During Spring Break my dad asked me to bake with him. I was super excited to do so. His only request was to have “anything with icing” so I decided on macarons. We would make the shells, and then while they are cooking fill them with icing. They turned out delicious.

I’ve made macarons once before, but that was in middle school. My mom basically baked them and I was just in the kitchen with her. But this time I worked with both of my parents, and all of us had a part in making the cookies.

Macarons are very difficult to make, but are extremely enjoyable when made right. The shells have a simple recipe: 3 egg whites, 1/4 cup white sugar, 1 2/3 cup confectioners sugar, 1 cup finely ground almonds. The almonds were the most difficult ingredient; they stuck to the side of the blender. I would recommend using almond flour instead of blending your own almonds.

Heat the oven to 285 (which is pretty low for baking). Beat egg whites until they are foamy. (This means genuinely foamy, not a couple of bubbles) Then, beat in the white sugar until soft peaks form. This means you can take the mixers out of the mixture and it will hold its shape. Then fold in a mixture of the other 2 ingredients into the wet mixture.

Using a bag with a small hole in the corner (or a piping bag), squeeze small disks onto a baking sheet. I would recommend lining the baking sheet with parchment paper to make clean up easier. Bake in the oven for about 9 minutes, and then let the shells cool.

While cooling, I made the icing. Mix together 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened, 3 3/4 cups Domino® Confectioners Sugar, 3 to 4 tablespoons milk, and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract. Once the shells are cool, scoop some icing in between the shells and make a cookie sandwich. Voila, you have homemade macarons.

Surprisingly, the shells tasted great on their own, but with my sweet tooth I loved having the icing in between the shells. I would recommend making macarons with your family; it’s a great bonding experience. And at the end of it, you get to enjoy a nice dessert. That was my favorite part of break, because it was an easy and simple way to spend an hour or two with my parents, focused solely on a really fun activity.