Macarons

1. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. (Do not use a silicone baking mat; the macarons will spread too much.) Trace twenty-four 1 3/4-inch circles on the paper, spaced 2 1/2 inches apart. Turn the paper over. (Alternatively, you can draw, print or purchase a macaron template. Place it under parchment paper on the pan; after piping the macarons, slide the template out from under the parchment and reuse it for the next batch. This technique works best using an unrimmed baking sheet.)

2. In a food processor, combine powdered sugar and almond flour. Process 20 seconds.

3. Place egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Beat on high until whites reach soft peak stage. Slowly add sugar and food coloring while whipping until you have stiff peaks. Transfer this meringue to a large bowl.

4. Sift one-third of the almond mixture over the meringue. Gently fold until just absorbed. Repeat twice more with remaining almond mixture. Continue gently folding until batter is uniformly mixed with no streaks and batter flows off your spatula in a smooth ribbon, but is not thin and runny. (The batter should have some body.)

5. Place batter in a pastry bag fitted with a 1/4-inch round tip (such as Ateco 12). Holding bag vertically straight, pipe batter onto the prepared baking sheet, using the stenciled circles as a guide. Avoid moving the bag up and down or from side to side—just gently squeeze bag to shape rounds. Stop squeezing, then move the tip off horizontally when done. Repeat to make 24 rounds total.

6. Lay a kitchen towel on a work surface. Hold the baking sheet of piped rounds about a foot above the towel and drop it 10 to 15 times to smooth out the tops. The rounds will spread to about 2 inches in diameter. If any peaks or bubbles remain, gently press them down with a damp finger or prick them with a toothpick. (If you want to decorate the shells with a few sprinkles, do so now.) Let macarons rest until the surface is dry to a gentle touch, 20 minutes to 1 hour. It should feel almost leathery, not tacky.

7. Preheat oven to 325°. Bake macarons until firm, 14 to 16 minutes (or 12 to 14 minutes in a convection oven set to 310°.) Cool completely on the baking sheet set on a wire rack. Carefully peel macarons from parchment. Pair macarons into similar sizes.

8. Place ganache in a pastry bag fitted with a large tip. Pipe a dollop (1 teaspoon) of ganache onto the flat side of half of the macarons. Press the flat sides of the remaining macarons against ganache; twist or wiggle slightly to evenly spread ganache, so that there is a thin, visible line of filling around the sandwiched cookie. Store macarons in an airtight container in the refrigerator overnight for best texture (or up to 1 week). Or freeze up to 1 month; thaw in refrigerator.

How to Change the Colors: Use only paste (aka gel paste) food coloring from a crafts store; liquids will affect the batter's consistency. Wilton and Americolor are good brands. Keep in mind, the macaron shell recipe doubles well to make more cookies. But the color isn't added at the end—so you can't divide it to tint it. Prepare a new batch for each color.

How to Change the Flavors: Macaron Bar's White Chocolate and Vanilla Whipped Ganache is just one idea. Any buttercream works—customize with extracts, spices, citrus zest or juice, a dollop of jam, or finely ground toasted nuts for crunch. Or fill cookies with fruit curd, dulce de leche or dark chocolate ganache.

Nutrition Facts (Per Cookie): 121 cal, 5 g fat, 2 mg chol, 17 mg sodium, 17 g carbo, 1 g fiber, 15  g  sugars, 3 g pro.