Halloween Sweets

Pumpkin Spice Macarons

I just keep improving on making macarons.  It is one of my favorite cookies and everyone that tastes them falls in love with them!  So fun to finally make and make them right!

Creepy Witchy Fingers

An annual Halloween cookie...I love the smiles they bring to peoples faces!

Trick or Treat!
Enjoy!

Pumpkin Spice Macarons

tastykitchen.com

Description

Pumpkin spice macarons with pumpkin cream cheese filling.

Ingredients

• FOR THE MACARONS:
• 1 cup Powdered Sugar
• ¾ cups Almond Flour
• ½ teaspoons Ground Cinnamon
• ½ teaspoons Ground Turmeric
• ½ teaspoons Ground All-spice
• 2 whole Egg Whites
• ¼ cups Granulated Sugar
• 1 drop Orange Food Coloring Paste
• FOR THE PUMPKIN CREAM CHEESE FILLING:
• ¼ cups Fresh Or Canned Pumpkin Puree
• ¼ cups Cream Cheese, Softened

Preparation

Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper. Put a master template under the parchment paper or draw about twelve 1 1/2-inch circles in rows on the paper, about 1 inch apart. Set sheets aside.

Process powdered sugar, almond flour and all the spices in a food processor until finely ground. Sift the mixture through a sieve. If there are more than 2 tablespoons of large chunks left in the sieve, grind them and sift again. Set the mixture aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitter with a whisk attachment, beat egg whites at medium speed until frothy. Reduce the speed to low and gradually add the granulated sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time. Increase the speed to high and beat until stiff peaks form, about 5 minutes.

Sift the almond flour mixture over the egg whites. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold the almond flour mixture into the egg whites until the ingredients are just combined. Add food coloring to tint the batter. Continue to fold the mixture until it has loosened and falls in a ribbon from the spatula.

Fit a pastry bag with a 1/2-inch round tip and fill the bag with the batter. Using the template as a guide, pipe circles onto the parchment papers.

Tap the bottom of each sheet on the work surface to release trapped air bubbles. Let the cookies stand at room temperature for at least 30 minutes. This allows the cookies to develop their crusts.

Preheat oven to 300 F. Bake the macarons for 10 to 12 minutes, until set but not browned. Transfer the baking sheets to wire racks and let the macarons to cool completely on the pans. Once cooled, gently lift half of the cookies from the parchment paper and turn them upside down.

To prepare filling, combine cream cheese and pumpkin puree, and mix thoroughly.

Spoon or pipe a teaspoon of filling onto each of the upside-down cookies. Top with the remaining cookies.

Spooky Witches Fingers

allrecipes.com

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup confectioners' sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup whole almonds
• 1 (.75 ounce) tube red decorating gel

Directions

1. Combine the butter, sugar, egg, almond extract, and vanilla extract in a mixing bowl. Beat together with an electric mixer; gradually add the flour, baking powder, and salt, continually beating; refrigerate 20 to 30 minutes.
2. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Lightly grease baking sheets.
3. Remove dough from refrigerator in small amounts. Scoop 1 heaping teaspoon at a time onto a piece of waxed paper. Use the waxed paper to roll the dough into a thin finger-shaped cookie. Press one almond into one end of each cookie to give the appearance of a long fingernail. Squeeze cookie near the tip and again near the center of each to give the impression of knuckles. You can also cut into the dough with a sharp knife at the same points to help give a more finger-like appearance. Arrange the shaped cookies on the baking sheets.
4. Bake in the preheated oven until the cookies are slightly golden in color, 20 to 25 minutes.
5. Remove the almond from the end of each cookie; squeeze a small amount of red decorating gel into the cavity; replace the almond to cause the gel to ooze out around the tip of the cookie.

Makes about 60 cookies