Hey momoluvers, it's Momo and today I'll be showing you how to make these spectacular macarons. I love french macarons and have been experimenting with different recipes recently, and I have to say that I have found one that is incredible! These macarons are lemon flavored with a lemon vanilla bean buttercream. I had a great time making these and giving them as gifts. Let me know what kind of instructables you'd like to see in the future :)

Step 1: Ingredients

For the shell:

1. 2 egg whites

2. 1/2 cup of granulated sugar

3. 1/2 cup of almond flour

4. 1/2 cup of powdered sugar

5. 1/2 teaspoon of lemon extract

6. Yellow dye gel

For the filling:

1. 6 tablespoons of softened butter

2. 1 cup of powdered sugar

3. 1 tablespoons of milk

4. 1/2 teaspoon lemon extract

5. 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla bean paste

**You will also need edible ink markers to draw the faces on

Step 2: Preparation and Sifting

Put two large eggs into a bowl of hot water. If the eggs are not room temperature, the meringue will be flat and the cookies will not turn out right. If the water becomes cold, Change it out quickly, or it will make the eggs cold again. You can also leave the eggs out overnight, but if you don't have time, use the water method.

Set the oven to 295*F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Sift the almond meal and powdered sugar together and whisk to combine.

Step 3: Meringue and Combining

Add the room temperature egg white into a bowl and whisk with an electric mixer on high until frothy and bubbly.

Add the granulated sugar about 1/3 at a time and whisk on high. Add the rest of the granulated sugar in parts until you have used it all.

When you have a thick meringue, add the lemon extract and dye gel and whisk on high until combined.

Mix in about 1/3 of the almond meal mixture and fold the batter until it is well combined. Add the other third, and so on.

Step 4: Piping

You can use a piping bag or a plastic ziplock bag to pipe the macarons. I have a piping bag, but I favor the ziplock bag because it's not as messy.

Begin piping small circles a good distance apart.

When finished, raise the pan above the counter a few inches and drop it. Do this several times to release air bubbles.

If there are still air bubbles on the surface, use a tooth pic to pop them.

Let the macarons sit out for 25-25 minutes. A hard crust should form to the point where if you lightly touch the surface, it should not stick to your finger. When this happens, you're ready to bake

Step 5: Bake

Put the macarons in the oven and bake for about 12-15 minutes.

When you take them out, they should have formed a 'pied' which is the little skirt around the bottom of the macaron.

Set them out to cool for 20 minutes. While they are cooling, you can pipe a second batch and make the filling

Step 6: Filling

Simply put all of the filling ingredients in a medium bowl and use a handheld electric mixer to combine all the ingredients well. The final product should be light and fluffy and taste very good!

Step 7: Drawing the Faces

Pull up some of your favorite emojis on your phone and simply copy the design onto the macaron shells. The designs are easy enough to copy, you can use almost any of the yellow face emojis.

Pipe the filling into the macarons and sandwich them together.

Step 8: Finished!

These macarons are so cute and make perfect gifts! I love how they turned out and they are delicious. Please vote for me in the deceptive desserts contest, Thanks :)

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