Next up were Cherry Almond Macaroons in the Company Best Cookies section of the cookbook on p. 121. These were little balls of almond and cherry flavor.

Cherry Almond Macaroons were made from ground almonds, egg whites, sugar, and chopped up maraschino cherries. They’re made by cooking the nuts, sugar, egg whites in a saucepan for about 10 minutes. After adding the cherries, these are dropped by tablespoonfuls onto baking sheets and then allowed to come to room temperature.

Finally, they’re baked for about 20 minutes, until they have a golden exterior.

I’m not sure what I was expecting. The ingredients are reminiscent of macarons that are so popular today, but the cooking and mixing of the batter beforehand was a lot different. These turned out okay, with a slightly crunchy exterior and gooey interior, but the texture inside was a bit unpleasant for me. If I could have made the almond flour even finer, these might have been a better texture, but I’m not sure they’re worth going to the extra work.

Bottom line: Almond Cherry Macarons are a simple cookie with ingredients reminiscent of French macarons, but that’s where the similarity ends. I found the texture a bit unpleasant, and I’m not sure I want to go to the extra work to correct that. There are better cookies out there.