Macarons - Yummy

This is my second attempt at making French Macarons.  I wanted to make them because they are cookies my children can eat (gluten free) and I just love love love love them!!!   My first attempt was a complete disaster!!!  I ended up throwing them out they were so bad.  I followed the intricate recipe very carefully, but they flopped. 

My second attempt came out pretty good.....light, airy, but the filling was a little too sweet...But, don't they look pretty????  The recipe was much simpler and I wasn't as careful......

I bought a book at Barnes & Noble with 30 different macaron recipes...I think I am going to make them all (even though there are a few that don't sound good - I mean who wants a Rose Water Macaron???  - Bleck!!!)

Here they all are waitng to go into the oven.  I think what I messed up on the first attempt was not letting them sit long enough before baking them.  They need to dry out.  It is very important that when you touch your finger gently to them, the batter should not stick. 

I need to work on getting them of uniform size....

Ok...so not all of them worked perfectly....there were a few mistakes....

But they are yummy....this was the vanilla macaron with vanilla filling.  Well, the filling wasn't quite vanilla like it was supposed to be.  I accidently grabbed the almond extract instead of the vanilla.  But it still tastes good. My daughter has requested that I make the chocolate ones tomorrow. 

If these continue to work well, I will post more elaborate instructions....