bam: macaroons

The month of March always reminds me of spring break. Growing up, when we weren't burdened with lacrosse spring break trips or college visits, my family would make the 24 hour drive to Boca Grande, Florida, along with the rest of Cleveland, to escape the never-ending gray skies and wintry mixes of northeast Ohio's winters. While there are many must-eat sweets while in Boca Grande, like Loose Caboose ice cream and Pink Elephant hummers, the complementary post-dinner macaroons at The Gasparilla Inn were always one of my family's favorites. Now, I'm not usually one to pass up on dessert, but I always took comfort when dining at the Inn, knowing that if I couldn't convince someone to split a dessert with me, my sweet tooth would get satisfied because these macaroons were coming to the table.

So in honor of the month of spring breaks, I wanted to make something that reminded me of warmer days. My mom got her hands on a macaroon recipe that is as close to The Gasparilla Inn macaroons as you can get, so I had to try them out.

8oz almond paste, 1/2 cup sugar, 1 egg white in my brand new mini food processor. Thanks Shell!

Put 1-inch dollops of cookie dough on a parchment-lined cooking sheet and then into a 325 degree oven.

They cook in 15-20 minutes,  depending on the strength of your oven, so keep an eye on them!

Enjoy this little taste of Boca Grande and keep your fingers crossed for some real spring weather coming our way soon!

-Cam