Before you start, get all of your ingredients ready. Prepare a large piping bag, fitted with a large round tip.

Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicon mat.

Under my parchment, I put a layout with circles that measure about 1 1/2 inches each. That’s how big I like to pipe my macarons.

Measure out all of your ingredients.

Sift powdered sugar, almond flour, cocoa powder, and espresso powder together. Set aside.

Now you can finally start.

Place egg whites and granulated sugar in a heat proof bowl or in a double boiler. Over a pan of simmering water, whisk the whites and sugar until frothy and sugar completely melted. It will take a couple minutes.

Make sure the bottom of the bowl isn’t touching the simmering water.

Transfer mixture to the bowl of a stand mixer. (I use my kitchenAid bowl when doing this, because it makes it easier)

With the whisk attachment, whisk mixture on high speed for a few minutes until stiff peaks are formed.

Best way to check this is to keep your eye on the whites. Once they get glossy and you start seeing streaks formed by the whisk, it might be time to stop.

You don’t want to overbeat the mixture at this point, because you don’t want to add too much air to it. Just whisk until stiff peaks have formed.

Pour powdered sugar and almond flour into stiff whites.

It’s time to stop folding when the batter is glossy and has a thick and flowing consistency. There are several ways to test this, and you might have to have a couple failed batches before you get this right.

Then, I grab a teaspoon of batter and spoon onto my parchment paper or silicon mat.

If the batter stays stiff and doesn’t spread out a bit, I start folding a little bit more, about 3 folds.

Test again.

Once the batter spreads out a bit and starts to look glossy on the parchment paper, I transfer my mixture to the piping bag.

You don’t want your batter to be too runny either. So be careful not to overmix. It’s always best to undermix and test several times until the proper consistency has been achieved.

Once you’ve piped as many 1 1/2” circles as you could, bang the trays against the counter a few times each. This will release air bubbles that are in the batter and prevent your macaron shells from cracking.

Let your trays sit for a while so the shells will dry out a little bit. I usually leave about 20-40 minutes, depending on how humid the day is. You’ll know they’re ready when you gently touch the surface of a macaron and it seems dry.

Bake one tray at a time.

When baked, the macarons will have a deeper color and formed feet.

Remove from the oven and bake the other tray.

Let the macarons cool down before proceeding with the filling.

Turn mixer off, add sifted powdered sugar in. Mix on low to combine. Once combined, raise speed to medium-high and beat for 1 minute.

Add vanilla and mix to combine.

If mixture is too thick, and not creamy enough, add one or two teaspoons of milk to thin it out. Or if your mixture is too runny and not enough sturdy to hold its shape, add some more sifted powdered sugar, a bit at a time, until you achieve the perfect consistency.

Pipe a small amount of filling on the flat side of a macaron shell. Place another shell on top. I used a number 3 round tip to pipe some of the Peanut Butter frosting on top of the assembled macaron sandwiches. I also sprinkled some crunched peanuts on top.

Store in the fridge for up to 4 days. Store in the freezer for up to 2 months. You can freeze macarons assembled, or just the shells. Entirely up to you.

Leftover frosting can be stored in the fridge for up to 4 days, or in the freezer for up to 2 months.