Easy (Nut-Free) Strawberry Cheesecake French Macarons
Delicate and delicious strawberry sandwhich cookies with a sweet scream cheese filling.
Ingredients
71gramsof raw sunflower seeds 2/3 cup
117gramsconfectioners' sugar 1 cup
2/3cupfreeze dried strawberries
2large egg whites room temperature
53gramsgranulated sugar 1/4 cup
Jam or cream cheese filling below:
1cupcream cheese softened
1teaspoonpure vanilla extract
1/2cupconfectioners sugar
2TBSHeavy Cream
Instructions
Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Place sunflower seeds in a food processor along with confectioners sugar and freeze dried strawberries. Process until combined, about 1 minute.
Pass seed/sugar mixture through a sieve. Transfer bits that didn’t go through the sieve back to the food processor; sift again, pressing down on clumps. Repeat until less than 2 tablespoons of solids are left.
Whisk egg whites and granulated sugar by hand to combine first. Then whip on medium speed and increase the speed every 2 minutes until stiff peaks form. This should take between 6-10 minutes.
Add dry ingredients and fold in with a spatula. Repeat just until batter flows like lava.
Pipe small circles onto parchment paper or on a macaron sheet. Tap sheets firmly against counter 2 or 3 times to release air bubbles. Allow to dry for 30 minutes.
Bake until risen and just set, 10-12 minutes. Let cool. Pipe or spread filling on flat sides of half of cookies; top with remaining half. store in airtight container and refrigerate.
Recipe Notes
It’s best to refrigerate overnight. I like to let them come back to room temp before eating. I have also eaten them after assembly and they are great then as well!