Fruit Loops Macarons (& doing)

Believe it or not, I’ve got nothing to say.

That’s why I’ve sat on this recipe for so long.

There are no witty prose. No poignant story. No 2000 word diatribe about my feelings.

There are just these macs. And these photos. Both of which I’m supremely proud of.

Because it’s like Amy Poehler says in her book “…do it because the doing of it is the thing. The doing is the thing. The talking and worrying and thinking is not the thing.”

So this is the thing – Fruit Loop Macarons. It’s the making and the baking and the photographing and the writing. And the doing.

Fruit Loop Macarons

110 grams almond flour

110 grams pulverized Fruit Loop cereal*

400 grams powdered sugar

200 grams egg whites, aged 24 hours

100 grams granulated sugar

5 drops blue food coloring

Whisk together the almond flour, crushed cereal, and powdered sugar. Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, whip the egg whites on medium-high speed until foamy. Pour in granulated sugar and food coloring and increase speed to high. Whisk until stiff peaks form.

Fold the dry ingredients into the whipped egg whites. At first the batter will be clumpy, keep folding and you’ll soon have a thick, glossy mixture that should fall off of a rubber spatula in thick ribbons.

Pour batter into a piping bag fitted with the end snipped off.

Pipe small, even rounds onto silicone mat lined baking sheets. Let stand for one hour, until the tops of the cookies have a hard shell that isn’t tacky when touched.

While the macs sit, preheat oven to 350 degrees. When cookies are ready bake in preheated oven for 10 – 12 minutes, until tops are rounded and set and feet have appeared around the bottom of the cookies.

Remove from oven and allow to cool completely before filling.*

Fruit Loop Frosting

2 cups Fruit Loops, divided

½ cup whole milk

½ cup shortening

½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

6 cups powdered sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

½ tsp. salt

Place one cup of cereal in a small bowl and pour milk overtop. Let stand for twenty minutes. Remove cereal and discard, reserving milk.

Cream together the shortening and butter until smooth. Add powdered sugar, vanilla, and salt. Add cereal milk 1 tablespoon at a time until frosting is smooth. Crush up remaining cereal and stir into frosting.

Fill a piping bag fitted with the 1B tip with frosting and frost ½ of the cookies and top with remaining cookies.

*I like to pulverized my cereal in a food processor to get the finest grains I can.

*macs can be stored, unfilled for a few days in an airtight container – the flavor may even intensify!

*recipe adapted from this info graphic. (I know, I can't believe it either!) And the frosting from this recipe!