to low, then add superfine sugar. Increase speed to high, and whisk until stiff peaks form, about 8 minutes. Sift flour mixture over whites, and fold until mixture is smooth and shiny

Stiff peaks

I'm sorry there aren't more good pictures my camera decided to "die" so had to charge the batteries and use my phone camera.

• Transfer batter to a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch plain round tip, and pipe 3/4-inch rounds 1 inch apart on parchment-lined baking sheets (or if you have a silpat use that it's amazing with macaroons), dragging pastry tip to the side of rounds rather than forming peaks. 
• Tap bottom of each sheet on work surface to release trapped air. Let stand at room temperature for 15 minutes.(I let them stand for 45min)
• Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees (again since I was using the convection oven I reduced mine to 280 degrees). Bake 1 sheet at a time, rotating halfway through, until macaroons are crisp and firm, about 10 minutes. After each batch, increase oven temperature to 375 degrees (or in my case 325 degrees), heat for 5 minutes, then reduce to 325 degrees (or 280 degrees for convection ovens).

Not quite even but it worked out..ready to put in the oven...

I used organic raspberry jam with seeds

• Let macaroons cool on sheets for 2 to 3 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack. (If macaroons stick, spray water underneath parchment on hot sheet. The steam will help release macaroons.)
• Sandwich 2 same-size macaroons with 1 teaspoon jam. Serve immediately, or stack between layers of parchment, wrap in plastic, and freeze for up to 3 months

The finished product!

The perfect texture and mmmm so good!

Enjoy!!!