Nutella Irish Cream Cheese Macaron & Macaron Baking Tips!

I wanted to make some macaron for my friend's dinner party, but I was super pressed for time. So I wanted to make one with a simple flavor but complicated when combined with others. The first thing that came into mind was nutella since it comes in a jar. After thinking about it for a few minute, I'd decided to make a chocolate shelled macaron since I just need cocoa powder. Lastly, I want to mix the nutella with some cream cheese Irish cream filling. Each ingredient is simple and can stand on its own, but also tastes great when combined with each other.

[Ingredients]
Shell:
85g almond flour
150g powdered sugar
3 tbsp cocoa powder
3 egg whites (aged, optional*)
5 tbsp granulated sugar

Filling:
8oz cream cheese
3/4 cup butter
2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup Bailey Irish Cream
[Instruction]

Macaron Shell/Cookie:
1. Prepare baking sheets by stacking two together and top it with parchment paper or silpat.  Preheat oven 375 degree.
2. With a stand mixer or a hand mixer, whisk the egg whites until foamy.
3. Add granulated a little at time, and whisk egg whites until stiff peak stage.
4. In another bowl, sift all the dry ingredients for the shell.
5. Add them to the egg whites by batches and mix by folding.
6. Mix all the ingredients together until a lava-liked smooth consistency is reached.
7. Pour the mixture into a piping bag and pipe 1 1/2 inch circle worth of batter about one inche apart.

8. Air dry the macaron until when you touch the top of the shell, it does not stick to your finger. Should take about 15 to 20 minutes.

9. Bake for 10 minutes and rotate the baking sheet 180 degree half way through baking.
10. After 10 minutes, open the oven door a little bit to let air out, and keep it open a bit and bake for another 2 minutes.
11. Let macaron cool before adding the filling.

Filling:
1. In a stand mixer, beat butter and cream cheese until soft.
2. Meanwhile, sift powdered sugar. Add it to the creamed mixture a little at a time.
3. When sugar is combined. Add the Irish cream.
4. Pour filling into a piping bag.

Assemble:
1. Spread nutell on one of the cookie shell.

2. Pipe a bit of Irish cream cheese filling, just enough at the center. It will spread once you put the second cookie on.

3. Place another cookie onto the filling.

Viola! Chocolate shelled macaron with nutella and Irish cream cheese filling!

*Tips for Making Macarons:

• Aging the egg whites decreases some of the moisture content. I tried both aging and non-aging, both yield a little different but still good macaron.
• Sifting the dry ingredients helps with light and chewy texture.
• Air drying the macaron before baking allows a crust to form for that crunchy outer layer.
• Using silpat or two baking sheets help even out temperature, so the bottom of the cookie won't burn as easily.
• Letting oven door open at the last two minutes helps let out the steam and also decreases the temperature by a little so won't overbake or brown the top.

Good Luck!