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Dessert

Almond Macaroons

Almond macaroons are sweet, almond-based cookies made with egg whites, powdered sugar, and rose water or bitter almond essence.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Almond and rose are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,465 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓

Almond Macaroons

Oven, in the book's wordsA quick oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare the almonds

  1. Blanch the almonds in boiling water, then remove the skins and let them dry on a clean towel.

  2. Grind or pound the almonds until fine.

Make the batter

  1. Beat the egg whites until very stiff.

  2. Gradually stir in the powdered sugar, then add the ground almonds and rose water or essence.

Shape and bake

  1. Line a baking pan with buttered or waxed paper.

  2. Drop half a teaspoon of the mixture onto the paper, leaving space between each.

  3. Dust with powdered sugar and bake in a 400°F (200°C) oven until delicately browned.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Almond + rosetop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,465 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  2. Almond + sugartop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,679 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).

  3. Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together122,807 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  4. Sugar + rosetop 25% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together3,584 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  5. Almond + eggtop 25% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together12,645 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Almonds
Ground almonds provide the main body and nutty flavour of the macaroons.
Egg whites
Whipped egg whites create foam that gives the macaroons their light, airy structure.
Powdered sugar
Sweetens the batter and helps stabilise the whipped egg whites while adding a delicate crust.
Rose water or bitter almond essence
Adds aromatic flavour to the batter.

The step that matters

Beating the egg whites until very stiff. Stiff whipped whites hold the air that lifts the batter. If they are under-whipped or deflated when the sugar and almonds are folded in, the macaroons will spread flat and turn dense.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

More almond macaroons recipes

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